Project

Gadoid recruitment indices from existing surveys

Various international surveys are conducted to collect information on the status of North Sea herring. These surveys not only sample herring, but also other species, like gadoids. The objectives of this project is to develop and derive abundance indices of these gadoids.

Summary

Currently the Netherlands is involved in various international surveys that are conducted to collect information on the stock status of North Sea herring. These surveys not only sample the target species, but also other species, like gadoids. Two of these surveys are the Downs recruitment survey (DRS) in April, and the herring acoustic survey (HERAS) in July. Catches of both surveys have a level of mixing of herring with gadoids (haddock, whiting, Norway pout) which fluctuates over the years, but they are always present. Currently these gadoid data is not utilised. In this project, the DRS and HERAS survey will be revisited to derive independent indices for gadoid species for selected years, with the potential for these indices to be used at relevant ICES working groups.

Publications