Dover sole

Solea solea

5: Avoid How we work out the ratings

What to check for

Location

English Channel (East)

Technical location

Atlantic, Northeast, English Channel (East)

Caught by

Bottom trawl (beam)

Rating summary

Eastern English Channel sole biomass is below safe biological levels and there is no recovery plan in place. Beam trawls have significant impacts on the seabed, including damage to benthic communities and vulnerable marine habitats. They can also have high bycatch, potentially of vulnerable species.Rating last updated July 2024.

Technical consultation summary

Spawning-stock biomass (SSB) has been on a downward trend since 2014. In 2023 and 2024, it is below Blim (11,181 tonnes) and there is no recovery plan in place. Beam trawls have significant impacts on the seabed, including damage to benthic communities and vulnerable marine habitats. They can also have high bycatch, potentially of vulnerable species.

How we worked out this Rating

Eastern English Channel sole is a critical fail as biomass is outside safe biological levels.Stock assessments are carried out annually by the International Council for Exploration of the Sea (ICES). The most recent assessment was published in 2024.Spawning-stock biomass (SSB) has been on a downward trend since 2014. In 2023 and 2024, it is below Blim (11,181 tonnes) and there is no recovery plan in place. In 2024, SSB is 10,467 tonnes.Fishing pressure (F) has shown a decreasing trend since 2008 and is now around FMSY (0.23) at 0.22.ICES advises that when the MSY approach is applied, catches in 2025 should be no more than 1,209 tonnes. This is a 19.6% decrease as a result of a lower stock size at the start of the advice year compared to the previous advice (including a lower recruitment estimated for 2023 than assumed last year), and lower target F for the advice year.

References

Burt, G. J., Readdy, L., Benedet, R., and Forster, R. 2021. Programme 40; Western Channel sole and plaice. Fisheries Science Partnership 2020/2021. Final Report. Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas), Lowestoft, UK, 47 pp.Cook, R., Gaudian, G., des Clers, S. and Seip- Markensteijn, C.M., 2022. Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) Public Certification Report: Scottish Fisheries Sustainable Accreditation Group (SFSAG) Northern Demersal Stocks. Prepared by Control Union (UK) Limited on behalf of Scottish Fisheries Sustainable Accreditation Group (SFSAG). May 2022. Available at https://cert.msc.org/FileLoader/FileLinkDownload.asmx/GetFile?encryptedKey=BdxOJoY7Sf4DmNJEB/m47M6xx0rRfgP/niGx3vj5Ud8hadYI3XCNrnlSFL/jlTgK [Accessed on 12.07.2024].Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs. Cod Conservation measures in the Irish Sea. Available at https://www.daera-ni.gov.uk/articles/cod-conservation-measures [Accessed on 12.07.2024].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., 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 12.07.2024].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. 2024. Sole (Solea solea) in Division 7.d (eastern English Channel). In Report of the ICES Advisory Committee, 2024. ICES Advice 2024, sol.27.7d. Available at https://doi.org/10.17895/ices.advice.25019675. [Accessed on 12.07.2024].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.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.