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The ICES has released its advice on fishing opportunities the Celtic Seas ecoregion for Anglers & Megrim for 2021.
The ICES has released its advice on fishing opportunities, catch, and effort Celtic Seas, Greater North Sea, and Oceanic Northeast Atlantic ecoregions.
For Anglerfish (Lophius budegassa, Lophius piscatorius) in subareas 4 and 6, and in Division 3.a (North Sea, Rockall and West of Scotland, Skagerrak and Kattegat) the ICES advises that when the precautionary approach is applied, catches in 2021 should be no more than 17 645 tonnes.
Catch scenarios
The ICES framework for category 3 stocks was applied (ICES, 2012). The Scottish–Irish Anglerfish and Megrim Industry– Science Survey in Subarea 6 and Division 4.a (SIAMISS-Q2) was used as the index of stock development. This survey was cancelled in 2020 because of COVID-19. The advice is based on the ratio of the mean of the last two index values (Index A, with 2020 treated as missing) and the mean of the three preceding values (Index B), multiplied by the recent advised catch. This is equivalent to assuming that the 2020 value is equal to the 2019 biomass index.
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The index is estimated to have decreased by more than 20% and thus the uncertainty cap was applied. The precautionary buffer was last applied in 2019 and its application has, therefore, not been considered again. The discard rate in 2019 was 2.3% of the total catch.
To read the full report click here.
The ICES advice for Megrim (Lepidorhombus ssp.) in Division 6.b (Rockall) is that when the precautionary approach is applied, catches in 2021 should be no more than 512 tonnes.
Catch scenarios
The ICES framework for category 3 stocks was applied (ICES, 2012). The Scottish–Irish Anglerfish and Megrim Industry– Science Survey in Subarea 6 and Division 4.a (SIAMISS-Q2) was used as the index of stock development. The survey was cancelled in 2020 due to COVID-19. The advice is based on the ratio of the mean of the last two index values (Index A, with 2020 treated as missing) and the mean of the three preceding values (Index B), multiplied by the recent advised catch. This is equivalent to assuming that the 2020 value is equal to the 2019 biomass index.
The precautionary buffer has not previously been applied for this stock. SPiCT analysis indicates that fishing pressure is below proxies of the MSY reference points. While there is no estimate for stock size in 2020, the high estimate for 2019 relative to the MSY Btrigger indicates that the stock size in 2020 is likely to be above MSY Btrigger. Therefore, the precautionary buffer was not applied to the advice. The discard rate in 2019 was 4% of the total catch.
To read the full report click here.
