Sprat

There is no concern for the biomass of sprat in the North Sea, Skagerrak and Kattegat, but there is concern for the fishing pressure.Stock assessments for sprat in this area are carried out annually by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES). The most recent assessment was published in 2025 using data up to 2025. The next assessment is expected in 2026. The stock assessment is Category 1, indicating that it is data rich. However, no reference points have been defined for fishing pressure.Route 2 (data limited) scoring has been applied to this rating owing to the lack of reference points for fishing pressure. Sprat has medium resilience to fishing pressure.The stock assessment defines reference points for biomass (B). 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.The spawning stock biomass declined from around 600,000t in the 1970s to below Blim in the 1980s. It has shown a slow recovery since then, reaching around 300,000t in 2020. It sharply declined and was below Blim in 2024, biomass has increased and was 274,902t ion 2025. Though Btrigger is not defined this well above Blim (107,598t) and Bpa (135,952t). Therefore there is not concern for biomass.Fishing mortality (F) has high levels of fluctuation throughout the time series. Additionally, catches have been above advice two of the last five years, including most recently in 2024. Due to the lack of additional reference points and high levels of catch fluctuation there is enough uncertainty around F for there to be concern for fishing pressure.ICES advises that when the MSY approach is applied, catches from 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026 should be no more than 236,114 tonnes. This is a increase of 214% from last years advice, this is due to the strong recruitment in 2024, which was the highest since 1979.

Some management measures are in place for sprat in the North Sea, Skagerrak and Kattegat. However, there is no management or recovery plan and the stock is below safe levels.Sprat in this area are mainly caught in an industrial fishery, although some catches are for human consumption. Most catches (87%) are by Denmark, with some from Sweden, Norway, and the UK.There is no specific management plan in place for this sprat population, and ICES recommends that one is developed. Sprat is an important forage fish, so multispecies considerations should be included.The fishery is, however, managed by a catch limit known as Total Allowable Catch (TAC). The North Sea stock and the Skagerrak and Kattegat stock were combined in 2019 and the TAC is now provided for those areas together. Since 2020, TACs have matched the scientifically advised limits. Catches have been below the TAC except in 2022, when catch was 30% above.Although not used as an official reference point, ICES has defined an upper limit on exploitation rates (Fcap) that should have a less than 5% of risk of causing the stock to decline below Blim. Fcap is set at 1.01. Exploitation rates have been above this level in most years since 2016. As the stock in 2024 is considered to be below Blim, it suggests that the current management has not protected the stock from overexploitation, despite general compliance with scientific advice.Additional limits on the fishery may come from restrictions on how much herring can be bycaught. The herring bycatch quotas for each of 2023 and 2024 were 7,716 t for the North Sea and 6,659 t for Division 3.a. The Danish sprat fishery in 2023 had a herring bycatch of 7% in the North Sea and 19% in Division 3.a.Discarding is not currently quantified but assumed to be negligible since 2016.The EU and UK both have fishery management measures, which can include catch limits, population targets, and gear restrictions. However, compliance in the EU and UK has been inconsistent, with ongoing challenges in implementing some regulations. The goal of reaching Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) by 2020 was missed, with less than half of UK TACs in 2024 following ICES advice. In 2024, the EU and UK reaffirmed their commitment to sustainable fisheries by aligning management with scientific advice to gradually approach MSY. However, no new target date has been set for achieving MSY across all fisheries. The Landing Obligation (LO), an EU law retained by the UK post-Brexit, requires all quota fish to be landed, even if unwanted (over-quota or below minimum size). It aims to encourage more selective fishing methods, reduce bycatch, and improve catch reporting. However, compliance is poor, and accurate discard levels are hard to quantify with current monitoring programmes. The UK is in the process of replacing the LO with country-specific Catching Policies.The Marine Conservation Society views Remote Electronic Monitoring (REM) with cameras is one of the most cost-effective tools for providing reliable fisheries data and aiding informed management decisions. Fully monitored fisheries enhance collaboration, data accuracy, stock recovery, and reduce impacts on marine wildlife and habitats. However, the full potential of REM may only be achieved when it tracks fishing location and documents catch and bycatch, particularly where vulnerable species and habitats are at risk. As of January 2024, the EU is introducing a Remote Electronic Monitoring (REM) mandate for EU vessels, including CCTV cameras on vessels 18m or more that pose a potential risk of non-compliance, within the next 4 years. Across the UK, different approaches to REM are being taken and legislation is expected to be in place across all 4 countries within the next few years.The Fisheries Act (2020) requires the development of Fisheries Management Plans (FMPs) (replacing EU Multi-Annual Plans) in the UK. 43 FMPs have been proposed and are at various stages of development and implementation, these should all be published by the end of 2028. FMPs have the potential to be very important tools for managing UK fisheries, although data limitations may delay them for some stocks. It is also essential the UK governments define and adopt a standardised approach or model across the four nations to a universally defined FMP design, to ensure the consistence, quality and coherence of all the proposal FMPs.The Marine Conservation Society is keen to see publicly available Fishery Management Plans for all commercially exploited stocks, especially where stocks are depleted, that include:An overview of the fishery including current stock status, spatial coverage, current fishing methods and impactsTargets for fishing pressure and biomass, and additional management when those targets are not being met, based on the best scientific evidenceTimeframes for stock recoveryImproved data collection, transparency, and accountability, supported by technologies such as Remote Electronic Monitoring (REM)Consideration of wider environmental impacts of the fishery, including habitat impacts and minimising bycatchStakeholder engagementA North Sea and Channel Sprat FMP has been proposed, coordinated by Defra that incorporates this stock. At the time of writing, it is too soon to know whether proposed management measures will be effective in managing the stock. For more information about this FMP and expected progress and timelines, see [https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/fisheries-management-plans#published-fmps].

Pelagic trawlers target sprat with very little to no bycatch of other species or impact on the seabed.Sprat is a pelagic (mid-water) species, which travel in large schools with other fish (e.g., herring). The fishery is well targeted by use of sonar. Fishermen find sprat by sonar search; they use the size and shape of the marks on the sonar to assess the likely composition of the shoals. They can usually distinguish between herring, sprat and mackerel.Sprat is an important prey species in the North Sea ecosystem. The implications of the environmental change for sprat and the influence of the sprat fishery on other fish species and sea birds are at present unknown.Pelagic trawls are towed in mid-water with no intentional contact with the seabed, thus negligible impact on the seabed environment. Pelagic trawls are species specific in operation, but on occasion can bycatch marine mammals, other pelagic fish and surface-dwelling birds on hauling. There are no significant reports of bycatch of endangered, threatened or protected (ETP) species in this fishery. Where unwanted bycatch does occur, this generally consists of herring, which is a difficult species to avoid in this fishery (bycatch allowance 10%).As herring bycatch is a particular problem in the southern North Sea, an area off the western coast of Denmark was closed to sprat fishing (known as the sprat box). The closure was lifted in 2017, after an evaluation concluded that fishing inside the box would reduce unwanted catches of herring (by weight but not by number).UK regulations to reduce the impacts of fishing on marine habitats and wider species are under development, in the meantime most EU regulation have been adopted. Under EU legislation, bycatch species should be managed within scientifically defined or, where data isn’t available, suitability precautionary sustainable exploration limits. If stocks fall below a certain threshold, measures can be brought in such as gear limitations (e.g., mesh size or depth of use), time and/or areas closures, and Minimum Conservation Reference Sizes (MCRS).