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© Kay Panten
Institute of

SF Sea Fisheries

Project

Assessment of pelagic fish stocks in the North Sea and North Atlantic



Bestandszählunf und kommerzielle Bestandsnutzung
© Thünen-Institut/SF

Data on population parameters of pelagic fish stocks (herring, mackerel, horse mackerel, blue whiting and sprat) in the North Sea and North Atlantic are combined with catch records and landings statistics and provide input for the fish stock assessments of ICES. The results of these calculations serve as a basis for sustainable fisheries management.

Background and Objective

We participate in the annual international programs to identify population parameters of the pelagic fish species herring, mackerel, horse mackerel, blue whiting and sprat in the North Sea and North Atlantic. These data are combined with catch records and landing statistics, catch and bycatch records and sampling information from the commercial fleet and provide input for the fish stock assessments of the international ICES working groups. The results of these calculations serve as a basis for political decisions in the framework of the European Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) and in international agreements. The aim of this task is to provide real-time information on the development of commercially exploited fish populations to facilitate a sustainable management of the resources.

Preliminary Results

The four most important fish species for the German fishery (in terms of landings) are pelagic species. In the North Sea and the Northeast Atlantic, the stocks of North Sea herring, Northeast Atlantic mackerel, western horse mackerel and blue whiting are of special interest for the fishery, which is mainly conducted by large pelagic freezer trawlers. For the first two stocks, management regimes have been internationally implemented over the last decade. Both stocks are in very good condition, and present catches are sustainable. The TI-SF participates in both most important surveys and a number of other international programs for the determination of fishery-independent parameters.

Links and Downloads

Publications

  1. 0

    Costas G, O'Hea B, Alvarez P, Blom E, Burns F, dos Santos Schmidt T, Farrell E, Garabana D, Holah H, Huwer B, Eliasen SK, Korta M, Angelico MM, Nash R, Nunes C, Núñez-Riboni I, Politis SN, Riveiro I, Thorsen A, Ulleweit J, et al (2023) Working Group on Mackerel and Horse Mackerel Egg Surveys (WGMEGS). Copenhagen: ICES, 118 p, ICES Sci Rep 5(81), DOI:10.17895/ices.pub.23790201

    https://literatur.thuenen.de/digbib_extern/dn066643.pdf

  2. 1

    Costas G, O'Hea B, Alvarez P, Burns F, Eliasen S, Garabana D, Kloppmann MHF, Korta M, Krüger-Johnsen M, Mann L, Nash R, Riveiro I, Ulleweit J, Wieland K (2023) Working Group on Mackerel and Horse Mackerel Egg Surveys (WGMEGS; outputs form 2022 meeting). Copenhagen: ICES, 67 p, ICES Sci Rep 5(20), DOI:10.17895/ices.pub.22128536

    https://literatur.thuenen.de/digbib_extern/dn066070.pdf

  3. 2

    Stenevik EK, Berg F, Beukhof E, Bjarnason S, Bleijenberg J, Brunel T, Burns F, Campbell A, Costas G, Dubroca L, Duncan R, Egan A, Farrell E, Goncalves P, Henriksen O, Høines A, Homrum E, Jacobsen JA, Eliasen SK, Ulleweit J, et al (2023) Working Group on Widely Distributed Stocks (WGWIDE). Copenhagen: ICES, viii, 980 p, ICES Sci Rep 5(82), DOI:10.17895/ices.pub.24025482

    https://literatur.thuenen.de/digbib_extern/dn066930.pdf

  4. 3

    Ulleweit J, Overzee HMJ van, Bangma T (2022) Catch sampling of the pelagic freezer trawler fishery operating in European waters in 2019-2020: joint report of the Dutch and German national on-board sampling programmes. IJmuiden: Stichting Wageningen Research, Centre for Fisheries Research (CVO), 49 p, CVO Rep 22.008, DOI:10.18174/564918

  5. 4

    Beukhof E, Bleijenberg J, Brazier A, Brunel T, Burns F, Campbell A, Campbell N, Codier A, Costas G, Dubroca L, Duncan R, Egan A, Eliasen S, Farrell E, Goncalves P, Henriksen O, Høines A, Holleland S, Homrum E, Ulleweit J (2022) Working Group on Widely Distributed Stocks (WGWIDE). Copenhagen: ICES, ix, 921 p, ICES Sci Rep 4(73), DOI:10.17895/ices.pub.21088804

    https://literatur.thuenen.de/digbib_extern/dn065448.pdf

  6. 5

    Kelly C, Ball J, Bartolino V, Berg F, Berges B, Håkansson KB, Campbell N, Egan A, Hintzen NT, Ianelli J, Kempf A, Kvamme C, Mackinson S, Mosegaard H, Nash RDM, Pastoors MA, Pert C, Sparrevohn CR, Rohlf N, Trijoulet V, Damme CJG van (2021) Inter-Benchmark Protocol on North Sea Herring (IBPNSHerring 2021). Copenhagen: ICES, 168 p, ICES Sci Rep 3(98), DOI:10.17895/ices.pub.8398

    https://literatur.thuenen.de/digbib_extern/dn064312.pdf

  7. 6

    Campbell A, Berg F, Beukhof E, Bjarnason S, Björnsson H, Brunel T, Burns F, Campbell N, Catarino R, Chetyrkin A, Costas G, Dubroca L, Duncan R, Egan A, Eliasen S, Goncalves P, Henriksen O, Hjorleifsson E, Hojnes A, Ulleweit J, et al (2021) Working Group on Widely Distributed Stocks (WGWIDE). Copenhagen: ICES, 874 p, ICES Sci Rep 3(95), DOI:10.17895/ices.pub.8298

  8. 7

    Gröger JP, Hinrichsen HH, Polte P (2014) Broad-scale climate influences on spring-spawning herring (Clupea harengus, L.) recruitment in the Western Baltic Sea. PLoS One 9(2):e87525, DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0087525

    https://literatur.thuenen.de/digbib_extern/dn053343.pdf

  9. 8

    Kraus G, Hinrichsen HH, Voss R, Teschner E, Tomkiewicz J, Köster F-W (2012) Robustness of egg production methods as a fishery independent alternative to assess the Eastern Baltic cod stock (Gadus morhua callarias L.). Fish Res 117-118:75-85

  10. 9

    Gröger JP, Missong M, Rountree RA (2011) Analyses of interventions and structural breaks in marine and fisheries time series: Detection of shifts using iterative methods. Ecol Indic 11(5):1084-1092, DOI:10.1016/j.ecolind.2010.12.008

  11. 10

    Abaunza P, Murta AG, Campbell N, Cimmaruta R, Comesana AS, Dahle G, Gallo E, Garcia Santamaria MT, Gordo LS, Iversen SA, MacKenzie K, Magoulas A, Mattiocci S, Molloy J, Nascetti G, Pinto AL, Quinta R, Ramos P, Stransky C, Zimmermann C, et al (2008) Considerations on sampling strategies for an holistic approach to stock identification : the example of the HOMSIR project. Fish Res 89(2):104-113, DOI:10.1016/j.fishres.2007.09.020

  12. 11

    Stransky C, Murta AG, Schlickeisen J, Zimmermann C (2008) Otolith shape analysis as a tool for stock separation of horse mackerel (Trachurus trachurus) in the Northeast Atlantic and Mediterranean. Fish Res 89(2):159-166, DOI:10.1016/j.fishres.2007.09.017

  13. 12

    Abaunza P, Murta AG, Campbell N, Cimmaruta R, Comesana AS, Dahle G, Garcia Santamaria MT, Gordo LS, Iversen SA, MacKenzie K, Magoulas A, Mattiocci S, Molloy J, Nascetti G, Pinto AL, Quinta R, Ramos P, Sanjuan A, Stransky C, Zimmermann C, et al (2008) Stock identity of horse mackerel (Trachurus trachurus) in the Northeast Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea : integrating the results from different stock identification approaches. Fish Res 89(2):196-209, DOI:10.1016/j.fishres.2007.09.022

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