Plaice

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.

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