Publication Abstract

Implications for current management advice for North Sea plaice: Part I. Migration between the North Sea and English Channel

L.T. Kell, R. Scott and E. Hunter

Twentieth century mark-recapture studies of conventionally tagged plaice have suggested that the maximum exchange rate of fish between the North Sea and the eastern English Channel does not exceed 10%. However recent studies with electronic data storage tags have suggested that this figure may be significantly greater. In spite of this, current stock assessment and management advice is predicated upon the assumption that the eastern English Channel and North Sea contain two distinct stocks, with no mixing between them. Previous studies on other stocks have shown that different mixing rates can yield grossly different predictions of abundance trends. The study uses a simulation framework to evaluate the consequences of ignoring migratory behaviour within the current advice framework.

Reference:

L.T. Kell, R. Scott and E. Hunter (2004) Implications for current management advice for North Sea plaice: Part I. Migration between the North Sea and English Channel. Journal of Sea Research, 51(3-4): 287-299