Report to the Department of Trade and Industry Fish & Fisheries in the SEA7 Area Prepared by John D. M. Gordon Honorary Fellow Scottish Association for Marine Science Dunstaffnage Marine Laboratory Oban Argyll PA37 1QA This document was produced as part of the UK Department of Trade and Industry's offshore energy Strategic Environmental Assessment programme. The SEA programme is funded and managed by the DTI and coordinated on their behalf by Geotek Ltd and Hartley Anderson Ltd. © Crown Copyright, all rights reserved CONTENTS Executive Summary ...............................................................................................................................................1 1. Introduction..............................................................................................................................................3 2. Fish communities and sources of information .........................................................................................5 2.1 Fauna lists......................................................................................................................................5 2.2 Coastal fish and fisheries investigations in the SEA7 area............................................................5 2.2.1 Bottom trawling surveys in the Firth of Lorne and adjacent sea lochs...............................5 2.2.2 Egg and larval surveys in the Firth of Lorne and adjacent sea lochs..................................5 2.2.3 Littoral and sub-littoral studies in the Firth of Lorne and adjacent sea lochs .....................5 2.2.4 Rocky shore studies in the Firth of Lorne...........................................................................6 2.2.5 Sea trout in the Firth of Lorne area.....................................................................................6 2.2.6 Loch Ewe, Loch Torridon and Gairloch.............................................................................6 2.2.7 Joint Nature Conservation Council (JNCC) sea loch surveys ............................................6 2.3 Continental shelf fish and fisheries investigations in the SEA7 area ............................................6 2.3.1 Population studies...............................................................................................................6 2.3.2 Fisheries Research Services (FRS) surveys and monitoring...............................................7 2.3.3 Ecosystem simulation model ..............................................................................................7 2.3.4 ICES Working Groups........................................................................................................7 2.3.5 Fisheries sensitivity maps...................................................................................................8 2.4 Rockall Trough..............................................................................................................................8 2.4.1 UK MAFF surveys .............................................................................................................8 2.4.2 German surveys ..................................................................................................................8 2.4.3 Scottish Association for Marine Science surveys...............................................................8 2.4.4 Irish Surveys.......................................................................................................................9 2.4.5 Scottish surveys (FRS) .......................................................................................................9 2.4.6 Atlas of deep-sea fishes ......................................................................................................9 2.4.7 Seamounts...........................................................................................................................9 2.4.8 ICES Working Groups........................................................................................................9 2.5 Rockall Bank...............................................................................................................................10 2.6 Hatton Bank and surrounding abyssal plain ................................................................................11 2.6.1 Russian surveys on Hatton Bank ......................................................................................11 2.6.2 Norwegian surveys on Hatton Bank .................................................................................11 2.6.3 Spanish surveys on Hatton Bank ......................................................................................12 2.6.4 Abyssal depths west of Hatton Bank ................................................................................13 3. Fish species: biology and fishery ...........................................................................................................14 3.1 Sharks and dogfish ......................................................................................................................14 3.1.1 Spurdog (Squalus acanthias)............................................................................................14 3.1.2 Lesser-spotted dogfish (Scyliorhinus canicula)................................................................16 3.1.3 Basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus) ...............................................................................16 3.1.4 Porbeagle (Lamna nasus) .................................................................................................17 3.1.5 Frilled shark (Chlamydoselachus anguineus)...................................................................17 3.1.6 Six-gilled shark (Hexanchus griseus) ..............................................................................17 3.1.7 Portuguese dogfish (Centroscymnus coelolepis) ..............................................................18 3.1.8 Leaf scaled gulper shark (Centrophorus squamosus).......................................................19 3.1.9 Blackmouth catshark (Galeus melastomus)......................................................................19 3.2 Skates and rays (Family Rajiidae)...............................................................................................20 3.3 Family Chimaeridae ....................................................................................................................20 3.3.1 Rabbit fish (Chimaera monstrosa) ...................................................................................20 3.4 Family Clupeidae ........................................................................................................................21 3.4.1 Herring (Clupea harengus)...............................................................................................21 3.4.2 Sprat (Sprattus sprattus)...................................................................................................22 3.5 Family Argentine (Argentina silus).............................................................................................23 3.5.1 Argentine (Argentina silus) ..............................................................................................23 3.6 Family Alepocephalidae..............................................................................................................24 3.6.1 Baird’s smoothhead (Alepocephalus bairdii) ...................................................................24 3.7 Family Merluccidae.....................................................................................................................25 3.7.1 Hake (Merluccius merluccius)..........................................................................................25 3.8 Family Gadidae...........................................................................................................................25 3.8.1 Cod (Gadus morhua)........................................................................................................25 3.8.2 Haddock (Melanogrammus aegifinis) ..............................................................................26 3.8.3 Whiting (Merlangius merlangus) .....................................................................................27 3.8.4 Blue whiting (Micromesisitius poutassou) .......................................................................28 3.8.5 Norway pout (Trisopterus esmarkii).................................................................................29 3.8.6 Saithe (Pollachius virens).................................................................................................29 3.8.7 Tusk (Brosme brosme)......................................................................................................30 3.8.8 Blue ling (Molva dypterygia)............................................................................................30 3.8.9 Ling (Molva molva) ..........................................................................................................31 3.8.10 Greater forkbeard (Phycis blennoides) .............................................................................31 3.9 Family Moridae...........................................................................................................................32 3.10 Family Macrouridae ....................................................................................................................32 3.10.1 Roundnose grenadier (Coryphaenoides rupestris) ...........................................................32