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International Council for the C.M. 1966/JsI r Exploration of the Sea .'I Administrative Report •
C 0 mit e d e 1 a S a r d i n e ------_._------,,-_.... 1965
Par H. VILELA.
La "sardine", Snrdinn pilchnrdus (Walb.), le "sprnt", Clupea (Sprnttus) sprattus L. et l'"o.nchois", Engraulis encrnsicholus (L.) sont les especes qui ont fnit l'objet d'etude de ce ComitJ pendnnt 1965. Que1ques pays n'ont pas envoy~, jusqu'u cette date, 1eurs donnees pour 1e Rapport. On resume a 10. suite, dlapres 1es elements re9US, les travaux effectu~ss
Allemagne
(P.F. Meyer-Waarden)
Thirty-five snmples of sprat catches made in connection with the Germnn winter fishery on sprat in the Ge~~n Bight and with the Germnn oi1-herring fishery were nnn1ysed ns to length, sex, maturity nnd nge-composition.
Ang1eterre
(P.O. Johnson)
No work was cnrried: out on pilchard during 1965. The results cf enrlier work - invo1ving mainly the vYhite Fish Authority project, hnve now been published in the form of n Lowestoft-Lnboratory Leaflet (new series No. 9, November, 1965) entitled "The Cornish PilchO.rd nnd its Fishery" by J.P Bridger. This project was carried out off the south-west const of Englnnd between 1961 and 1963 by 0. chartered, commercinl vessel and two follow-up voyages werc made by our reseo.rch vessel in 1964. Studies on the sprat fishery of the enst const of Englnnd commcnced in December 1958 with the location of large sprat concentrntions in the Wnsh estuary und the revivnl of u fishery inthat region after 0. period of 30 ycars. This fishery hns now been studied in detail for eight sensons; population studies, catch data annlyses, echo- and eGg-surveys have bcen cnrried out, and the fishery in the Thnmes estuary has been covered in similar detail since 1961. Spnwning survey for sprat eggs und Inrvne were co.rried out in the ycars 1959, 1960, 1961 o.nd 1962 over the mnin fishing nrens und beyond, to include _ most ef the Southern Bight, nnd additionnlly in 1962 the enstern end of the English Chnnnel. Material from surveys mnde o.long the south const of 1re1and in connection with the Dunmol'e herring in 1959 and 1960 wns also ana1ysed for sprat eggs and larvae. MOre recent echo-surveys have invo1ved trials of fish counting and signalstrength integrators coup1ed with a 100 Kcs frequency echo-sounder, to give better quantitative estimatcs of the strcngth ef the everwintcring concentrations of sprat, and thc results have been promising. Comparative feeding studics of whitebait, sprnt and herring in East Anglian coasto.l waters commcnccd in 1965, and this work will continue during 1966. Belgique·
(E. Leloup)
11 n'y n pns cu de rechcrchcs concernant 1e Comit6 de 1a Sardine au cours dc 1965. De meme rien niest prevu pour 1'annee 1966. s - 2 -
.; Danemn.rk (Aa.J.C. Jensen)
From Denmark some few srunples from the fishery for fish meal were n~lysed but in these very few sprat were found. Of larger sprat no racial investigations werc carried out during the year. In 1966 the investigations of the sprat stock will be taken up again on a considerable scale.
Ecosse (B.B. Parrish & A. Saville)
In 1965 sampling of the commercia1 fishery for sprat off the Scottish east count wns continued. Statistics of catch and fishing effort, and 1ength and age data were collected from each of the main centres of fishing in the Moray Firth and Firth of Forth.
Espagne
(F. Lozano)
Les investigations r&nlis&es durant 1965 furent les suivantes: a. Etudes des pontes et des larves de In sardine et de l'nnchois (Santander et Malaga). Determination de l'abondnnce et de la frequence de pontes en rapport avec les conditions du milieu. b. ttude biom~trique et biologique de l'anchois des pays basques cspagnol& sur des echantillons preleves dans 1Q periode 1950-1961. Pour 1966 1e programme suivant est prevu: a. Continuntion des ctudes sur les pontes et 1es larves de la snrdine et de l'anchois. b. Continuation des ~tudes des echantil10ns de l'anchois de In cote bnsque espagnole (donn~es de 1950-1961). c. Etudes sur la Sardine selon la recommandation du Comit6 aporouvee par lc Cons eil.
Frnnce
(R. Lctaconnoux)
En 1965, les recherches de l'Institut des Peches ont porte sur la technique de peche a In lumiere de In sardine et de l'nnchois. Bien que contraries nu nord de In Loire par la rarete du polsson, les essais sur la sardine ont donne quelques resultats interessnnts. Sur l'nnchois, dans le sud du qolfe de Gnscogne, de bonnes captures ont ~te obtenues. Des etudcs ont egalement 6te faites sur le comportement du poisson attire a In lumiere. Les observations habituelles sur lc stock de sardine ont 6t6 ~nites sur 860 individus. 11 se composait prlncipalement d'individus appartenant au groupe I nrmoricaln, mais peu abondants et dont In peche a 6t6 fortement perturbee par le mauvnis temps; En octobre, nu cours d'un~ reprise de In peche correspondnnt n un rechauffement tardif des enux, la presence du groupe 0 cantabrique n 6t6 obscrv6e en Vend6e et du groupe 0 armoricnin cn Bretngne. - 3 -
Irlande
(F.A. Gibson)
Investigations, begun in 1964, were continued throughout the yenr on the spr~t fishery off Clogherhend nnd Skerries in the Irish Sea. A total of 1,229 fish were examined in length, sex, maturity und age. A compurison was also worked out between single und paired boats, using bottom trawls, engaged in the fishery. Fat content analyses were also carried out during the season.
Norvege
(K.R. Gundersen)
Tagging experiment on 2 years and older sprats were planncd to take place in March and August 1965. Unfortune.tely,it was not possible to get sprat at the time nvailable. Most of the plankton material, col1ected in co-operation with Denmark nnd Sweden in order to investigate the abuudunce and distribution of eggs and newly hatched lnrvae of sprat, is now being worked up. Some of this material will be pUblished during 1966., .
Po10gne
(J. Elwertowski)
Investigations were undertaken on length and age composition of sprat landed from the respective fishing grounds of thc Southern Baltic. Regular analyses of fat content were carried out in order to establish thc changes in the course of the year. For fishery and fish-processing purposes forecastings were issued on the condition of the sprat stock. Yearly as weIl as four quarterly prognoses were sent out. During the year concerned thc following datawere collectedl
Region of Number of Fishes Fat content· catches samp1es measured No. of sampIes
Gdansk Deep 20 7608 20
Open Ses. (Slupsk 5 1566 3 Furrow)
Bornho1m Basin 4 1998 3
Total 29 11172 26
Programme for 1966: Analysis of catch composition and collection of statistical data for forecasting purposes. Continuous observation of fat content. r-- - - 4 - I • PortuGal
(H. Vilela)
Des etudes d'echantillonnge des sardines, Sardina pilohardus, r60ueillies simultanement dans trois regions de 10. oote portugnise (nux environs de Aveiro, Lisbonne et Olhao) ninsi que des exemplnires peches nux A90res (S. Miguel) ont ete effectuees pendant In periode nvril 1965 - jnnvier 1966. Dans ces etudes on 0. oonsidere; taille, poids, sexe, etat de maturite sexuelle•. Un total de 4100 exemplnires 0. 6t6 observe. Une communication sur le sujet sera presentee a In prochaine reunion.
(A. Lindquist)
Expeditions hnve been made along the Swedish west oonst in order to collect material for year-clnss annlyses of the sprat. Echo-soundings and hydrographical observations have been made in order to study the fishery hydrography of the sprat. The complete Swedish material on yenr-class nnalyses (since 1929) has been worked up and prepared for publication. Another paper is concerned with the number of gill-rnkers and the head length of the different year-classes. A number of experiments have been ~~de with light, underwater photography and skin-diving in an attempt to identify echo-traces, mninly of sprat.
U.R.S.S. (A. Bogdanov)
In 1965 investigations on sardines in the Atlantic were carried out by the All-Union Research Institute of Marine Fisheries and Oceanography (VNIRO) and the Atlnntic Research Institute of Fisheries nnd Oceanography (AtlantNIRO). Five complex research expeditions were performed during 1965. The biology, migrations, distribution and behaviour of sardine, scombri form fish nnd tuna, as weIl ns the formation of those fish into commeroia1 concentrations were under investigations. Materials on zooplankton, hydro chemistry and hydrology were sampled. Fish reaotion on electric light wns eXQJ'lined. The investigations ror 1966 mainly nims at studying the biology, distribution and behaviour of sardine, scombriform fish nnd tuna in the eastern Atlnntio in vurious seasons of the year.