Distribution and abundance of fish eggs and larvae in North Sea and Baltic Sea have been objectives of fishery research for over 100 years. Most fish species produce pelagic eggs or larvae. The early developmental stages of many marine fish species important to commercial fishery are part of plankton communities, and can be sampled by a single gear.
Collections of fish in their larval phase provide material for studies of many aspects of fishery research: e.g. information on plankton communities and abundance of fish species in the area of investigation
