Species guide January 2014 v4

Dab small fishes and has a maximum life span of 12 years, It spawns between January and August. Fisheries and gears Dab is caught in the fisheries directed at and . Generally it is caught as a bycatch in mixed demersal beam trawl fisheries and is often discarded. Distribution limanda Dab is found in the North East Atlantic from The common dab, Limanda limanda, (1) is an the Bay of Biscay to Iceland and Norway, edible of the family . including the Barents, White and Baltic Seas. According to landings statistics the annual catch of dab in the North East Atlantic has been well above 11,000 tonnes since the 1950’s (2). Catches peaked at 22,000 tonnes in 1998 but have since declined to just over 10,000 tonnes. Dab is landed by UK, German, Danish and Dutch vessels.

Stock assessment and catches ICES provided quantitative advice on dab as a data-limited stock for the first time in 2012. In June 2013 survey indices show a stable Reported catches of dab 1989-2009 (2). abundance in the last decades in Subarea IV (the main part of the distribution area) and an Biology increasing abundance for Division IIIa. The stock size indicator (number/hour) in the last Dab is a demersal (seabed dwelling) fish three years (2010–2012) is 7% higher (North native to the shallow seas around Northern Sea) or 16% higher (Skagerrak–Kattegat) Europe, in particular the , where it than the average of the five previous years lives on sandy bottoms down to depths of (2005–2009). ICES advises landings should about 100 metres. It can reach 40 cms in be no more than 7,795 tonnes in 2014 (3). length and can weigh up to 1 kilogram (2.2lb), . though most specimens grow no longer than 30 cms. It feeds mainly on and 2 Species Guide – Dab January 2014 v4.

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In the Baltic survey trends show an Product Characteristics increasing trend since 2002. The average stock size indicator (number/hour) in the last The common dab has a similar appearance two years (2011–2012) is 44% higher than to both plaice and and similarly has the abundance indices in the three previous both its eyes on the right hand side of its years (2008–2010). ICES advises that body. The upper surface is usually pale landings should be no more than 1,437 brown in colour with scattered darker tonnes (4). blotches. Its pectoral fins may be orange. It is mainly marketed as fillets. It may be fried, Catch data for dab are unreliable. However, steamed, broiled, microwaved or baked. there are a number of sources of information (5). North Sea abundance indices (6) indicate Supply chain standards population size has increased and has been There are supply chain standards from at a high level in recent years. capture to retailer: • Management considerations Seafish Responsible Fishing Scheme. Sets best practice There is no minimum landing size restriction standards for fishing vessels: (BSi: on this species. There is a Total Allowable PAS 72:2006). Catch set for the combined catch of dab and • Global Standard/Safe and Local flounder in the North Sea, which has not Supplier Approval (SALSA) limited the fishery. For 2014 (7) this has been certification. Designed to raise set at 18,434 t (same as 2011-2013). The standards in the seafood processing total reported catches for dab in 2012 were and wholesaling sectors. 6,673 t (2,305 t for flounder), however, surveys of discarding practices indicate that a References and sources very high proportion of dabs caught are 1.https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/gui discarded (6). Discarding was predominantly dance-on-fish-labelling-regulations-2013 http://www.ices.dk/marine-data/dataset- size related, with the majority of fish below 25 2. collections/Pages/Fish-catch-and-stock- cm in length being discarded. A variety of assessment.aspx factors contributed to discarding: market 3.http://www.ices.dk/sites/pub/Publication%20Rep conditions; crews’ attitude; availability of the orts/Advice/2013/2013/dab-nsea.pdf main target species; if the target species are 4.http://www.ices.dk/sites/pub/Publication%20Rep abundant they are prioritised by the crew. orts/Advice/2013/2013/dab- There is limited information on survival post 2232_201304112326.pdf capture from shrimp trawls; survival ranged 5. Mackinson S and G. Daskalov (2007) Sci. Ser. from 77% to 88% dependent on processing Tech Rep., Cefas Lowestoft, 142: 196pp. (8). 6.http://www.ices.dk/sites/pub/Publication%20Rep orts/Expert%20Group%20Report/acom/2013/WG NEW/WGNEW%20report%20160513.pdf Contact: 7. *Council Regulation (EC) 43/2014. http://info.ices.dk/products/CMdocs/CM- Bill Lart - T: 01472 252323 8. E: [email protected] 2007/ACFM/ACFM0107.pdf http://europa.eu Karen Green - E: [email protected]

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