European Red List of Marine Fishes

The European Red List is a review of the conservation status of European species according to IUCN regional Red Listing guidelines. It identifies those species that are threatened with extinction at the regional level, so that appropriate conservation action can be taken to improve their status. This Red List publication summarises results for all described native European marine fishes.Postprin

Report of the Working Group on Commercial Catches (WGCATCH)

The Working Group on Commercial Catches (WGCATCH), chaired by Mike Arm- strong (UK) and Hans Gerritsen (Ireland), met in ICES HQ, Copenhagen, Denmark, 10–14 November 2014. The meeting was attended by 34 experts from 21 laboratories or organizations, covering 16 countries. Currently, an important task for WGCATCH is to improve and review sampling sur- vey designs for commercial fisheries, particularly those for estimating quantities and size or age compositions of landings and discards and providing data quality indica- tors. However, the scope of WGCATCH is broader than this, covering many other aspects of collection and analysis of data on fishing activities and catches. This will be end-user driven, and coordinated with the work of other ICES data EGs such as the Working Group on Biological Parameters (WGBIOP), the Planning Group on Data Needs for Assessments and Advice (PGDATA) and the Working Group on Recrea- tional Fisheries Surveys (WGRFS) to ensure synergy and efficiency. The report of the meeting commences with background information on the formation of WGCATCH and its overall role. The remainder of the report provides the out- comes for each of the Terms of Reference (ToRs) and responses to external requests, the proposed future work plan and the ToRs for the 2015 meeting. The group formed two large subgroups to deal with the two major terms of reference which are the development of guidelines for carrying out sampling of catches on shore and the provision of advice on adapting sampling programmes to deal with the landing obligation. In order to evaluate methods and develop guidelines for best practice in carrying out sampling of commercial sampling of commercial fish catches onshore, a question- naire was circulated before the meeting. This questionnaire was structured around guidelines developed by the ICES Workshop on Practical Implementation of Statisti- cally Sound Catch Sampling Programmes (WKPICS) for best practice at each stage of the sampling process, and asked for a description of current practices at each of these stages. Based on these questionnaires, common and specific problems were cata- logued and potential solutions were identified. At the same time, the discussion of the questionnaires provided a form of peer-review of the sampling designs and iden- tified where improvements could be made. WGCATCH provided guidelines for de- signing a sampling survey and summarized earlier guidelines provided by the 2010 Workshop on methods for merging métiers for fishery based sampling (WKMERGE) The other main subject addressed by WGCATCH concerns the provision of advice on adapting sampling protocols to deal with the impact of the introduction of the land- ing obligation, which will alter discarding practices and result in additional catego- ries of catch being landed. A second questionnaire was circulated before the meeting to allow the group to identify the fleets that will be affected and possible issues that are anticipated, as well as to propose solutions to adapt existing monitoring and sampling schemes and to quantify bias resulting from the introduction of this regula- tion. WGCATCH outlined a range of likely scenarios and the expected effects of these on fishery sampling programmes, and developed guidelines for adapting sam- pling schemes. The group also explored a range of analyses that could be conducted in order to quantify bias resulting from the introduction of the landing obligation. Finally a number of pilot studies/case studies were summarized, highlighting the practical issues involve

Coherent Assessments of Europe’s Marine Fishes Show Regional Divergence and Megafauna Loss

Europe has a long tradition of exploiting marine fishes and is promoting marine economic activity through its Blue Growth strategy. This increase in anthropogenic pressure, along with climate change, threatens the biodiversity of fishes and food security. Here, we examine the conservation status of 1,020 species of European marine fishes and identify factors that contribute to their extinction risk. Large fish species (greater than 1.5 m total length) are most at risk; half of these are threatened with extinction, predominantly sharks, rays and sturgeons. This analysis was based on the latest International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) European regional Red List of marine fishes, which was coherent with assessments of the status of fish stocks carried out independently by fisheries management agencies: no species classified by IUCN as threatened were considered sustainable by these agencies. A remarkable geographic divergence in stock status was also evident: in northern Europe, most stocks were not overfished, whereas in the Mediterranean Sea, almost all stocks were overfished. As Europe proceeds with its sustainable Blue Growth agenda, two main issues stand out as needing priority actions in relation to its marine fishes: the conservation of marine fish megafauna and the sustainability of Mediterranean fish stocks

The development of a new gillnet fishery for anglerfish (Lophius piscatorius) in Norwegian waters

In autumn 1992 a direct gillnet fishery for anglerfish (Lophius piscatorius) started on the continental shelf off the northwestern coast of Norway. The anglerfish had previously only been taken as bycatch in trawls and gillnets. The annual catches increased from 880 tons in 1991 to 4,447 tons in 1993, and then decreased to 2,621 tons in 1994. Studies on the fishery started in november 1992. Monthly sampling was conducted from commercial catches in 1993 and 1994 , for length and weight analysis. Age was determined by otolith- and first dorsal fin ray readings. Estimates of catch per unit effort were based on information from 5 commercial vessels. In 1994, the sex ratios and gonad development were analysed. In 1993 the average size ofthe anglerfish was 12.1 kg (n=706) decreasing to 11.2 kg (n=615) in 1994, all catches from gillnets of 360 mm stretched mesh size. In 1994 the average size of the fish from 300 mm mesh size was 7.8 kg (n=433). The difference in average length and weight between the two mesh sizes, corresponds to approximately 1 year of growth. Adult females are larger than males. 360 mm gillnets caught more females than the 300 mm gillnets, respectively 81 % and 62 %. In 1992, CPUE was 1-2 kg with maximum 3-4 kg per day per net. The catch rates started decreasing during summer 1993 and was estimated to 0.3 kg per net per day in autumn 1994

An introduction to the proceedings and a synthesis of the 2010 ices symposium on fishery-dependent information

Current problems and issues concerning the collection and use of fishery-dependent information are reviewed and selected papers in the pages following highlight emergent findings in the field. Key issues include relationships between stakeholders, especially fishers and scientists, and how to develop these constructively, the increasing demands on the quality and range of data on fishing activities and exploitation rates needed to promote the ecosystem approach to fishery management, and technological advances that have allowed new approaches and insights

An introduction to the proceedings and a synthesis of the 2010 ices symposium on fishery-dependent information

Current problems and issues concerning the collection and use of fishery-dependent information are reviewed and selected papers in the pages following highlight emergent findings in the field. Key issues include relationships between stakeholders, especially fishers and scientists, and how to develop these constructively, the increasing demands on the quality and range of data on fishing activities and exploitation rates needed to promote the ecosystem approach to fishery management, and technological advances that have allowed new approaches and insights