Fischbestände der Ostsee, ihre Entwicklung seit 1970 und Schlussfolgerungen für ihre fischereiliche Nutzung - Teil 2: Hering

The herring of the Baltic Sea shows a complicated population structure. Comparable to herring in other areas it can also be discriminated as spring and autumn spawning herring. Autumn spawning herring has been nearly vanished since the late 1960’s. Baltic Sea spring spawning herring show a broad variety as far as morphometric and other biological characteristics are concerned. It seems not very likely that all those differences are genetically based. The spawning sites of populations are, however, often clearly separated and such groups of herring are in most cases characterized by distinct differences in individual growth. Therefore for assessment purposes it is necessary to distinguish between as small as possible units in order to not endanger smaller populations to become extinct by overexploitation. On the other hand migrations and mixing of herring of different origin especially during the summer feeding period result in extreme difficulties of the discrimination of small units. For this reason only three herring assess ment units have been identified for the central and the northern Baltic Sea: herring in Sub-divisions 25–32+32, herring in Sub-division 30 and herring in Sub-division31. The spring spawning herring of the western Baltic Sea has been combined with spring spawning herring in Division IIIa. Only the herring stock in Sub-division 30 shows a positive development in the past. The largest assessment unit in Sub-divisions 25–29+32 decreased continuously during the whole period 1974–1998. The western Baltic Spring spawning herring stock decreased from 1990 to 1996. There is an ongoing debate on scientific level whether the combination of small populations into large assessment units like the one in S-D’s 25–29&32 might include the danger of the extinction of small compartments of the unit. On the other hand the practice by the International Baltic Sea Fishery Commission of managing the Baltic Sea herring fisheries by dividing a yearly Total Allowable Catch for the whole area among fishery zones without taking care of any biological structure and any individual stock development is totally against the idea of sustainability of fisheries.

Aktuelle Informationen zum Hering in der Ostsee im Hinblick auf deutsche Fischereiinteressen

Germany is planning to construct a new herring factory on the Island of Rügen. This factory will need about 50 000 t of herring per year. For the German fishery this would mean to increase the past 10w 1andings of less than 15 000 t per year to a level which had a1ready been reached by the GDR before the reunification. News of less herring in the Baltic and a decline of German landings in 1998 compared to the years before have led to discussions whether the planned increase in landings could be reached and kept in the future. Information is given in view of German fishery interests about: • the actual assessed herring stock units and the corresponding recent stock development in the Baltic Sea • the Total Allowable Catch (TAC) values for the western and central Baltic Sea in 1998 and in 1999 • the German landings during spring of the years 1993 to 1998 in the Greifswalder Bodden, main German fishery ground in the Baltic Sea

Zur Fang- und Bestandssituation von Hering und Sprott in der Ostsee

Information is given on the landings of herring and sprat in the Skagerrak/Kattegat and Baltic Sea. Based on assessment units used by the ‘Herring Assessment Working Group for the Area South of 62° N’ and the ‘Baltic Fisheries Assessment’ working group, the total landings are shown for the years 1974 to 1996. Further the quarterly landings for 1996 are listed on national basis by area/Sub-Division. In addition an actual description of the national fleets operating in the Skagerrak/Kattegat and Baltic Sea is given. At least the actual stock development and the catch options estimated by the corresponding working groups for different assessment units is presented.

Lassen sich die Erträge der deutschen Schleppnetzfischerei auf Hering durch technische Maßnahmen verbessern?

Seitdem die wirtschaftlich wichtigen Rundfischbestände in der Nord- und Ostsee immer stärker zurückgehen, ist wiederholt eine Intensivierung der Heringsfischerei vorgeschlagen worden. Zur Begründung dieses Vorschlages wird angeführt, daß sich die Heringsbestände in einem relativ guten Zustand befinden und daß die Deutschland zugeteilten Heringsquoten bislang weitgehend unausgeschöpft geblieben sind. So betrug die deutsche Heringsquote beispielsweise 1990 in der Nordsee 50 000 t, gefangen wurden aber lediglich ca. 5OOO t. In neuester Zeit hat allerdings der Einsatz großer Schwarmfischfänger eine bessere Quotennutzung bewirkt.