Auswirkungen von größeren Steertmaschen bei Grundschleppnetzen auf Plattfischfänge in der Nordsee

The present fishing effort regulation for bottom trawls in the North Sea (EU 40/2008) reduces the fishing effort with larger co-dend mesh sizes (> 100 mm mesh opening) to 86 fishing days per year. The aim of this technical measure is the protection of the weak cod stock usually harvested with this mesh opening. By combining the results of our selectivity investigations on plaice during a commercial fishing trip and the samples taken within the frame of the EU data collection regulation (DCR) we could draw conclusions on commercial and non-commercial fish species. When using codend meshes with larger mesh opening the discard was reduced remarkably. In the reference codend with 80 mm mesh opening the undersized bycatch was 47 % of the total catch of plaice, in the experimental codends with 120 mm mesh opening it was only 7 % and with 130 mm mesh opening just 3 %. On the other hand however, the applied mesh openings in the experimental codends let escape marketable plaice to some extent. The loss of catch was assessed on the basis of fish numbers per length class using a length-weight conversion rate from the DCR. The loss by weight of marketable fish with 120 mm codend mesh opening was 18 %, and 28 % with 130 mm codend mesh opening. To assure the protection of young round and flatfish with one general mesh size, a new regulation should prescribe a minimum mesh opening of 120 mm, accompanied by an expansion of the fishing effort.

Verringerung der Dorschbeifänge in der Schleppnetzfischerei auf Plattfische mit einem im Oberblatt reduziertem Grundschleppnetz

Trials with the “topless” version (with reduced upper panel) of the bottom trawl resulted in a 63 % reduction of cod bycatch in numbers, compared to the complete trawl. Flounder catches increased by 120 % on average. Further modification of the net opening height to optimize the trawl performance are underway.

Auswirkungen der Wassertemperatur auf die Missbildungshäufigkeit pelagischer Fischembryonen

Malformation rates in embryos of dab, whiting, cod, flounder and plaice have been monitored for several years (1984-2006) in the Southern North Sea. For embryos of all species investigated trends for the fluctuation of malformation rates over the time were registered in the areas showing intermediate prevalences at the beginning of the studies in 1984 and maxima in 1987. Thereafter for all species a decrease of malformation rates was found until 2006 excepting an increase in 1996. A significant negative correlation existed between surface water temperature and prevalences of malformed embryos of dab and other species.

Die Reproduktion von Dorschen (Gadus morhua L. und Gadus morhua callarias L.) in der Ostsee unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Arkonasee. Teil II: Statistische Analysen zum Anteil reproduktiv aktiver Dorsche in Bezug auf gebietsspezifische Unterschiede und Gemeinsamkeiten, sowie deren mögliche Ursachen.

Surveys were conducted to analyse temporal and spatial aspects of the spawning activities of cod in the Baltic Sea from 1993 to 2003. Part I of the article describes the general maturity development and the spawning activities in the western Baltic Sea, the Arkona Sea and the Bornholm Sea. The studies suggest that two types of spawner can be distinguished, the spring spawner in the western Baltic Sea and the summer spawner in the Arkona Sea and the Bornholm Basin. The descriptive analysis is supported by statistical studies presented in this article. It is shown, that the proportion of spawning individuals is significantly higher in summer than in spring in the ArkonaSea and the Bornholm Sea. Furthermore, it is shown that reproductive mixing of both types of spawner is possible in the Arkona Sea in May/June due to the hydrographical conditions in the Arkona Sea which were suitable in 8 of 10 years for successful reproduction of both Baltic cod stocks, and that spatial expansion of spawning activities of the eastern Baltic cod stock into the Arkona Sea is positive correlated with the size of spawning stock in the Bornholm Sea.

Wer fischt was? – Gemischte Bodenfischereien und ihre Auswirkungen auf die wichtigsten Nutzfischbestände in der Nordsee

Cod, haddock, whiting, saithe, plaice, sole and Norway lobster are 7 main target species of the demersal mixed fisheries in the North Sea, Skagerrak and Eastern Channel. Gadoids and Norway lobsters are mainly taken in the nor-thern North Sea by towed gears except beam trawls while the flatfish fisheries are conducted in the southern North Sea mainly using beam trawls. Recently, the central North Sea appears less fished by demersal gears. Towed nets including seines and beam trawls equipped with meshes of more than 100 mm resp. more than 80 mm were identified as the main gears effecting the depleted cod and reduced plaice stocks. The saithe sector, using towed nets with meshes of more than110 mm, longlines, gill nets and others, appears to affect the 7 species to a lesser extend. These results support the interim effort limitations by gear types, vessel and month as enforced by the European Commission since 2003. TAC regulations alone are considered inefficient to sustainably harvest stocks by mixed fisheries. A fleet-effort management method is developed estimating the fleets’ effects based on the sum of partial exploitation rates of the species in mixed fisheries weighted by the ratio of the precautionary reference Bpa and the actual SSB size as ecological quality objective. Applying such fleet effort management could result in increased catch possibilities of some stocks by fleets selecting mainly few and non-overexploited stocks while respecting precautionary management constraints in minimum SSB or maximum exploitation rates at the same time.

Einfluss von Reifung und technologischen Behandlungen auf die Proteine des Rogens von Regenbogenforellen (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

The use of differential scanning calorimetry for investigating the yolk proteins of the roe of rainbow trout allows to monitor the influence of maturation and vitellogenesis which modifies the DSC curves with regard to transition temperature and enthalpy. Two endothermic peaks become more and more pronounced with increasing maturation of the roe. However, it is still not known which protein fraction is represented by each of the peaks. DSC curves of yolk protein depend on fish species. They are also influenced by technological treatments. Further investigation is necessary to discover whether or not yolk proteins of other fish species are influenced in the same manner by maturation and vitellogenesis and which protein fraction represent the individual peaks.

Einfluss der Umsetzung der ICES-Fangempfehlungen auf den Zustand der Fischbest

The implementation of the precautionary approach in the mid-1990s required commercial fish stocks to be classified into different categories. These are based on the degree to which stocks have been exploited or are threatened by fishing activities. According to current ICES terminology, stocks are classified as being either “within” or “outside safe biological limits”, or as being “harvested outside safe biological limits”. Between 1996 and 2002, the relative share of stocks in these three categories remained relatively stable (at about 20 %, 30 % and 15 %, respectively). Over the same time span, the number of stocks were insufficient data is available to quantify and thus to appropriately classify the state of the spawning stock biomass (“status unknown”) has increased. Neglecting potential impacts of fishing pressure, the combined average proportion of all stocks with sufficiently high spawning stock biomass is at about one third, while only one fifth of the stocks assessed have been managed sustainably. For some important fish stocks in the ICES environment – specifically demersal ones –, science recently had to call for rebuilding plans or even a closure of the fishery to allow recovery, in spite of the management’s agreement to manage the resources according to the precautionary approach. This obvious difference between approach and implementation has a number of potential causes: erroneous or imprecise input data (landings, discard and sampling information), insufficient assessment models, problems in the understanding of the scientific advice, and implementation errors. The latter could be either a difference between advised and implemented total allowable catches (TACs), or an excess of legal TACs. During the fifteen years covered by this analysis (1987 to 2002), the average deviation between the implemented TACs for a specific stock and that recommended by ICES for the same stock was more than 30 %. The overall average deviation (summed over all stocks) for the entire period was 34 %, excluding, however, four extreme outliers in the data, representing cases in which scientific recommendations were exceeded by as much as 1000 to 2500 %. If these were included, the overall average would be as high as 45 %. The annual deviation has substantially increased in recent years (from roughly 20 % in earlier years of the surveyed period). This recently observed high deviation also matches ICES’s estimate that the fishing mortality in the ICES convention area in the 1990s was well above recommended sustainable levels in the pelagic and demersal fishery. A direct comparison of scientifically proposed and politically implemented TACs is problematic in many case

Sind südliche Arten in Nord- und Ostsee auf dem Vormarsch?

The long and warm summer 2003 resulted in water temperatures of about 2°C above the average. This promoted the immigration of southern species like the Anchovy, the Sardine, the Red Mullet and different Squid species. The possible conclusions of such invasions concerning the ordinary species of the area are rather contradictory: For the Western Baltic a positive correlation between the occurrence of Anchovy and a good Cod year-class is shown. For the southern North Sea, stomach investigations of Squid make a negative effect on fish eggs and larvae more likely.

Untersuchungen zur Qualität von Doraden auf dem deutschen Markt

Mediterranean fish species and fish species from other southern countries are retailed increasingly on the German market. The fish is stored in ice eviscerated or as whole fish and imported by truck or by airplane. In the present investigation, the freshness, the sensory quality and the microbiological status was determined of gilthead sea breams (Sparus aurata) from farms in Italy and France and from sea breams (Sparus ehrenbergi) of wild captures from Senegal. It is shown, that farmed gilthead sea breams were of high sensory quality and in good microbiological conditions.

Spezifizierungsanalyse des Quecksilbers - ein möglicher Beitrag zur Erforschung der Auswirkungen klimatischer Veränderungen auf die belebte Meeresumwelt

The predominantly occurring chemical forms (species) of mercury (Hg) that occur in the environment are elemental mercury (Hg0), divalent inorganic mercury (Hg2+) and dimethylmercury (CH3HgCH3) and monomethylmercury(CH+3Hg), the latter of which is strongly accumulated by marine organisms. Conversions between the different mercury species provide the basis of the complex distribution pattern of mercury on local, regional, and global scales. An analytical system using hyphenated instrumental techniques has been developed and validated in order to determine inorganic and organic mercury species in marine biota (fish and plankton). It is suggested than mercury species analysis can provide a useful tool to investigate the effects of climate changes on the bio-transformation activity of certain marine microorganisms.

Fischereilich-ökonomische Überlegungen zu Chancen und Risiken in der Garnelenfischerei - am Beispiel des Schollendiscards (Ein Thesenpapier auf der Basis von EU-Studien und Langzeitreihen)

Though economic research is not one of the tasks of the German Federal Research Centre for Fisheries, basic in-formation for such work is available from biologic studies on fish biomass, discards and seasonal abundance of species. Results from EU-studies on brown shrimp fisheries show the effect of discarding juvenile fish, especially plaice, the possibly lost numbers and value of this fish as well as chances of reducing these losses by a timely effort reduction in summer and the use of selective nets throughout most parts of the year. However, it is also made clear, that these costly measures may have no effect on the stocks due to biological compensatory effects observed in strong year classes of plaice e. g. 1996, with high landings and collapsing prices. Therefore sound biological and economic data and methods are needed to assess the economic effects of management measures on fishermen’s situation and markets. Compensations for catch limitations may become inevitable.

Winterfischerei auf Garnelen. Die Anteile der europäischen Garnelenflotten an den Anlandungen von Crangon crangon im Zeitraum Januar bis März der Jahre 1990 bis 1999

„Winter fishery“ on brown shrimp does not imply a special type of fishery. It merely means the continuation of the standard fishing procedure of parts of the fleet during wintertime, when the majority of the mostly smaller vessels stay in harbour due to generally unfavourable weather conditions for their activity. During 1990 to 1999 mean European wide landings in January and February summedup to 854 tonnes making up to only 4 % of the mean annual landings (21 805 t). While German vessels landed0.7 % (68.7 t) of their mean annual landings during that period, the other countries caught about 7 % of their individual, mean annual landings at the same time. The Netherlands and Denmark contributed highest tonnages of 580and 110 tonnes, respectively, to the total European landings, making up 81 % of them. As about 70 % of brown shrimp may carry eggs in January, the winter fishery took a mean total of about 2.15 x 1012brown shrimp eggs out of the stocks in that period annually. As there is no reliable assessment available concerning the brown shrimp stocks, it is despite of these high losses of eggs not possible to trace a negative effect of the winter fishery in scientific terms. However, precautional catch reductions in winter would be in favour of higher survival rates of eggs, which are the carrying source for the recruitment of brown shrimp stocks and catches in forthcoming summer and autumn seasons according to Dutch investigations.

31. Jahrestagung der "West European Fish Technologit´s Association" in Espoo, Finnland

Vom 27.-31. Mai 2001 fand in Espoo, Finnland, die 31. Jahrestagung der WEFTA (West European FishTechnologist’s Association) statt. 75 Teilnehmer aus15 europäischen Ländern, der FAO und der Europäischen Kommission sowie aus den USA und Kanadawaren der Einladung des VTT Biotechnology, eines großen finnischen Forschungsinstituts auf dem Gebiete der Biotechnologie und biologischer Materialien, zu dieser Tagung gefolgt. Die Durchführung in einemKongresszentrum in Espoo, nahe der finnische Hauptstadt Helsinki direkt am Bottnischen Meerbusen gelegen, ermöglichte einen straffen organisatorischen Ablauf und die Einhaltung des Zeitplanes der mit 41 Vorträgen und 18 Postern recht umfangreichen Veranstaltung, die in 7 Themenkomplexe gegliedert war. Nachfolgend werden wesentliche Ergebnisse der einzelnen Beiträge zusammengefasst

Neue Chance für den Nordsee-Kabeljau: Seevögel machen bereits im Sommer 2001 auf starken Jahrgang aufmerksam

Im Oktober/November des vergangenen Jahres ergab sich während der 483. Reise von FK „Solea“ ein im Vergleich zu den vier Vorjahren hoher Fangindex von 220 Kabeljau Gadus morhua je Stunde (Weber 2001). Die Fische hatten eine Länge von 15 bis18 cm und waren besonders in Küstennähe Ostfrieslands anzutreffen. Durch unsere Langzeituntersuchungen zur Ökologie der Flussseeschwalbe Sterna hirundo im Wattenmeer sind wir bereits im Juni des Jahres 2001 auf den starken Jahrgang des Kabeljaus aufmerksam geworden und können die Vermutung von Weber bestätigen, dass die Kabeljaus den Sommer über im Wattengebiet herangewachsen sind.