Spurdog

Spurdog is vulnerable to overexploitation. In the Northeast Atlantic, the latest stock assessment indicates that spurdog is currently not overfished, or subject to overfishing.The spurdog fishery in the Northeast Atlantic has changed significantly in recent years. Restrictive management measures, including a zero TAC for spurdog introduced in 2011, resulted in a major change in reported landings. Between 2005 and 2017, landings declined across all ICES subareas, increasing again slightly from 2017 to 2021.This stock was benchmarked in 2021 with a substantial improvement in data available for the assessment. Results from the current model confirm that spurdog abundance declined due to high exploitation levels in the past, coupled with biological characteristics that make spurdog particularly vulnerable to such intense exploitation. This model also confirms that the stock is recovering from a low in the early- to mid-2000s, and is now above MSY Btrigger (336,796 tonnes). Biomass in 2022 was 540,266 tonnes. The current stock is thought to be around 45% of virgin biomass.Fishing pressure on the stock has declined substantially since the early 2000s. The harvest rate (ages 5-30) is currently well below HR MSY (0.043). In 2021 it was 0.0031. ICES advises that when the MSY approach is applies, catches in 2023 and 2024 should be no more than 17,353 and 17,855 tonnes respectively. This is a significant change from the advice for 2021 and 2022 which was for zero catch. This change is due to the recent benchmark which led to a change in the perception of the stock and reference points.

This fishery has only recently reopened. The TAC has been set in line with advice but it is too soon to know if management measures will be effective in managing the stock.From 2011-2023, there has been a zero Total Allowable Catch (TAC) in place for spurdog and it was on prohibited lists of both the EU and UK. In July 2016, an amendment to EU quota regulation allowed for a bycatch quota of 270 tonnes for those countries taking part in a pilot spurdog avoidance programme. During 2018, 2019 and 2020, UK reported landings of 37, 52 and 79 tonnes, respectively. For the UK, this was a major increase from a level close to zero that has been seen since the zero TAC was introduced in 2011.In 2022, a change in perception of the stock and reference points led to ICES recommending a catch of 17,353 tonnes in 2023. Subsequently, three TAC units have been proposed for spurdog in the Northeast Atlantic:North Sea (3,434 tonnes)Western (10,899 tonnes)Skagerrak (1,130 tonnes)The UK will have an 81% share in the North Sea unit and a 44.31% share in the Western unit. The prohibition on landing spurdog in EU waters was lifted in January 2023, and in the UK, was lifted on 1st April 2023.As a precautionary measure to protect mature and breeding females, all spurdog over 100cm must be discarded. Specimens 100cm or less must be landed under the Landing Obligation. It is not yet known how well this size limit will be enforced. Estimates of post-release mortality range from 6% to 29%.This is a newly reopened fishery and it is too soon to know if management measures in place will be effective. We would like to see fisheries management plans in place for all UK fisheries, including spurdog.In the UK, it is too early to tell how effective management is, as the Fisheries Act only came into force in January 2021. The Act requires the development of Fisheries Management Plans (FMPs) (replacing EU Multi-Annual Plans) but there are no details yet on how and when these will be developed. FMPs have the potential to be very important tools for managing UK fisheries, although data limitations may delay them for some stocks. MCS is keen to see FMPs for all commercially exploited stocks, especially where stocks are depleted, that include:Targets for fishing pressure and biomass, and additional management when those targets are not being metTimeframes for stock recoveryTechnologies such as Remote Electronic Monitoring (REM) to support data collection and improve transparency and accountabilityConsideration of wider environmental impacts of the fishery

Otter trawls are likely to cause some damage to the seabed. Bycatch is moderate and may include vulnerable species.Historically, spurdog was taken in large target fisheries but since the fishery was prohibited in 2011, is has been taken as bycatch in mixed demersal trawl fisheries.Otter trawls are not a very selective gear: the catch may include a large variety of species such as various soles, plaice, monkfish, haddock, cod, John Dory, red gurnard, horse mackerel, boar fish and grey gurnard, skates, rays and starry smooth-hound. Endangered, Threatened and Protected (ETP) species can occasionally be caught such as blue and flapper skate in offshore otter trawl fisheries but it is illegal to land these species.Catching large numbers of spurdog in nets can negatively impact the survival of the other species in that net. Spurdog damage other species because their skin is extremely rough and they have spines on their skin. When caught in longline fisheries, spurdog survival rates are higher.Demersal trawls have contact with the seabed resulting in penetration and abrasion of habitat features. The impact of trawling on the seabed depends on the location and scale in which trawling occurs. For example, areas that are used to natural disturbance through tides and waves, are less sensitive to habitat impacts. Areas not used to mobile towed gears are typically more sensitive to trawling.There are Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in this area, some of which are designated to protect seabed features from damaging activities. This fishery overlaps with parts of these MPAs, but the proportion of the catch coming from these areas is expected to be relatively low in relation to the unit of assessment (i.e. less than 20% of the catch or effort), and so these impacts have not been assessed within the scale of this rating. Given the important role that MPAs have in recovering the health and function of our seas, MCS encourages the supply chain to identify if their specific sources are being caught from within MPAs. If sources are suspected of coming from within designated and managed MPAs, MCS advises businesses to establish if the fishing activity is operating legally inside a designated and managed MPA, and request evidence from the fishery or managing authority to demonstrate that the activity is not damaging to protected features or a threat to the conservation objectives of the site(s).To improve monitoring and reporting of fishing activity, MCS would like to see remote electronic monitoring (REM) with cameras implemented, used and enforced. To reduce the impacts of fishing on the marine environment we would like to see a just transition to the complete removal of bottom towed gear from offshore Marine Protected Areas designated to protect the seabed. We also want to see reduction and mitigation of environmental impacts including emissions and blue carbon habitat damage.