Tope

Galeorhinus galeus

5: Avoid How we work out the ratings

What to check for

Location

North East Atlantic

Technical location

Atlantic, Northeast, All areas

Caught by

Net (gill or fixed)

Rating summary

This stock is data limited. Tope is considered highly vulnerable to overexploitation, as this species has low population productivity, relatively low fecundity and a protracted reproductive cycle. Unmanaged targeted fisheries elsewhere in the world have resulted in stock collapse (e.g. off California and South America) and IUCN have listed tope as critically endangered globally. Tope are an EU Prohibited species with some exemptions. The landing of tope is now banned in several Inshore Fisheries Conservation Areas (IFCAs) around the UK, to conserve stocks. Gillnets generally cause low impacts to the habitat, although ghost fishing is occasionally reported.Rating last updated November 2020.

How we worked out this Rating

References

EU. 2015. Council Regulation (EU) 2015/104 of 19 January 2015 fixing for 2015 the fishing opportunities for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks, applicable in Union waters and, for Union vessels, in certain non-Union waters, amending Regulation (EU) No 43/2014 and repealing Regulation (EU) No 779/2014. Official Journal of the European Union, L 22. 163 pp. Available at http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2015/104/oj [Accessed on 10.11.2020].ICES. 2012. ICES Implementation of Advice for Data-limited Stocks in 2012 in its 2012 Advice. ICES CM 2012/ACOM:68. 42 pp. Available at https://doi.org/10.17895/ices.pub.5322 [Accessed on 10.11.2020].ICES. 2016. Report of the Workshop to compile and refine catch and landings of elasmobranchs (WKSHARK2), 19-22 January 2016, Lisbon, Portugal. ICES CM 2016/ACOM:40. 69 pp. Available at https://doi.org/10.17895/ices.pub.5590 [Accessed on 10.11.2020].ICES. 2018. Advice basis. In Report of the ICES Advisory Committee, 2018. ICES Advice 2018, Book 1, Section 1.2. Available at https://doi.org/10.17895/ices.pub.4503 [Accessed on 10.11.2020].ICES. 2019. Tope (Galeorhinus galeus) in subareas 1-10, 12 and 14 (the Northeast Atlantic and adjacent waters). In Report of the ICES Advisory Committee, 2019. ICES Advice 2019, gag.27.nea, Available at https://doi.org/10.17895/ices.advice.4829 [Accessed on 10.11.2020].ICES. 2019. Working Group on Elasmobranch Fishes (WGEF). ICES Scientific Reports. 1:25. Available at http://doi.org/10.17895/ices.pub.5594 [Accessed on 10.11.2020].Seafish. Longline. Available at https://www.seafish.org/responsible-sourcing/fishing-gear-database/gear/long-line/ [Accessed on 10.11.2020].Sguotti, C., Lynam, C. P., Garcia-Carreras, B., Ellis, J. R. and Engelhard, G. H. 2016. Distribution of skates and sharks in the North Sea: 112 years of change. Glob Change Biol, 22: 2729-2743. doi:10.1111/gcb.13316.Tope (Prohibition of Fishing) Order 2008 (SI 2008/691). Available at http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2008/691/contents/made [Accessed on 10.11.2020].Walker, T.I., Rigby, C.L., Pacoureau, N., Ellis, J., Kulka, D.W., Chiaramonte, G.E. & Herman, K. 2020. Galeorhinus galeus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2020: e.T39352A2907336. Available at https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-2.RLTS.T39352A2907336.en. [Accessed on 11.12.2020].