Plaice

There is concern for biomass and fishing pressure of plaice in the Celtic Sea and Bristol Channel.Route 2 (data limited) scoring has been applied to this rating owing to the lack of reference points available for biomass and fishing pressure. Plaice is considered to have medium resilience to fishing pressure.The biomass index shows a decline since a peak in 2015. The most recent biomass biomass index value (Index A, 2022-2023) is 36kg/100km, a decline from the previous biomass index value (Index B, 2019-2021), which was 64kg/100m. The index is now below Itrigger.Fishing pressure proxy from the length-based indicator (LBI) method is used for the evaluation of the exploitation status. The proxy fishing pressure is above the corresponding FMSY proxy when the indicator is higher than 1. In 2023, the fishing pressure proxy was 1.08. Therefore, there is concern for fishing pressure. ICES advises that when the MSY approach is applied, catches should be no more than 114 tonnes in each of the years 2025 and 2026. This is a decrease of 72% compared to the previous years advice, due to the continued declining trend in recent stock biomass. Fishing pressure proxy being above FMSY proxy has also contributed to the decline in advice.

For more information about this rating please visit: https://www.cornwallgoodseafoodguide.org.uk/fish-guide/plaice.php

For more information about this rating please visit: https://www.cornwallgoodseafoodguide.org.uk/fish-guide/plaice.php

For more information about this rating please visit: https://www.cornwallgoodseafoodguide.org.uk/fish-guide/plaice.php