[1] Blue whiting also occur in the northwest Atlantic Ocean between Canada and Greenland, but is considered rare.

The species, in the last decades, has become increasingly important to the fishing industries of northern European countries, including Russia.

[3] According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, blue whiting was fifth most important capture fish species in 2006.

Blue whiting in the northeast Atlantic is a straddling stock: it occupies the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the Faroe Islands, the European Union, Iceland and Norway, as well as the high seas".

For a long period, blue whiting fisheries were mainly regulated through nationally set quotas because there was no international agreement about sharing the total quota;[12] consequently, the total catch greatly exceeded the advised quotas[3] However, the Coastal States (the Faroe Islands, the European Union, Iceland and Norway) reached an agreement in December 2005,[13] ending the period of what was sometimes referred to as "Olympic fishing".