An Industrial Survey for Associated Species
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FISHING FOR KNOWLEDGE An industrial survey for associated species Report of Project Phase I by Anne Doeksen and Karin van der Reijden A collaboration between The North Sea Foundation & IMARES Commissioned by EKOFISH Group June 2014 Content 1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 3 2 Fisheries Management for associated stocks ............................................................................. 4 2.1 Management of associated species ................................................................................. 4 2.2 Managing associated species under the new CFP .............................................................. 8 2.3 Key insights and Conclusive points ............................................................................... 10 3 Stock assessments ............................................................................................................. 12 3.1 How to do a stock assessment ..................................................................................... 12 3.2 Surveys for stock assessment ...................................................................................... 13 3.3 Data availability and knowledge gaps for associated species ............................................. 14 3.4 Key insights and concluding points ............................................................................... 15 4 References ........................................................................................................................ 17 Appendix 1 ............................................................................................................................. 18 Appendix 2 ............................................................................................................................. 19 Appendix 3 ............................................................................................................................. 20 2 1 Introduction In 2009 the Ekofish twinrig fishery for plaice was certified to the Marine Stewardship Council’s (MSC) standard for sustainable and well-managed fisheries. Besides plaice, this fishery lands several bycatch species, in particular dab, lemon sole, brill and turbot. Ekofish wishes to have these bycatch species assessed under Principle 1 of the MSC standard and certified as part of the same unit of certification as the twinrig fishery for plaice. These species qualify as typical bycatch species, having very little directed fishing activity, and are classified as ‘associated’ or ‘Category 11’ species under the CFP. For these Category 11 species there is no management plan or comprehensive harvest strategy due to the lack of data and information required to carry out an analytical stock assessment. This presents an obstacle for getting these species assessed and certified under Principle 1 of the MSC standard. To address the data-deficiencies of Category 11 species IMARES explored options to improve data collection efforts for these species in 2011, recommending commercial catch surveys as an option to improve data collection. Following from this Ekofish has taken the lead and has initiated a pilot data- collection project, in which commercial catch data will be collected aboard their twinrig vessels during one season for the species dab, lemon sole, turbot, and brill. The aim of this pilot project is to progress towards science-based management and MSC certification of the mentioned species. This project is carried out in collaboration with the NSF and IMARES. Phase one of this project explores the hurdles and the opportunities for fisheries management and stock assessment for the North Sea species brill, turbot, lemon sole and dab. This will help identify next steps and inform the design of the commercial survey to be carried out in the subsequent phases of the project. The main question in this phase is: What are the hurdles and opportunities for fisheries management and stock assessment for North Sea brill, turbot, lemon sole and dab? This question is addressed in two subsequent chapters: chapter two reviews fisheries management. Chapter three reviews stock management. 3 2 Fisheries Management for associated stocks This chapter reviews the main obstacles and opportunities for fisheries management of North Sea brill, dab, lemon sole and turbot. Central to this chapter is the question: What are the current obstacles for fishery management of associated species brill, dab, lemon sole and turbot? What perspectives does the new Common Fisheries Policy provide? This central question is broken down in into two sub-questions: 1. How are associated species currently managed? This question reviews EU regulation and policy documents and sets out the main management instruments and requirements. It also reviews data collection and management requirements under the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). 2. Which changes in management does the new Common Fisheries Policy foresee? This question reviews the changes to fisheries management that the adoption of the new Common Fisheries Policy (EU Regulation 1380/2013) implies. This regulation replaces the former CFP and has reformed fisheries policy in several fundamental ways, with implications for how mixed fisheries and associated species are to be managed in future. The chapter is composed around these two questions (section 2.1 and 2.2) and closes with a conclusion, a reflection on the central research question (section 2.3). 2.1 Management of associated species The main policy instrument that European fisheries are managed under is the European Union’s Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). The Common Fisheries Policy establishes a set of rules that controls EU fishing fleets and manages fish stocks in EU waters. The CFP was implemented in 1983 has been reviewed every 10 years. The most recent review, in 2013, has led to major CFP reform. This new CFP, EU Regulation 138/2013, replaces EU Regulation 2371/2002 and came into effect on January 2014. The following section (2.1) describes the fisheries management situation for brill, dab, lemon sole and turbot as it was at the time of project initiation (2013), so prior to the implementation of the new CFP. To provide a context, this section begins with a brief description of the fisheries in which these species are caught (2.1.1). Management of these fisheries will be discussed in the remaining sections (2.1.2 and 2.1.3). 2.1.1 The fisheries Brill (griet) Brill (scomthalmus rhombus) in the North Sea, Skagerrak, English Channel (ICES Areas IV, IIIa and VIIde) are considered to belong to the same biological stock. Brill in this area is taken as a valuable by- catch species in beam trawl fisheries targeting flatfish (sole and plaice), and to a lesser extent in the otter trawl and fixed net fisheries. Very little directed fishing activity occurs in this area. Effort for the main fleet with brill by-catches (beam trawls) in the North Sea and Skagerrak has declined by almost 50% between 2002 and 2012. Landings however have been relatively stable and above historical values since 1998 (this suggests that abundance of this species is increasing). Landings are considered a reliable approximation of catches as only little discarding of brill occurs. (ICES Advice, book 6, 2013) Dab (schar) Common dab (limanda limanda) is a widespread demersal species on the Northeast Atlantic shelf and distributed from the Bay of Biscay to Iceland and Norway; including the Barents Sea and the Baltic. There is no information on the stock identity of this species. Dab is one of the most abundant demersal species in the North Sea with the centre of its distribution in the southern North Sea. Dab in the North Sea and Skagerrak is a by-catch in the fishery for sole, plaice, shrimp and other demersal species, mainly in beam trawl fisheries. The effort of the beam trawl fleet in the North Sea and Skagerrak has declined by almost 50% between 2002 and 2012. Dab catches are generally discarded based on the availability of target species, and market price. After peaking around the turn of the century dab landings show gradual decline. Landing data are not complete and are not indicative for catches since discard rates are high. (ICES Advice, book 6, 2013) 4 Lemon sole (tongschar) There is little information available on the stock identity of lemon sole (Microstomus kitt), although tagging information suggests that the English Channel stock can be considered a separate stock (Jennings et al. 1993). Lemon sole in ICES Subarea IV, IIIa and VIId is mainly a by-catch species and is generally caught in mixed fisheries using otter trawls (~75%) and beam trawls (~25%). Some targeted activity takes place using otter trawls in the spring and summer (Seafish, 2014). The effort of the main fleet with lemon sole by-catches (otter trawls) in the North Sea and Skagerrak has declined by 14% (TR1) and 45% (TR2) between 2004 and 2012. Total landings data show a declining long-term trend. Discards are known to take place but data are insufficient to estimate discards. (ICES Advice, book 6, 2013) Turbot (tarbot) Turbot (Scophthalmus maximus) occurring the North Sea, the southern coast of Iceland, the western coast of Scotland and Ireland, and the Celtic Sea, including the Western Approaches, belong to one separate, northern Atlantic stock. Turbot is an economically valuable by-catch species. In ICES Subarea IV, turbot is mainly caught by mid-class and large beam trawlers. These vessels mostly target