ICES WGCSE REPORT 2009 291 6 Irish Sea 6.1 Area overview Description of fisheries Fishing effort and vessel numbers within the Irish Sea have declined in recent years by around 28% and 15% respectively (Figure 6.1.1). The majority of these declines stem from demersal trawling, the dominant fleet type in the area. This fleet accounts for over half the fishing effort in the Irish Sea. Several sub fleets exist within this fleet. The largest of these are the otter trawls, with a small proportion of demersal seines. The otter trawl vessels of this fleet primarily utilize 70 89 mm meshes (Figure 6.1.2a). The majority of this fleet belong to targeted Nephrops fisheries. Two main Nephrops fisheries exist in the Irish Sea, one in the East (FU14) and one in the West (FU15). These fisheries are traditionally more active during summer as Nephrops spend more time outside their burrows and thus more available to the fishery at this time. In recent years the fishing season has been extending. A number of other species are caught in relatively low levels by this fishery, including cod, haddock, plaice, anglerfish, and to a lesser extent sole. Although relative landings of cod within this fishery are low compared with the quantities of Nephrops landed, this fleet s contribution to the total cod landed within the Irish Sea is generally high. A small proportion of the demersal trawl fleet utilizes 100 119 mm meshes and targets the traditional whitefish fishery. This takes a mixture of species, specifically cod, haddock and whiting which used to be an important fishery within the Irish Sea, but has declined to low levels since 2003 following the adoption of larger meshed gear. A beam trawl fleet operates within this area and accounted for around 15% of fishing effort in 2007. In 2008 Irish and Belgian beam trawlers displayed large declines in effort within the Irish Sea as a result of economic pressures including fuel costs. These vessels operate across the whole area with no specific ground focus. The majority of vessels employ meshes in the range of 80 89 mm (Figure 6.1.2b). This fleet primarily targets flatfish species, plaice and sole in particular. There is also a fishery for ray species. These fisheries have bycatches of anglerfish, and low catches of cod, haddock and whiting. Gillnetting also occurs in the Irish Sea. However, this is a very small fleet within the Irish Sea, accounting for around 1% of effort. Effort is focused to the south/southwestern area of the Irish Sea and is a subsection of a larger fleet operating within the Celtic Sea. In addition there is some gillnetting activity around the Isle of Man, however this is minimal. The primary target of those operating in the southern area is cod. Low landings of other species including haddock, saithe and anglerfish also occur. In relation to mesh size, although a number of different ranges are used, 150 219 mm has dominated in the last couple of years, moving away from 100 149 mm which used to be the primary mesh range used (Figure 6.1.2c). More detailed, stock specific descriptions are given within the individual Irish Sea stock sections. Information within this section is taken from the STECF report of the SGRST 08 03 Working Group on the Fishing Effort Regime, 2008.
292 ICES WGCSE REPORT 2009 Regulations and their effects A number of regulations are in operation within the Irish Sea in addition to those affecting the area as a whole and are highlighted. Those affecting individual stocks are discussed in the relevant stock section. Effort management The Irish Sea has been under days at sea effort management as part of a Cod Recovery Plan since 2000 in an attempt to reduce fishing mortality on cod stocks. This saw vessels assigned a maximum number of days at sea annually according to the gear and mesh size combinations used. While this regulation reduced the overall effort expended by vessels using mesh sizes equal to or greater than 100 mm, the days at sea cap was not considered to have limited the effort of vessels using gears less than 100 mm which constitute the greatest proportion of effort within the area. Effort within the larger mesh categories, i.e. the traditional whitefish fishery, has demonstrated large declines. Some vessels previously operating with mesh sizes equal to or greater than 100 mm have taken measures to remain viable. Such measures include switching to mesh sizes less than 100 mm or utilizing several different mesh sizes during the year to gain greater days allocation, both of which result in different selection patterns. Other vessels have moved to alternative fishing grounds outside the effort management restrictions such as the Celtic Sea. 2009 has seen the introduction of a new long term management plan for cod, Council Regulation (EC) 1342/2008 which has resulted in a new effort allocation system. This new system provides individual member states with an effort allocation in kilowatt (kw) days at sea based on the actual amount of effort expended within the Irish Sea from a defined reference period. The allocation of kw days at sea by gear grouping is now regulated by individual member states replacing the individual vessel days at sea allocation by gear groupings set as part of the annual TAC and quota regulations. The application of the harvest control rule stipulates that if cod stocks are considered to be below minimum spawning stock levels, then fishing mortality should be reduced by 25%. In 2009 this resulted in a reduction in effort allocation for the Irish Sea of 25%. This new management strategy is perceived to be restrictive by some nations for certain gearmesh categories, particularly where effort has increased within a category since the reference period. Both the earlier days at sea scheme and the current kw days at sea system have resulted in a switching away from the Irish Sea into other areas not covered by effort management such as the Celtic Sea and Rockall. While the regulation is likely to have resulted in some degree of effort displacement, the provisions of Article 13 of 1342/2008 allow member states to recoup all or part of the effort reductions applied in 43/2009. Various national programmes have been enacted in 2008 and 2009 that aim to reduce cod catches through a range of measures including spatial and temporal avoidance plans and technical measures. Closed areas As a consequence of the depleted state of the Irish Sea cod stock, and following ICES advice, a recovery plan for cod in the Irish Sea was introduced in 2000. Commission Regulation (EC) No 304/2000 established emergency closed areas to fishing for cod from mid February to the end of April in the western and eastern Irish Sea to protect spawning cod
ICES WGCSE REPORT 2009 293 aggregations. Council Regulation (EC) 2549/2000, which came into force on 1 January 2001, with amendments in Council Regulation (EC) No 1456/2001, of 16 July 2001, established additional technical measures for the protection of juveniles. The closed area in the Irish Sea and additional technical regulations were extended to 2001 in Council Regulation (EC) 300/2001 and to 2002 in Council Regulation (EC) 254/2002. The main difference in the recovery measures for 2002, onwards from those of 2001 is that a closed area remained only in the western Irish Sea. Within the closed area there are a number of derogations allowing Nephrops fishing during the closure. Irish scientists successfully tested inclined separator panels in Nephrops trawlers, revealing large reductions in bycatch of cod. Vessels using such panels have been allowed to fish over a wider area of the closure since 2002. Figure 6.1.3 shows the location of the closed area and shading indicates the derogations permitted. Vessels displaced from the closed area either switched to twin rigging for Nephrops, fished for cod in the North Channel and Clyde (the latter of which was subsequently closed to protect the West of Scotland stock), or stopped fishing during the closer period. The effect of this closer on individual stocks is unknown. In its review of the effectiveness of the closure STECF 2007 concludes that the Irish Sea cod closure in 2000 was of appropriate extent and duration to encompass the majority of the spawning stock throughout the spawning season. The closure since 2001 encompasses the majority of the western Irish Sea spawning cod population for most of the spawning season but excludes the eastern Irish Sea spawning population. On the basis of the information available, STECF was unable to determine the extent to which the closure has reduced fishing mortality to a lower value than would otherwise have occurred, through the protection of adult cod during spawning or influencing changes in fishing effort in the different fleets. Three further seasonal closures are in place, either annually or triennially, within the Irish Sea, and relate to restricting fishing for herring. It is believed these closures have very little impact on demersal stocks as they only apply to herring, without specific gear restrictions. Details of these closures can be found in Council Regulation (EC) No.850/98. Within the Irish Sea a number of technical measures are in place. The majority of have been in place for a number of years, giving little future change in fishing patterns. Square mesh panels, for example, have been mandatory for UK otter trawlers since 1993 and for Irish trawlers since 1994 to reduce catches of undersized fish. There are also beam trawl fishing restrictions in the Irish Sea. It is prohibited to use any beam trawl of mesh size range 70 79 mm or 80 90 mm unless the entire upper half of the anterior part of such a net consists of a panel of netting material attached directly to the headline of the net, extending towards the posterior of the net for at least 30 meshes and constructed of diamond meshed netting material of which no individual mesh is of mesh size less than 180 mm. Species specific measures such as minimum landing sizes are stock specific and are discussed in the relevant chapters. In terms of species composition, technical regulations are also in operation within the area. For example, in January 2000 technical regulations for EU waters came into force (Council Regulation (EC) 850/98 and its amendments) prescribing minimum target species compositions for different gear mesh size ranges. Since 2001, cod in the Irish Sea have been a legitimate target species for towed gears with a minimum codend mesh size of 100 mm.
294 ICES WGCSE REPORT 2009 Inclined separator panels are used in the Nephrops fishery as a derogation within the cod closed area to reduce catches of non Nephrops species. With the introduction of the new effort management system, the use of similar panels (separator grids) by Irish fishers will increase as a technical measure to recoup effort by reducing cod catches to below 1%. This will alter the fishing pattern of these vessels, resulting in a single species Nephrops fishery, greatly reducing fish catches.
ICES WGCSE REPORT 2009 295 (a) 2c, All reg gears, KWdays KWdays 0.0e+00 1.0e+07 Total 4a 4b 4c 4d 4e none (b) 2c, All reg gears, NbVessels NbVessels 0 100 200 300 400 Total 4a 4b 4c 4d 4e none Figure 6.1.1. kw days at sea fishing effort (a) and number of vessels (b) by gear type within the Irish Sea. Taken from STECF report of the SGRST 08 03 Working Group on the Fishing Effort Regime, 2008. Figures should only be read from 2003 onwards, as the Irish effort component was unavailable by mesh size information prior to this. Legend key: 4a demersal trawl, 4b beam trawl, 4c gillnet, 4d trammelnet, 4e longline.
296 ICES WGCSE REPORT 2009 (a) 2c, Reg gear 4a, KWdays KWdays 0e+00 2e+06 4e+06 4ai 4aii 4aiii 4aiv 4av (b) 2c, Reg gear 4b, KWdays KWdays 0 500000 1500000 4bi 4bii 4biii
ICES WGCSE REPORT 2009 297 (c) 2c, Reg gear 4c, KWdays KWdays 0 10000 30000 4ci 4cii 4ciii 4civ Figure 6.1.2. kw days at sea fishing effort demersal trawl (a), beam trawl (b), and gillnet (c) by mesh size ranges within the Irish Sea. Taken from STECF report of the SGRST 08 03 Working Group on the Fishing Effort Regime, 2008. Figures should only be read from 2003 onwards, as the Irish effort component was unavailable by mesh size information prior to this. Legend key: 4ai 16 31 mm, 4aii 70 89 mm, 4aiii 90 99 mm, 4aiv 100 119 mm, 4av 120 mm, 4bi 80 89, 4bii 90 99 mm, 4biii 100 119, biv 120 mm, 4ci <110 mm, 4cii 110 149 mm, 4ciii 150 219 mm, 4civ 220 mm.
298 ICES WGCSE REPORT 2009 Figure 6.1.3. Location of the Irish Sea cod box, including details of derogations. Pink and purple areas relate to hake and cod boxes outside the scope of this overview. Produced courtesy of An Board Iascaigh Mhara (the Irish Sea Fisheries Board).