THE DUBLIN BAY PRAWN AND ITS FISHERY (Norway Lobster)

Dr Richard Briggs (AFBI Retired)

Overview
1. Biology 2. The Fishery

3. Stock Assessment and Management Advice 4. Technical Conservation

5. Conclusions

1. Biology
Nephrops norvegicus
Dublin Bay prawn Norway Lobster

Scampi
Langoustine Cigala

Probably not Nephrops

Nephrops is NOT a fish!!

Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Crustacea Order: Decapoda Super Family: Nephropsidea
1. A lobster with typical hard exoskeleton which is periodically shed (ecdysis). There are no persistent hard structures with growth rings
Kidney shaped eye (from the Greek nephros = kidney and op = eye)

Dublin Bay prawn (Nephrops norvegicus)

2.

3.

Live within burrows in seabed sediment .

RangeFrom Iceland to Mediterranean

4.

Cod (Gadus morhua)

Life Cycle

2. The Fishery
Captured by otter trawls (single or multiple) or by creels (pots)
About 60,000 tonnes caught of which 10,000 tonnes from Irish Sea

Irish Sea Nephrops grounds

55.0N
North Channel Cumbria
306 302 303 301 307 309 308 304 305 209 208 250

54.5N
35 2 30 17 15 7 109 20 10 101 102 103 1

54.0N

207 8 107 106104 105

108

IRISH SEA

200

53.5N

Nephrops Grounds

53.0N 6.5W

6.0W

5.5W

5.0W

4.5W

4.0W

3.5W

3.0W

Nephrops landings from the western Irish Sea

12,000 10,508 10,000 9,198 8,963 10,162

8,370

8,491 7,441 6,793 7,065 7,270 6,554 7,561

Tonnes Landed

8,000

6,000

4,000

2,000

0 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Year

Value of Northern Ireland Marine Fisheries

Value of top 15 trawled species
14

Value of all trawled species = 21.5 millions

12

10

Nephrops = 53.5% of total 1st sale value

8 Value (m)

Horse Mackerel

Lobsters

Haddock

Velvet crab

Mackerel

Scallops

Cockles

Herring

Cod

Hake

Monks or Anglers

Queen Scallops

Nephrops

Brown Crab

Turbot

3. Stock Assessment
Functional Units as defined by ICES
1 2 10 9 8 6 5 7 32 33

11 12

3 4

13 18 15 14 17 16 19 20-22

23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 34 31 36 37 35 41 38 40

39

Irish Sea Nephrops TAC: Sub-Area VII

Western Irish Sea = FU15

Sub Area VII

MA J L M FU 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22
53.00 54.00 55.00

18 17

15 14

16
52.00

51.00

19 20-22

50.00

49.00

48.00 -18.00 -16.00 -14.00 -12.00

-10.00

-8.00

-6.00

-4.00

-2.00

0.00

2.00

Assessment Methods
Catch (millions)
35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0
10 12 14

Nephrops Size Compostion

(1) Commercial Data

16

18

20

22

24

26

28

30

32

34

36

38

40

42

44

46

Computer-based models using growth parameters were used to slice size frequency data into age classes. Which were input to similar procedures to those used to assess whitefish stocks. Such as Virtual Population Analysis (VPA).
Weakness in that ages were unreliable.

Carapace alength mm

Growth Parameters (K, Linf )

L2AGE SLICING MODEL

length/weight relationship

Nominal Age composition

Number (millions)
200 150 100 50 0

3 4 5 Age in years

7+

48

(2) Larval Production

Using fecundity data to back calculate the number of females required to produce the amount of larvae observed during surveys. Labour intensive and costly. Completed one-off as an EU funded project.
Number of Larvae in plankton

= Spawning Biomass (SSB)

Fecundity (number of eggs per gram of female)

Female Nephrops Spawning Stock Biomass estimates from different methods (vertical bar = 95% confidence range)
10000 9000 8000

SSB (tonnes)

7000 6000 5000 4000 3000 2000 1000 0

ALP

LCA Assessment Method

VPA

Portaferry work
Briggs, R. P., Armstrong, M.J., Dickey-Collas, M., Allen, McQuaid, N. and Whitmore, J. (2002). Estimation of Nephrops Biomass in the Western Irish Sea from Annual Larval Production. ICES Journal of Marine Research, 59: 109-119.

Maturity and Fecundity (Nuala McQuaid, PhD)

Relationship between realised fecundity and carapace length for eastern and western Irish Sea stocks..

Maturity ogive of females from western Irish Sea The dotted curve represents maturity estimated from presence of spermatophores and the solid line represents females with ovaries of stage 3 or above

McQuaid, N., Briggs, R.P., Roberts, D., (2009) Estimation of fecundity in Nephrops norvegicus (L.) from the Irish Sea. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the UK 89(6), 1181-1188. McQuaid, N. and Briggs, R.P. and Roberts, D., (2006). The Size at Onset of Maturity in Nephrops norvegicus from the Irish Sea. Fisheries Research 81: 26-36

(3) Camera Surveys

Adults inhabit burrows in offshore sediment from which they only emerge to feed and to mate. Research in Scotland suggests that one adult Nephrops occupies a single burrow cluster and unoccupied burrows are quickly filled by sediment. By counting burrow clusters over a known area it is possible to provide a fishery independent index of Nephrops abundance and to map the Nephrops grounds.

Adopted by ICES since 2005 Underwater video used to count Nephrops burrow clusters

The Ships
AFBI & Marine Institute
Now 10 years data

RV Corystes

RV Celtic Voyager

Camera sledge deployment

The AFBI camera sledge being deployed at sea

Stations
3.5km apart
Camera towed for 10 mins at each station

Results
Western Irish Sea (FU15) burrow abundance estimate
(Error bars = cv)
8

7
6 5

Billions

4 3 2 1 0 6.3 6.3 6.5 6.2 5.9 4.9 5.7 5.6

5.3

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

Survey

Contour plots of burrow densities using geostatistics (2009 2011)

(krigged density plots)

REF: Annika Clements (2009) Broad-scale ecological investigation of Nephrops norvegicus (L.) burrow distribution in the western Irish Sea. PhD Thesis Queens University of Belfast

Burrow densities from different areas

Moray Firth Firth of Forth Fladen Ground Farn Deeps Celtic Sea Aran Grounds Irish Sea West Clyde South Minch North Minch
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2

Burrow Density (number m-2)

Summary of data analysis

Landings Size distribution

Mean Nephrops weight in catch

Bias Adjusted Burrow Count

Catch Option in numbers

Harvest Rates from Model

Catch Data Growth and Maturity Parameters

Predicted Landings = TAC

Justification for choice of Harvest Rate

ie proportion of stock safe to catch
Fmax

Frecent

4 3

F0.1

yield

2 1 0 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0

Fmult

Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY): now forming ICES advice basis.

Not possible to estimate directly for Nephrops as no age or SSB trend data. MSY proxy therefore established

Evidence for Harvest Rate at Fmax as Proxy for MSY

Commercial Fishery Data indicates that the fishery has been sustained at about Fmax for many years
Landings - International
15000 250

Effort - Different fleets

UK Northern Ireland Nephrops trawlers Rep. of Ireland
Effort ('000 hours trawling)
200

International Landings UK - All gears Rep. of Ireland - All gears

12000

Landings (tonnes)

9000

150

6000

100

3000

50

0 1950

1955

1960

1965

1970

1975

1980

1985

1990

1995

2000

2005

2010

0 1980

1985

1990

1995

2000

2005

2010

80

LPUE - Different fleets

34

70

Mean sizes - Different fleets

Mean size (mm carapace length)

CPUE or LPUE (kg/hour trawling)

60

32 30 28 26 24 22 20

50

ROI - Catch - Males ROI - Catch - Females UK NI - Catch - Mal UK NI - Catch - Fem

40

30

20

Rep. of Ireland - LPUE UK Northern Ireland - LPUE

10

0 1960

1965

1970

1975

1980

1985

1990

1995

2000

2005

2010

1960

1965

1970

1975

1980

1985

1990

1995

2000

2005

2010

Trawl Survey Data

E3
54.8N

E4

E5

54.6N

38

54.4N

1
54.2N

35 2 30 17 15 209 208 109 20 10 101 210 7 108 102 103

37

54.0N

207 8
53.8N

107 104 106 105

36

53.6N

200

53.4N

35
6.4W 6.2W 6.0W 5.8W 5.6W 5.4W 5.2W 5.0W 4.8W 4.6W

Figure 1: Western Irish Sea Nephrops stations

Trawl Surveys: catch rates

Average catch (kg) per nm
(Vertical bars = SE)

140

120

100

Kg per nm

80

60

40

20

2004

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

35
carapace length (mm)

Mean carapace length from August surveys

(error bars = SD)

30
25 20 15 10 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 August males August females

2006

2005

2007

2008

2009

2010 2010

100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 1997 1998 1999

Mean percentage females in August

(error bars = SD)

Percentage females (%)

2008

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2009

2011

2011

4. Technical Conservation
Mixed fishery
The western Irish Sea is a whitefish spawning and nursery area enhanced by a gyre. Catches include cod, haddock, whiting and small non-commercial species

Discards of undersized and non-commercial species is therefore a problem.

Michelle Allen (2009). An Investigation of sampling techniques within marine fisheries discards. PhD Thesis Queens University of Belfast Allen, M., Kilpatrick, D., Armstrong, M., Briggs, R., Course, G. and Prez, N. (2002). Multistage cluster sampling design and optimal sample sizes for estimation of fish discards from commercial trawlers. Fisheries Research 55, 11-24

Square mesh escape panels

To develop more selective fishing gears. Many of the novel net designs include the incorporation of square shaped meshes in trawl nets which do not distort during towing

Strip of diamond mesh in centre (12 meshes wide)

8.85m

82mm 1.5m 4mm P/E

4.5m 84x5.6mm compact netting 120 round

Briggs, R.P. (2010) A novel escape panel for trawl nets used in the Irish Sea Nephrops Fishery. Fisheries Research. 105: 118-124

Recent SEAFISH study Spring 2012

Box Extension 300mm SMP
Diamond mesh side and bottom panels Large square mesh top panel

Standard two panel extension and codend

4 panel (boxed) extension section Main body of the trawl

Boxed extension section

16
14 12

250
200

Bulk (kg)

EXPERIMENTAL CONTROL

: Cod catch

EXPERIMENTAL CONTROL

Number of cod
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Bulk - Kg

150 100 50 0

10
8 6

4
2 0

Tow

9 10 11 12

Tow

5. Conclusions
Irish Sea Nephrops are withstanding exploitation levels
Historical data from 1960s when the fishery was in its infancy shows little change in size composition of catches Larval production studies in 1995 showed that 440 billion larvae were produced suggesting high recruitment potential The Irish Sea Gyre (whirlpool effect) retains both larvae and sediment enhancing recruitment success

Why is this?
1. Management legislation - MLS, TAC, Minimum mesh size 2. Live within burrows in seabed sediment .

3. Crepuscular ie active at dawn and dusk and seldom emerge during strong tides
4. Females remain in burrows whilst incubating eggs (9 months)

5. Juveniles (0-group) remaining burrowed for at their 1st year

6. When cod stocks were high (1980s) they could have consumed as much Nephrops as the fishery (Armstrong, 1990). Cod are now at a low level, though there are recent signs of a recovery!

QUESTIONS?