Plaice

Pleuronectes platessa

5: Avoid How we work out the ratings

What to check for

Location

English Channel (East): All areas

Technical location

27 - Atlantic, Northeast, 7d: English Channel (East)

Caught by

Bottom trawl (beam)

Rating summary

Default red rating: The Eastern English Channel plaice stock is below safe biological limits. Therefore, it receives a critical fail for stock status and is a default red rating.Last updated: July 2025

How we worked out this Rating

The Eastern English Channel plaice stock is below critical levels and being fished beyond safe fishing limits. Therefore, it receives a critical fail for stock status and is a default red rating. Stock assessments for plaice in the Eastern English Channel are carried out annually by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES). Following a benchmark assessment in 2025, an enhanced model was introduced using updated reference points, including catches, maturity, and natural mortality, which has shifted the understanding of the stock’s exploitation status.The stock assessment defines reference points for fishing pressure (F) and biomass (B). For fishing pressure, there is a target to keep F at or below Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY). For biomass, there is no target. However, there is a trigger point (MSY Btrigger). Below this level, F should be reduced to allow the stock to increase. Because BMSY is not defined, the Good Fish Guide applies its own definition of 1.4 x MSY Btrigger.From 1988 to 2009, spawning stock biomass (SSB) remained below the limit reference point (Blim = 25,105 tonnes). Following a period of high recruitment between 2009 and 2015, SSB rose above MSY Btrigger (34,942 tonnes) in 2011 and peaked at 60,802 tonnes in 2015. However, since then, SSB has steadily declined, dropping below MSY Btrigger in 2021 and falling beneath Blim once again in 2024. In 2025, SSB remains below Blim at 22,798 tonnes, with projections indicating it will stay low in 2026 at 23,993 tonnes.Historically, fishing pressure (F) exceeded the precautionary reference point (Fpa, 0.246), with some decline in the 1990s. F briefly dropped below FMSY (0.203) in 2014 but then increased again, surpassing Fpa in 2016. Since then, F has remained above both FMSY and Fpa, and was 0.308 in 2024.ICES advises that when the MSY approach is applied, catches in 2026 should be no more than 1,151 tonnes. This is a 56% reduction from 2025 advice, reflecting the downward revision of SSB following the 2025 benchmark.

References

Eigaard, O.R., Bastardie, F., Breen, M., Dinesen, G.E., Hintzen, N.T., Laffargue, P., Mortensen, L.O., Nielsen, J.R., Nilsson, H.C., O'Neill, F.G., Polet, H., Reid, D.G., Sala, A., SkOld, M., Smith, C., Sorensen, T.K., Tully, O., Zengin, M., Rijnsdorp, A.D., 2016. Estimating seabed pressure from demersal trawls, seines, and dredges based on gear design and dimensions. ICES Journal of Marine Science, Volume 73, Issue suppl 1. Pages i27-i43. Available at https://academic.oup.com/icesjms/article/73/suppl_1/i27/2573989 [Accessed on 03.07.2025].

Ellis, J. R., Bendall, V. A., Hetherington, S. J., Silva, J. F. and McCully Phillips, S. R. 2016. National Evaluation of Populations of Threatened and Uncertain Elasmobranchs (NEPTUNE). Project Report (Cefas) V1.4. Available at http://randd.defra.gov.uk/Document.aspx?Document=13513_MB5201NEPTUNEFinalReportv1.4.pdf [Accessed on 12.07.2024].

EU. 2024. Council Regulation (EU) 2024/257 of 11 January 2024 fixing for 2024, 2025 and 2026 the

fishing opportunities for certain fish stocks, applicable in Union waters and, for Union

fishing vessels, in certain non-Union waters, and amending Regulation (EU) 2023/194.

ST/16570/2023/ADD/3/REV/1. Official Journal of the European Union, L 2024/257,

11.1.2024, p. 1–219. http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/257/oj

EU. 2019. Regulation (EU) 2019/1241 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June

2019 on the conservation of fisheries resources and the protection of marine ecosystems

through technical measures, amending Council Regulations (EC) No 1967/2006, (EC) No

1224/2009 and Regulations (EU) No 1380/2013, (EU) 2016/1139, (EU) 2018/973, (EU)

2019/472 and (EU) 2019/1022 of the European Parliament and of the Council, and repealing

Council Regulations (EC) No 894/97, (EC) No 850/98, (EC) No 2549/2000, (EC) No 254/2002,

(EC) No 812/2004 and (EC) No 2187/2005. Official Journal of the European Union, L 198,

25.7.2019, p. 105. http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2019/1241/2024-04-09

GOV.UK. 2025. Technical Conservation and Landing Obligation rules and regulations 2025. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/technical-conservation-and-landing-obligation-rules-and-regulations-2025 [Accessed on 03.07.2025]

Hiddink, J., Jennings, S., Sciberras, M., Szostek, C.L., Hughes, K.M., Ellis, N., Rijnsdorp, A.D., McConnaughey, R.A., Mazor, T., Hilborn, R., Collie, J.S., Pitcher, C.R., Amoroso, R.O., Parma, A.M., Suuronen, P. and Kaiser, M.J. 2017. Global analysis of depletion and recovery of seabed biota after bottom trawling disturbance. PNAS. 114:31, pp. 8301-8306. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1618858114.

ICES. 2025. Plaice (Pleuronectes platessa) in Division 7.d (eastern English Channel). In Report of the ICES Advisory Committee, 2025. ICES Advice 2025, ple.27.7d. https://doi.org/10.17895/ices.advice.27202788

ICES. 2025. Benchmark Workshop on Selected North Sea and Celtic Sea Stocks (WKBNSCS).

ICES Scientific Reports. 07:42. 349 pp. https://doi.org/10.17895/ices.pub.28715180

ICES. 2025. Working Group on the Assessment of Demersal Stocks in the North Sea and Skagerrak (WGNSSK).

ICES Scientific Reports. 07:57. 1122 pp. https://doi.org/10.17895/ices.pub.29085995

ICES. 2024. Greater North Sea ecoregion – Ecosystem overview. In Report of the ICES Advisory Committee, 2024. ICES Advice 2024, Section 7.1, https://doi.org/10.17895/ices.advice.25714239

Kennelly, S. J. & Broadhurst, M. K., 2021. A review of bycatch reduction in demersal fish trawls. Rev Fish Biol Fisheries 31, 289–318. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11160-021-09644-0.

Kynoch, R., Fryer, R. & Neat, F., 2015. A simple technical measure to reduce bycatch and discard of skates and sharks in mixed-species bottom-trawl fisheries. ICES J Mar Sci,72(6):1861.

Silva, F., Ellis, J. & Catchpole, T., 2012. Species composition of skates (Rajidae) in commercial fisheries around the British Isles and their discarding patterns. J Fish Biol., 80:1678–1703.

van Denderen, P. Bolam, S., Hiddink, J.G., Jennings, S., Kenny, A., Rijnsdorp, A., and van Kooten, T., 2015. Similar effects of bottom trawling and natural disturbance on composition and function of benthic communities across habitats. Mar Ecol Prog Ser. 2015;541:31–43.

Sustainable swaps

Atlantic halibut
6 sources, rated from 2-5
Brill
9 sources, rated from 2-4
Dab
5 sources, rated from 2-4
Dover sole
12 sources, rated from 2-5
Megrim
4 sources, rated from 2-3
Turbot
6 sources, rated from 2-4

Add impact to your inbox

Join the movement: get updates on the issues you care about.

We'll email you inspiring stories about the work we're doing to save and recover our oceans, and news about our urgent campaigns for positive change.