European hake - Gulf of Lions, 2008|
| Marine Resource Fact Sheet |
| | | European hake - Gulf of Lions, 2008 |
 | Merluccius merluccius - Gulf of Lions |
| | Owned by | General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) More |
| | Related observations | Locate in inventory | | | | Species: | | FAO Names : en - European hake, fr - Merlu européen, es - Merluza europea |
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| Geographic extent of European hake - Gulf of Lions
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 | GFCM geographical sub-areas |
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| 7 | Gulf of Lions |
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| | Main Descriptors | Considered a single stock: Yes
Spatial Scale: Sub-Regional
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| Considered a single stock: A group of individuals in a species occupying a well defined spatial range independent of other stocks of the same species. It can be affected by random dispersal movements and directed migrations due to seasonal or reproductive activity. |
| Spatial Scale: Spatial scale contains a standard term such as Global, Regional (e.g. for the whole Atlantic), sub-regional (e.g. for a part of the Atlantic), national, local (for sub-national levels). |
| Considered a management unit: An aquatic resource or fishery is
declared as [Fishery] Management Unit if it is
effectively the focus for the application of selected
management methods and measures, within the broader
framework of a management system. According to the FAO
Glossary for Responsible Fishing, "a Fishery Management
Unit (FMU) is a fishery or a portion of a fishery
identified in a Fishery Management Plan (FMP) relevant
to the FMP's management objectives." FMU's may be
organised around fisheries biological, geographic,
economic, technical, social or ecological dimensions ,
and the makeup and attribute of a fishery management
unit depends mainly on the FMP's management
objectives. |
| Jurisdictional distribution: Jurisdictional qualifier (e.g.
"shared", "shared - highly migratory") of the aquatic
resource related with its spatial distribution. |
| Environmental group: Classification of the aquatic
resource according to the environmental group (e.g.
pelagic invertebrate, or demersal fish) to which the
species belong. |
| | | | | | Habitat and Biology Bottom type: Soft bottom; Hard bottom. Depth zone: Shelf 50 200m; Slope 200 1000m. Horizontal distribution: Neritic. Vertical distribution: Demersal/Benthic. Geographical Distribution Jurisdictional distribution: Straddling between High Seas and EEZ Water Area Overview Spatial Scale: Sub-Regional Gulf of LionsGeo References | | Geographic extent of European hake - Gulf of Lions
| GFCM geographical sub-areas | 7: Gulf of Lions |
| | | | | | Other georeferences
| FAO Fishing Statistical Division Areas | 37.1.2: Gulf of Lions |
| | | | | | Intersecting Major FAO areas and LME areas |
The following area codes have been found as intersecting the distribution of European hake - Gulf of Lions Resource Structure Considered a single stock: Yes Exploitation Hake ( Merluccius merluccius) is one of the most important demersal target species of the commercial fisheries in the Gulf of Lions (GFCM-GSA07). In this area, hake is exploited by French trawl, French gillnet, Spanish trawl and Spanish long-line. Around 250 boats are involved in the fishery and, according to official statistics, total annual landings for the period 1998-2008 have oscillated around a mean value of 2155 tons (2470 tons in 2008). Most fleets and catches correspond to French trawl (49 and 70%, respectively). Trawl catches range between 3 and 92 cm total length (TL), with an average size of 17-23 cm TL, followed by French gillnet (~32 and 15% respectively, ranging 13-86 cm TL and average size 38-41 cm TL), Spanish trawl (~12 and 8%, respectively, ranging 5-87 cm TL, and average size 20-29 cm TL), and Spanish long-line (~7 and 7%, respectively, ranging 23-96 cm TL and average size 46-62 cm TL). Information on Operational Units exploiting this resource will be soon available at the following link: GSA 07 European Hake (Merluccius merluccius)Assessment Data The information used for the assessment of the stock consisted in annual size composition of catches (estimated from monthly or quarterly sampling in the main landing ports), official landings and biological parameters estimated by Aldebert and Recasens (1996). The growth coefficient (k) comes from first results of tagging experiments developed by IFREMER in the area (Mellon-Duval et al, in prep.). The vector of natural mortality by age was calculated from Caddy´s formula, using the PROBIOM Excel spreadsheet (Abella et al., 1997). For the period of the study (1998-2007), 2 methodologies were applied. Assessment Model Type: Age-structured Virtual population analysis (VPA), Extended survivors analysis (XSA) The first one is a tuned virtual population analysis (VPA), applying the Extended Survivor Analysis (XSA) method considering, as tuning fleets, catch per unit effort (CPUE) of commercial fisheries (French trawl, Spanish trawl and Spanish long-line) and French MEDITS campaign indices. The software used was Lowestoft VPA program (Darby and Flatman, 1994). Assessment Model Length cohort analysis (LCA), Yield per recruit analysis (Y/R) The second method is a length cohort analysis (LCA) and yield per recruit (Y/R) analysis on a mean pseudo-cohort, using the VIT program (Lleonart and Salat, 1992). Three different periods have been considered for the mean pseudo-cohort: one considering the entire data series (1998-2008), another for 1998-2003 and a third one for 2003-2008. Last two periods have been considered separately as a change in the mean F has been detected, from values larger than 0.5 (1998-2003) and lower than 0.5 (2004-2008). Scientific Advice For management considerationsManagement advice and recommedantions:
To avoid recruitment overfishing:
- Improve the fishing pattern of the trawl to arise the minimum length of catches equal the minimum legal landing size by: (i) closing nursery areas, at least temporally; and, (ii) by replacing 40 mm diamond mesh cod-end by 40 mm square mesh cod-end.
- Reduce the effort of trawl, from reducing time at sea, number of fishing boats, engine power, Bollard pull and/or trawl size
To reduce growth overfishing:
- Reduce the effort of longline and gillnets in order to increase (or at least maintain) the SSB.
- Establish temporal closures for longline and gillnet during the period of maximum spawning.
For scientific researchIt is considered necessary the development of further studies on the biology of hake in the area, to verify the maximum length for males and to estimate new parameters on reproduction (e.g. sex-ratio, length of first maturity, spawning seasons and spawning areas), and to improve national statistics on catches and effort (e.g. vessel monitoring system. Management Management Advice Advices and comments by SACScientific advices for management consideration formulated by SCSA have been adopted by SAC. Biological State and Trend Exploitation state: OverexploitedExploitation rate: High fishing mortality
Abundance level: Intermediate abundance Source of information “Assessment of hake (Merluccius merluccius) exploited by the French and Spanish fisheries in GSA 07 (Gulf of Lions). In: Report of the 11th session of the Sub-Commitee on Stock Assessment (SCSA)” . Angélique Jadaud, Beatriz Guijarro, María Valls, Henri Farrugio and Enric Massutí. FAO-GFCM Malaga, Spain, 30 November - 3 December 2009 2009 FAO  . “General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean. Thirthy-fourth Session. Management of Mediterranean Fisheries.” FAO-GFCM Athens, Greece, 14-17 April 2010 2010 FAO  . |
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