Whiting

Merlangius merlangus

5: Avoid How we work out the ratings

What to check for

Location

Irish Sea: All areas

Technical location

27 - Atlantic, Northeast, 7a: Irish Sea

Caught by

Bottom trawl (otter)

Rating summary

Irish Sea whiting is below safe biological levels and there are no measures or plans in place to help it recover. Therefore, it receives a critical fail for stock status and is a default red rating.Rating last updated August 2024.

How we worked out this Rating

Whiting in the Irish Sea is below safe biological levels and there are no measures or plans in place to help it recover. Therefore, it receives a critical fail for stock status and is a default red rating.This stock assessment is carried out biennially by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES). The most recent assessment was published in 2023 using data up to 2023. The next assessment is expected in 2025.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.The Irish Sea whiting stock has been declining since the early 1980s, when the spawning stock biomass (SSB) was over 20,000 tonnes. It reached an all-time low of 530 tonnes in the mid-2000s, and has been at dangerously low levels since. In 2023 it is 1,517 tonnes - far below the level at which reproduction is impaired (Blim, 10,000t). The target biomass (MSY BTrigger) is 16,300t, putting current stock size at just 9% of sustainable levels. The stock is therefore in a very overfished state, outside safe biological limits, and suffering reduced reproductive capacity.Since 1980, fishing mortality (F) has been above levels associated with Maximum Sustainable Yield (FMSY, 0.22) and upper limits (Flim 0.37). In 2022 it was 0.50. Irish Sea whiting is therefore subject to overfishing.ICES advises that when the MSY approach is applied, there should be zero catches in each of the years 2024 and 2025. This is because there is no scenario in which the stock can return to above Blim over the next two years. Zero catch has been advised since 2001. Over that time catches have not significantly reduced. A zero catch in 2024-2025 would allow the stock to increase by 93%, but maintaining the fishing pressure at recent levels is projected to cause it to decline by 8.5%.

References

DEFRA, 2022. List of fisheries management plans (FMPs). 6 December 2022. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/joint-fisheries-statement-jfs/list-of-fisheries-management-plans [Accessed on 03.07.2024].

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. and Rijnsdorp, A. D., 2016. Estimating seabed pressure from demersal trawls, seines, and dredges based on gear design and dimensions. ICES Journal of Marine Science, 73:1, pp. i27- i43. https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsv099.

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, 2024a. Working group for the Celtic Seas ecoregion (WGCSE). ICES Scientific Reports. 5:32. 1370pp. Available at: https://doi.org/10.17895/ices.pub.22268980 [Accessed on 03.07.2024].

ICES, 2024b. Celtic Seas Ecoregion – Ecosystem overview. In Report of the ICES Advisory Committee, 2024. ICES Advice 2024, Section 7.1, Available at: https://doi.org/10.17895/ices.advice.25713033 [Accessed on 03.07.2024].

ICES, 2023. Whiting (Merlangius merlangus) in Division 7.a (Irish Sea). In Report of the ICES Advisory Committee, 2023. ICES Advice 2023, whg.27.7a. Available at: https://doi.org/10.17895/ices.advice.21864330 [Accessed on 04.07.2024].

ICES, 2022. Celtic Seas Ecoregion – Ecosystem overview. In Report of the ICES Advisory Committee, 2022. ICES Advice 2022, Section 7.1, Available at: https://doi.org/10.17895/ices.advice.21731615. [Accessed on 03.07.2024].

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.

Marshall, C.T. Macdonald, P. Torgerson, E. Asare, J.L. Turner, R. 2021. Design, development and deployment of a software platform for real-time reporting in the west of Scotland demersal fleet. A study commissioned by Fisheries Innovation Scotland (FIS). Available at http://www.fiscot.org/ [Accessed on 03.07.2024].

Marty, L., Rochet, M.J., and Ernande, B., 2014. Temporal trends in age and size at maturation of four North Sea gadoid species: cod, haddock, whiting and Norway pout. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 496: pp 179-197. doi: 10.3354/meps10580

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.

UK Government, 2018. Minimum Conservation Reference Sizes (MCRS) in UK waters, Updated 12 November 2018. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/minimum-conservation-reference-sizes-mcrs/minimum-conservation-reference-sizes-mcrs-in-uk-waters [Accessed 04.07.2024].

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.

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