Recent negative and positive trends

Increasing abundance for several species are likely to be the positive result of an overall reduction since the 1990s in commercial trawl effort in the region. Hence, an increasing trend in the abundance indicator does not necessarily mean that a stock is in good shape. It could also be the first positive sign of recovery of a depleted stock. For instance, wolffish exhibit a slightly increasing trend between 2013 and 2022, despite being overall rare in survey catches between 2013 and 2022, compared to periods before 2013 (data not shown here).

When stocks are showing signs of recovery, local management actions can be vital for further recovery. For example, increasing availability may capture the attention of fisheries and what used to be small amounts caught as unintended by catch may be replaced by much larger landings in a targeted fishery. More so, when landings go up, but the abundance indicator is stable, or only weakly increasing as for anglerfish, this should trigger immediate attention, as this may indicate an increasing commercial interest.

Pollack shows declining abundance indicator and declining landings, suggesting a species in decline that should be fished with caution to prevent stock collapse or local depletion. Similarly, roundnose grenadier is showing declining survey trend, which is concerning given the large, and increasing, bycatch of this species in the shrimp trawl fishery. Lastly, also tusk has been in decline in recent years with stable landing amounts.