Search

[Extract from Executive Summary] This work was conducted under Work package 4 of the European Fisheries Funded program “Evidence Gathering in Support of Sustainable Scottish Inshore Fisheries”. The overall aim of the program was to work in partnership with Marine Scotland Fisheries Policy and with the Scottish Inshore Fisheries Groups to help develop inshore fisheries management. Specifically the program aims were to establish the location of fishing activities within inshore areas; to identify catch composition and associated fishery impacts; to define the environmental footprint and availability of stocks; to develop economic value within local fisheries and; to establish an information resource base to assist the development of inshore fisheries management provisions.

agencies to maximise benefits from operational monitoring programmes (e.g. EuroGOOS, ECOOP GMES). As pressure upon national resources mount and growing awareness of environmental problems with a transboundary nature continues, for example at a catchment level in the Water Framework Directive and for a prospective European marine directive, the need for (international) collaborative regional initiatives have begun to be realised. As the first step towards establishing a wider regional initiative a European Marine Ecosystem Observatory (EMECO) has been established within the North Sea. To develop EMECO (www.cefas.co.uk/emeco) a bottom – up approach has been adopted based upon collaboration between agencies with statutory responsibilities for a range of environmental pressures from monitoring and assessment of nutrients and hazardous substances, wave monitoring to fish stock assessments. The monitoring programmes associated with such activities are by nature long-term and these programmes form key components of EMECO. However, there are a range of other programmes with either a relevant North Sea component (EU Ferry Box programme, International CPR programme, Smart-Buoy programme) or are part of wider initiatives (e.g. satellite remote sensing) that will also contribute to the observatory. It will also embrace initiatives to protect and conserve renewable and sustainable resources such as Marine Protected Areas and closed area for fisheries such as the Dutch Cod Box. The observatory will provide an opportunity to integrate research with monitoring and assessment programmes and to undertake reviews at a regional level to identify gaps in information and develop strategies to address shortcomings. Within the ecosystem approach, ICES is increasingly aware of the need to include ecosystem considerations in its fisheries assessment models in order to enhance their predictive properties. Moreover, ICES’ preparedness to carry out integrated assessments could be greatly enhanced by the scientific framework embedded in EMECO. This paper will describe the approach taken so far with EMECO, will explore the relationships and chances for collaboration with other initiatives (ECOOP GMES, EuroGOOS) and will examine how EMECO might contribute to ICES’ needs for environmental information in fisheries and ecosystem advice. Keywords: ecosystem observatory, monitoring, Ferry Box, Smart-Buoy, remote sensing

In 2004 an international consortium comprising England, Scotland, Netherlands, Germany, Denmark and Norway conducted an ichthyoplankton survey covering the whole of the North Sea in order to comprehensively survey cod and plaice spawning areas. At each station, ‘cod-like’ eggs were pre-sorted at sea from the plankton sample and preserved in ethanol for subsequent analysis using species-specific genetic probes. The remainder of the plankton sample was fixed in formalin and ichthyoplankton subsequently sorted and identified using traditional visual methods. The results showed stage I plaice spawning to be located in the traditional areas reported from the literature although with evidence of a more northward extension up the eastern edge of the Dogger Bank compared to data from the 1930s. The distribution of stage I cod eggs also conformed to historical patterns being most abundant around the southern and eastern edge of the Dogger Bank, in the German Bight, off the Moray Firth and to the east of the Shetland Isles. ‘Cod-like’ eggs were also found in southern Bight but this area was not as well sub-sampled for genetic analyses. Most of the ‘cod-like’ eggs on stations that were sub-sampled adequately in this region were shown to be whiting or other species. Data was also produced on the distribution of haddock eggs which were found over a wider region of the north-western North Sea than shown in historical maps. Whiting eggs were found south of the Dogger Bank and to the east of the Shetland Isles but were absent from the central North Sea. These results are discussed in relation to historical patterns of spawning and recent changes in the abundance of the North Sea plaice, cod and haddock stocks. Keywords: cod, plaice, spawning, ichthyoplankton, North Sea