The western spurdog Squalus acanthias L. fishery in 1989 and 1990, with observations on the further development of the gillnet fishery directed on the species

Abstract

Between 1987 and 1990 the western fisheries of spurdog briefly harvested heavy then progressively reduced landings. These were sampled in each year. The peak and post-peak fisheries have been described and this account is of the fishery in 1989 and 1990. Although the catch per effort has declined substantially from the peak fishery, spurdog remains an important target species. The fishery is assessed from 856 individuals captured in 1989 and 688 the following year. The following criteria of sampled fish classified according to method of capture were examined: sex ratio, weight, age and a growth index. Gillnet-caught females are regarded as indicators of the broodstock which shows signs of having made some recovery from its immediate post peak condition. The Carrigaholt gill net fishery, the index fishery which has been monitored for four years, exploits a range of species by gill net, spurdog and gadoids being the principal ones to date, and it has increased its fishing capacity over the period. In 1989 and 1990 effort was directed on hake; some characteristics of these landings are given and compared with gill net caught hake from other parts of the country.