Nimmegeers, S.

Polet, H.

Torreele, E.

Vanelslander, B.

Vansteenbrugge, L.

Open Marine Archive

 35 
Are we approaching MSY in 2020? Focus on commercial fish stocks 
important to Belgian fisheries 
Nimmegeers Sofie, Vansteenbrugge Lies, Vanelslander Bart, Polet Hans and Torreele Els 
Flanders Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Animal sciences Unit – Fisheries and 
Aquatic Production, Ankerstraat 1, 8400 Oostende, Belgium 
E-mail: sofie.nimmegeers@ilvo.vlaanderen.be 
 
The European Common Fisheries Policy (CFP; EU regulation No 1380/2013; 2015/812) states that a 
Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) should be ensured for all commercial fish stocks by 2020. We 
investigated the status and progress in 2017 for the most important stocks to the Belgian commercial 
fishing fleet, using the information provided by ICES. 
 
The Belgian commercial fishing fleet, consisting of 68 vessels, is active on five different fishing 
grounds (North Sea, English Channel and Western waters, i.e. Irish Sea, Celtic Sea, Bay of Biscay). 
Using mostly beam trawls, the fleet focusses on demersal fish species. In 2016, the most important 
fish stocks in terms of catch were North Sea plaice, sole, turbot, brill, cod and Norway lobster, English 
Channel plaice and sole and Western waters anglerfish, rays and sole. Sole in the Bay of Biscay should 
be added to this list, when identifying important stocks in terms of value. Although fishing this stock 
is only allowed in summer, the resulting catches account for a substantial value. When ranking the 
stocks based on the share of Belgium in the Total Allowable Catch (TAC), i.e. quota, the most 
important stocks are North Sea turbot, brill and rays, English Channel plaice, sole and rays, Western 
waters plaice, sole, rays and anglerfish. The stock status was evaluated using the MSY reference points 
(for data rich ICES category 1 stocks) or MSY proxies (for data poor ICES category 3 stocks) when 
available. For stocks with only catch statistics (data poor ICES category 5), an MSY evaluation is not 
possible. These stocks were excluded from the analysis. 
 
For seven of the stocks listed above, the fishing mortality rate (F) is not more than FMSY (the upper 
bound of the sustainable level), and the spawning stock biomass (SSB) is maintained above MSY Btrigger 
(the lower bound of the sustainable level). Consequently, North Sea plaice, turbot and brill, Eastern 
and Western English Channel plaice and Western waters sole (ICES area 27.7h-k) and plaice (ICES area 
27.7fg) currently comply with the MSY objective of the CFP. Additionally, four stocks (North Sea cod 
and sole and Western waters sole (ICES area 27.7fg and 27.8ab)) have a SSB that is above MSY Btrigger, 
but a F is that is still too high. For sole in the Eastern English Channel and in the Irish Sea, the F is 
below FMSY, but the SSB is still too low. The stock status of Norway lobster, anglerfish and rays is either 
unknown due to the lack of information or complex due to the stock delineation. Overall, most fish 
stocks important to the Belgian fleet are at or moving towards sustainable exploitation. However, 
stock status can vary from year to year, affected by various factors. The North Sea cod stock for 
example is characterised by a slow recovery since the historical low biomass in 2006. Reasons are 
socio-economically driven management measures causing F to remain above FMSY. Also climate and 
biological aspects play a role, e.g. increasing predation pressure, cannibalism, lower survival of eggs 
and larvae and food availability. Therefore, continued action should be taken to obtain and maintain 
sustainably fished stocks by 2020. 
 
Keywords: MSY; stock assessment; CFP; 2020; fisheries management; Belgian fisheries; beam trawlers  


Are we approaching MSY in 2020? Focus on commercial fish stocks important to Belgian fisheries

http://www.vliz.be/imisdocs/publications/311862.pdf

Are we approaching MSY in 2020? Focus on commercial fish stocks important to Belgian fisheries

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