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Northeast Atlantic Pelagic redfish fisheries in the Irminger Sea and adjacent waters, 2009
Fishery  Fact Sheet
Management report 2009
Northeast Atlantic Pelagic redfish fisheries in the Irminger Sea and adjacent waters, 2009
Fact Sheet Citation  
Pelagic redfish (Sebastes mentella) in the Irminger and adjacent areas
Owned byNorth-East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC) – more>>

Overview: This fishery takes place in the between East Greenland and Iceland, both in the NEAFC and NAFO Regulatory Areas. The two regional organisations have agreed that NEAFC adopts overall total allowable catches (TACs) for redfish, setting aside a part of them to be taken in the NAFO Regulatory Area.

Location of Northeast Atlantic Pelagic redfish fisheries in the Irminger Sea and adjacent waters
 
Map legend Map legend

Geographic reference:  Northeast Atlantic
Spatial Scale: Regional
Approach: Fishery Management Unit

Jurisdictional framework
Management Body/Authority(ies): North-East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC)
Mandate: Management; Monitoring;
more>>

Area of Competence: NEAFC area of competence
Maritime Area: High seas

Harvested Resource
Target Species: Beaked redfish
Fishery Area: North East Atlantic; Atlantic, Northeast / 27.14; Atlantic, Northeast / 27.12; Atlantic, Northwest / 21.1.F; Atlantic, Northwest / 21.2.J

Table of Contents
Harvested Resource - Overview - Management -  Issues - Source of Information
Harvested Resource
Type of production system: Industrial   

Target Species
Sebastes mentellaSebastes mentella
FAO Names : en - Beaked redfish, fr - Sébaste du Nord, es - Gallineta nórdica, ru - Клювач
Fishery Area
Climatic zone: Temperate.   Vertical distribution: Pelagic.  

Geo References for: North East Atlantic
Fishing Gear
Midwater trawls (not specified)
Fleet segment
Fleets from all the Contracting Parties participate with large factory vessels. For most of them, it is a supplement to fisheries for demersal species in waters under national jurisdiction.

The fleets participating in this fishery have continuously developed their fishing technology, and most trawlers now use large pelagic trawls (-Gloria-type) with vertical openings of 80‐150 m. The vessels have operated at a depth range of 200 to 950 m in 1998-2007, but mainly deeper than 600 m in the north eastern area in the first and second quarter, and at depths shallower than 500 m in the south western area in third and fourth quarter.

The following text table summarises the available information from fishing fleets in the in 2007:
The Faroe Islands 3 factory trawlers
Germany 1 factory trawler
Greenland 1 factory trawler
Iceland 15 factory trawlers
Poland 1 factory trawler
Portugal 6 factory trawlers
Russia 26 factory trawlers
Spain 9 factory trawlers


Seasonality
The fishery is a pelagic trawl fishery in deep-sea areas starting in April and continuing until late autumn.
Management
Management unit: Yes

The fishery is regulated under NEAFC jurisdictional framework / management regime.

History
See under ‘Fleets’
Jurisdictional framework
Management Body/Authority(ies): North-East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC)
Mandate: Management; Monitoring; Control and surveillance.  
Area of Competence: NEAFC area of competence
Maritime Area: High seas.  
NEAFC Regulatory Area. Based on NEAFC VMS database. Prepared by Dr Jason Hall-Spencer.

This fishery takes place in the between East Greenland and Iceland, both in the NEAFC and NAFO Regulatory Areas. The two regional organisations have agreed that NEAFC adopts overall total allowable catches (TACs) for redfish, setting aside a part of them to be taken in the NAFO Regulatory Area.
Management system
This fishery is managed as part of the management system described in Northeast Atlantic NEAFC high seas fisheries.
Status of Management
Assessment Summary
A NEAFC request to ICES for advice on potential management units for redfish in the has been postponed to 2010.

The development of a management plan for S. mentella in the has been postponed until 2010. At NEAFC’s Annual Meeting in 2009, the Chair of ACOM reviewed the process leading to a changes in the perception of the stock structure of the Irminger Sea S. mentella (three stocks, deep pelagic, shallow pelagic and Iceland slope). He stressed that there was consensus on the science in ACOM, but not on the management. ICES has pledged to review the situation if Russia submits any new data.

The representative of the Russian Federation commented on the ICES presentation with respect to redfish in the Irminger Sea. The position of Russian scientists on the stock structure was unanimous. They do not agree with the ICES conclusion on biology and management. The question of stock structure is still open. Russian scientists circulated two documents which repeat the points they made earlier in ICES (AM2009/23 and 29).

ICES pointed out that there was agreement in ACOM that there were three stocks. The Russian data had been taken into account and this was more a question of how to use the biological advice in management.
Negotiation Process
Coastal States had met in May and September 2009 and also invited fishing states. On both occasions it had not been possible for the important fishing party - the Russian Federation - to participate. On 8-9 October there had been discussions between all fishing Parties. Progress was to a large extent blocked because of the disagreement about the ICES advice.
Management Resolutions
At NEAFC’s Annual Meeting the EU representative reminded that they earlier stated that the management of this stock is not satisfactory, the main stumbling block being the lack of allocations. Although understanding the rationale behind the ICES advice it did not make it easier to reach agreement on allocations. There was a strong need to bring robust management into place.
Management Regime
Management Methods

CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT MEASURES
  • BINDING

    • Effort control: This fishery is regulated by over all TACs and there is no agreement on allocations. The Irminger Sea Fishery is regulated by individual Contracting Parties.


Year TAC1 Landings2
Convention Area Convention Area incl. NAFO Regulatory Area
1999 153 110 -
2000 120 98 45
2001 95 112 49
2002 95 117 54
2003 119 145 2
2004 120 113 73
2005 75 61 30
2006 62 75 47
2007 46 62 36

1. Total Allowable Catch limits (TAC) adopted by NEAFC for the Convention Area

2. Landings (Unit: 1000 tonnes) Source 1999/2003: ICES ACFM Reports.2004-2005 NEAFC provisional monthly reporting. Convention Area includes Regulatory Area and catches from the NAFO Area.

COMPLIANCE MEASURES

Issues
 
Fleets from all the Contracting Parties participate with large factory vessels. For most of them, it is a supplement to fisheries for demersal species in waters under national jurisdiction. Because scientific views about stock boundaries have changed recently and disagreements over the different components of the stock and their exploitation have hampered agreement on management, no management objective has been agreed upon and no harvest control rules are in effect. A detailed history of management is found in Appendix II in the Report of the NEAFC Performance Review (NEAFC 2006). Importantly it should be noted that in May 2002 ICES’s ACFM concluded that the recent exploitation level seems not to have caused stock size reduction. For 2002 and 2003, ICES advised that TACs should not exceed current catch levels (including the NAFO Convention Area). The average catch in the last 5 years has been 119,000 tons. In addition, ICES advised that management action should be taken to prevent a disproportional exploitation rate of any one component (ICES Cooperative Research Report no. 255. Report of the ICES Advisory Committee on Fishery Management 2002 part 1. ICES 2002).


Source of Information
 
NEAFC Secratariat “NEAFC’s Annual Meeting report” 2009 Click to openhttp://www.neafc.org/
North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission. “Fisheries Status Report, 1998-2007” 2009 Click to openhttp://www.neafc.org/
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