Working Group on Widely Distributed Stocks (WGWIDE)

• Main Authors: Berg, Florian, Beukhof, Esther, Bjarnason, Sigurvin, Björnsson, Höskuldur, Brunel, Thomas, Burns, Finlay, Campbell, Andrew, Campbell, Neil, Catarino, Rui, Chetyrkin, Anatoly, Costas, Gersom, Dubroca, Laurent, Duncan, Roxanne, Egan, Afra, Eliasen, Sólvá K., Gonçalves, Patricia, Henriksen, Ole, Hjorleifsson, Einar, Højnes, Åge, Hølleland, Sondre, Homrum, Eydna í, Arge Jacobsen, Jan, Jansen, Teunis, Kalashnikov, Yury, Krysov, Alexander, Libungan, Lisa Anne, Lusseau, Susan, Sánchez-Maroño, Sonia, Miller, David, Nash, Richard, Nøttestad, Leif, Olafsdottir, Anna H., Orio, Alessandro, Ourens, Rosana, Pastoors, Martin, Dominguez-Petit, Rosario, Pronyuk, Alexander, Rybakov, Maxim, Salthaug, Are, Slotte, Aril, R. Sparrevohn, Claus, Stenevik, Erling Kåre, Ulleweit, Jens, Vatnehol, Sindre, Vinther, Morten
• Format: Book
• Language: English
• Published: International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) 2021
• Subjects: /dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/life_below_water; SDG 14 - Life Below Water; Norwegian Sea; North Atlantic; Northeast Atlantic
• Online Access: https://orbit.dtu.dk/en/publications/8a09cc9b-2dba-497a-952d-f4d35b1c5669; https://doi.org/10.17895/ices.pub.8298

WGWIDE reports on the status and considerations for management of the Northeast Atlantic mackerel, blue whiting, Western and North Sea horse mackerel, Northeast Atlantic boarfish, Norwegian spring-spawning herring, striped red mullet (Subareas 6, 8 and Divisions 7.a-c, e-k and 9.a), and red gurnard (Subareas 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8) stocks. Northeast Atlantic Mackerel . This migratory stock is widely distributed throughout the Northeast Atlantic with significant fisheries in several ICES subareas. The assessment conducted in 2021 is an update assessment, based on the configuration agreed during the 2019 interbenchmark with updates to include sampling of the commercial catch, a recruitment index and tagging time series updated to 2020 and data from the 2021 IESSNS swept area survey. No update to the egg survey based SSB index is available with the most recent survey carried out in 2019 and the next survey scheduled for 2022. Advice is given based on stock reference points which were updated during a management strategy evaluation carried out in 2020. Following a strong increase from 2007 to 2014, SSB has been declining although it remains above MSY Btrigger. Fishing mortality has been below FMSY since 2015 but is rising and is just below FMSY in 2020. Blue Whiting . This pelagic gadoid is widely distributed in the eastern part of the North Atlantic. The current assessment configuration (inter-benchmark in 2016) uses preliminary catch and sampling data along with the acoustic survey data from the current year. The 2021 update assessment indicates that SSB is continuing to decrease from a maximum reached in 2017, with below average recruitment from 2017-19, although it remains above MSY Btrigger in 2021. Fishing mortality has been above FMSY since 2014 and is rising since 2019. There are indications in the most recent data of a moderate increase in recruitment in 2020-21. Norwegian Spring Spawning Herring . This stock is migratory, spawning along the Norwegian coast and feeding throughout much of the Norwegian Sea. ...