1. Status of European and German Fish Stocks
Rainer Froese
BfN Koordinatoren Treffen
Vilm, 4. April 2017

2. Outline Information in FishBase Information in SealifeBase
AquaMaps: 25,000 species maps
Species change in Baltic and North Sea
Ecosystem modeling
Status and development of European fisheries
Status of fisheries in the German EEZ
Status of western Baltic cod

3. Information in FishBase

4. Information in FishBase
Trophic Ecology
Ecology ● Predators Food items
Diet composition Food consumption
Ration
Reproduction & Life History Maturity ● Spawning ● Eggs Larvae ● Broodstock ● Fry nursery Larval dynamics ● Larval speed
Genetics & Aquaculture Electrophoresis Heritability ● Strains
Population Dynamics
Growth/Mortality ● L/W relations Maximum sizes ● Recruitment L/L relations ● Length frequency
Fish as Food Processing ● Ciguatera FAO catches Aquaculture (production)
Other Tables Pictures ● References Biblio ● Keys ● Sounds
Information in FishBase
Distribution
Occurrence ● FAO areas
Country ● Ecosystem
Introductions
Morphology & Physiology Metabolism ● Gill area
Vision ● Disease Brain ● Abnormalities Ecotoxicology ● Swim mode

5. Information in FishBase
From literature
33,400 fish species (from freshwater, brackish and marine environments)
Up-to-date taxonomy (valid names and synonyms (86,896)) and distribution,
Common names (319,057) in 347 languages for 254 countries,
Size (maximum lengths) 29,500 species,
Longevity (maximum age) 1,314 species
Age at maturity (2,228 age at maturity records),
Reproductive mode (11,584 species),
Fecundity (2,191 records),
Growth (10,592 records for 2,318 species),
Oxygen consumption (7,000 records for 210 species)
Diet (6,857 for 2,264 species),
© J.E. Randall

7. Information in SealifeBase

8. Content of SLB
Information like in FishBase for 50,000 non-fish species
All marine mammals, reptiles, corals, commercial species
Information less complete than in FishBase, but same structure and continuously growing

9. Information in AquaMaps

10. Content of AquaMaps Half-degree cells, ~ 290,000 globally
25,000 species, half of all fishes, complete for marine mammals and some other smaller groups
HSPEN: Table with min-max and preferred range (trapezoid) for depth, temperature, salinity, primary productivity [oxygen next, acidity possible]
HCAF: Table with environmental data (depth, temperature, salinity, primary productivity, …) for every cell for current, and 2100
HSPEC: Table (100 million records) with suitability of very cell for every species

11. 2050 Change in Species Composition
Jaccard distance, percent change relative to 2014, Power Scale, preliminary results.

12. 2050 Loss of Species
Loss of species relative to 2014, in percent, Power Scale, preliminary results

13. 2050 New Species
Percent of new species in 2050 total, power scale, preliminary data

14. Species Change in North Sea and Baltic Sea

15. Change in species composition in the year 2050
based on Jaccard‘s distance (average ~ 15%)

16. Percentage of species lost and gained in each cell in the North Sea in the year 2050

17. Change in species composition in the year 2050
based on Jaccard‘s distance (average ~ 50%)

18. Percentage of species lost and gained in each cell in the Baltic Sea in the year 2050

19. Ecosystem Modeling

20. Nahrungsnetz der südlichen Nordsee im Bereich der deutschen AWZ
Trophische Flüsse zum (grün) und weg vom (braun) Sandaalbestand
= Import von Nahrung aus angrenzenden Ökosystemen = Immigration aus angrenzenden Ökosystemen
Trophisches Niveau
Opitz et al. , unveröffentlicht

21. Nahrungsnetz der westlichen Ostsee
Trophische Flüsse zum (grün) und weg vom (braun) Heringsbestand
= Import von Nahrung aus angrenzenden Ökosystemen = Immigration aus angrenzenden Ökosystemen
Mak
Trophisches Niveau
Opitz et al. , unveröffentlicht,

22. Nahrungsnetz der westlichen Ostsee
Modellanpassungen für Biomasse und Fang von Dorsch, Hering und Kliesche.
Zahlen hinter dem Doppelpunkt sind Angaben für die Anpassung der Messdaten an die Modellrechnung (sum of squares – je kleiner die Zahl umso besser die Anpassung).
Opitz et al. , unveröffentlicht

23. Next Steps with Modeling
Explore future biomass development under different exploitation scenarios
Explore future effects of closure of Natura 2000 areas to fishing

24. Status and Development of European Fisheries

25. Reminder of Symbols and Terms
MSY is the maximum sustainable yield, the maximum long- term catch
Bmsy is the smallest biomass that can produce MSY
F is the fishing mortality rate, the proportion of fish killed by fishing
Fmsy is the fishing mortality rate resulting eventually in Bmsy and MSY
Bpa is the border of safe biological limits, the biomass below wich recruitment may be impaired

26. European Stocks in 2013-2015 ◄ Management Decision ►
◄ F & Reproduction & Growth ►
PR_Graphs.xlsx
Analysis of 397 stocks in European Seas and adjacent waters. Froese et al

27. CFP compliance by Ecoregion 2013-2015 Froese et al. 2016
Rebuilding_11.docx

28. Percentage of Stocks at or above Bmsy
Rebuilding_11.docx
Best rebuilding under the 0.5 Fmsy scenario,
worst under the 0.95 Fmsy scenario
Froese et al. (in prep)

29. Percentage of Depleted Stocks
Rebuilding_11.docx
Best rebuilding under the 0.5 Fmsy scenario,
worst under the 0.95 Fmsy scenario
Froese et al. (in prep)

30. Profitability Good profits for the 0.5 – 0.8 Fmsy scenarios
Low profit for the 0.95 Fmsy scenario
Froese et al. (in prep)

31. PR_Graphs.xlsx
Analysis of current ( ) and potential catches for 397 stocks in European Seas. Because
of trophic interactions, all stocks cannot support maximum yields simultaneously. Froese et al

32. Status of Fisheries in the German EEZ

33. North Sea
45 North Sea stocks in a pressure (F/Fmsy) – state (B/Bmsy) plot. The red area indicates stocks that are being overfished or are outside of safe biological limits. The yellow area indicates recovering stocks. The green area indicates stocks subject to sustainable fishing pressure and of a healthy stock size.

34. North Sea: Catch/MSY
Catches by main functional group relative to their maximum sustainable yield (MSY, black line), for 45 stocks in the Greater North Sea. All groups could provide higher catches under sustainable management.

35. North Sea: Biomass
Median biomass relative to the level that can produce the maximum sustainable yield (B/Bmsy) for 45 stocks in the North Sea assigned to main functional groups. All functional groups are well below the MSY-level, with no visible trend of increase.

36. North Sea: Fishing Pressure
Median fishing pressure relative to the maximum sustainable level (F/Fmsy) for 45 stocks in the
North Sea assigned to main functional groups. The median fishing pressure is near the
MSY-level in recent years, with about 50% of the stocks continuing to be overfished.

37. Baltic Sea
20 Baltic Sea stocks in a pressure (F/Fmsy) – state (B/Bmsy) plot. The red area indicates stocks that are being overfished or are outside of safe biological limits. The yellow area indicates recovering stocks. The green area indicates stocks subject to sustainable fishing pressure and of a healthy stock size that can produce high yields close to MSY.

38. Baltic Sea: Catch/MSY
Catches by main functional group relative to their maximum sustainable yield for 20 stocks in the Baltic Sea. Sprat and herring supported catches around the precautionary lower confidence limit of MSY (dashed line). Flatfish supported catches below but near the precautionary level. Since 2002, the low biomass of cod, salmon and sea trout produced catches well below precautionary sustainable levels.

39. Baltic Sea: Biomass
Median biomass (B/Bmsy) for 20 stocks in the Baltic Sea assigned to main functional groups. Large predators (red curve) and pelagic plankton feeders (green curve) have biomass levels well below Bmsy, without a clear upward trend. In contrast, flatfish have recovered well in recent years.

40. Baltic Sea: Fishing Pressure
Median fishing pressure F/Fmsy for 20 stocks in the Baltic. Large predators (red curve) are subject to severe overfishing. Pelagic plankton feeders (green curve) were overfished before 2010 and were exploited at the maximum sustainable level afterwards. Flatfish were overfished until 2008 but were exploited below the precautionary sustainable level since 2011, allowing for the strong increase in biomass after 2012 (see above).

41. Status of Western Baltic Cod

42. Western Baltic Cod 2012
ICES Advice, May 2012

43. Western Baltic Cod 2016
ICES Advice, October 2016

45. Vielen Dank