HELCOLÅNDER MEERESI'NTERSUCHI,]NGEN

Hekorårder MeeresDteB- 33, 637-599 11980)

Fisheries management and conservation in the Irish Sea

K. Brander
Minisby of Agrio. tøe, Fishenes antl Food, Fisheries Labotatory; Lowestoft, Suffolk
NR 33 OHT, UK

ABSTIACT: The lrish Sea ia a relativ€ty small, en.losed sea area wlich is subject to a wide ranse
ol hll]rra uses incrudirg laøgaiion, oil teminals, dmping oI sewage and indnstial sludge,
@Iinq lor nuclear powa statioE, gravel €xtradion, gæ ad oil prospecting and fishinq. Comer-
cial tishing is afected by th€ other uses ad at the sme time it proEdes a me@ ol monitodng their
etlecb on a pa.t ol the ecosystem. Reglld smples taken rrom fish markets provide a long series oi
age-@Dpositio! data of the main comercial species od, whiiing, plaice and sor€ - from which
popuration changes can be æsessed. More rccently qroundfish hawl sureys have be@ caried out
to provide Do4 debned injomatioD on the diskibution oI a1l deoersal fish species seasonatly and
in relation to ea, depth ad sediment t].?e, Advie on the manaqement of commerciar fish species
is prepded by a wo*tug group ol th€ Intemtional Cou.il ror the Eaploration ol the Sea (ICES),
dd is based mainly oD dalyti.al single-spe.ies models. There æ obvious shortmmings or su.h
hodels in an ared of mned fishery dd high divæit such as the Irish Sea. The objectives adopted
in tbese models and in lishdies mamgmmt generdlly de mined oiticdlly in relation to the
possibre aims oi coBeNation,

INIRODUCTION
The Irish Sea (ICES Division \aIIa, see Fig, 1) has dea of approximately
45 000 km'z dd is a relatively enclosed sea which is subject to a wide range oI hman
uses. Its maximum depttl, in the North Chdmel, is over 200 m but most of the eea is less
than 50 m deep. In tsms ol amual fish yield it is one of the least poductive areas around
the Biti,lh Isle§ (Brander, 1977) and this may be linled to tlle apparenuy short d laie
production cycle (Colebrook, 1979) which may in tlm be due to strong tidal mixing and
Iow solar mdiation duing the sp ng months (Dickson & Reid, in prep ation).
In several rcspecls the Irish Sea is the most polluted sea dea around the British Isles.
The levels of zinc, copper, reactive mercury md mangmese e aU higher tlan those in
the North Sea or English Chamel (Sheets 50 and 51 of Lee & Rmstd, 1979). T}lis is due
patly to high natual levels and runolf tuom old mine workings, but mair[y to industrial
inputs dd sludge dmpitrg, the scale of whicl is domented by the Department oI t]le
Enviroment (1978) and by Murray & Norton {1979). The major disclarge of radioactive
waste in the t X takes place at Windscale in Cumbria and levels of caesium 137 in t]le
Irish Sea are up to three orders oI magnitude higher thm those in the North Sea
{Mitcnell, 1977).
Other activities affecting life in the sea are: navigation by oil tante6. cdgo vessels
ard ferries - tlle scale of whicl catr be judged f.om sheet 7 of Lee & Ramster (1979), oil
termiDals there ee major teminals at Milford Haven and Anglesey; gravel extraction

@ Biologische Actalt Helgolad oo17-995? /AO/0033/06A? /§ 02.OO

684 K. Brander

6r Lee & Rmster' 19791r oil and qas

by alrealgels- mainly in Liverpool Bav {sheet 2:rpresent'
prospecting
- - agarn mai.ly in Liverpool BaY at
il .r it*. r,u". *used concem about the state of the marine enviroment both
because of the alanger to lile in the sea anal, in the case oI
pollutants' bs se o! the
alaEger of retm puttt-.y" to man. Monitoring programes have been 6tablished'
paticulaty with the tattd i rdnal {Mitchell, 1977r Mmay, 1979' Portmm' 1979]- The
;irect effe; of pollutants on life in the sea is very ditfiolt to establish' particuldlY
outside the littoral, since so tittle is known about mtural population levels d tlleil
fluctuations. Even where lethal elfects e not obseFed thøe maY be less easilv
detectable sublethal ones, although the distinction is not a particuldlv impotant one
in
terrts of population dynamics, since in either case a change is brought about in one or
more of itre popuration pdameter (growth, mortality, net repoduction' migratlon)'
It has been suggesteal that toaic wastes' particul lv PCBS' may have been a
@ntnbutory ractor in tle inceased incialence of epidemal lesioc in tlle fladish
population; ol Ute North East Irish Sea in 1971 (Perkins et al', 1972) Shelton & Wilson
i19:73) .ollecled turthe data on epidemal
lesions and concluded that " of aI tlle
ånvironnental vadables which cm be invoked to explain these results' pollution is the
ol and ad'Is'
Ieast likely." SindemanD (1977) quotes onlv the edtier these studies
efroneousty, tlat "rin amage, uiknown before 1970 (in the lrish Sea)' was obsenred in

The role of pollution stualies is weII known, but in adtuessing tlle problem of
protecting life nr the sea it seems strdge that the need lor stuches of fisheries is
sometirnÅ questioned There are at least two rcasons for this state of affairs which have
recenuy core to the author's notice. One is that fishenes biologists d€ regdded
as
of the fishing indusEv rather than those ol the manne ecosystem at
having the interests
unceltain_
heart;nd t}le other is the idea that fishsies statistics e subject to too manY
ties to be of any use in monitoring population ch ges due to pollution'
This paps seeks to examine the validitv of these oitrcisms and to show that fishing
has had å very geat efred on Irish Sea fish populations Studies of the lishefes
are
therelore essential when cocialering the aims of meine coGervation in the dea and are
possible effects of pollutants'
also necessary when drawing conclusions about the

STI]DIES OF COMMERCTAL FISHERIES

Recorals of catches oI cormercial fish species dd studies of their population
dynmics go back over several alecades, puttins tlem amons the most closelYmorltded
foundation
nåtr:rat mimal populations The study of @mmeroal lishedes provides the
maintain and it mav also provide a mæc of
to. -.nag.-uni oi ti"t'ing activitv to vields
oI other hume acltvities on a major component of the madne
monitod;g the effects
."o"y"t"rnl ri"nirg itsetf can be shown to have a very great effect on the exploited
populations and ttree ttds of studY will be ates€ribe'I to give m idea of their scale and
;eslution' G) a straishtroMard des.ription of the lons{em catch hends md d
yield
examinatior of the historic catcl and effort data for demersal speoes to Foduce a
species' incorpora-
clNe I (b) the aralrtical assessment of tle state of the stocks of singl€
ting growth, mot;hty dd recruitmentr (c) an malvsis of pan of a sedes of srourdfish
suneys in the No I East Iish Sea.
 Fisheries mmgement and conservation 649

LONG'TERM CATCH TRENDS AND TOTAI DEMERSAL

STIRPLUS PRODUCTION
Statisucs of r]mual landhgs of fish d shelfish by country have been recorded in
the Bulletir Statistique of the Intemtional CoLDciI for the Exploiation of the Sea {ICES)
since 1909. Throughout most of this pedod landing§ were reported for the Iri§h Sea d
Bdstol CharDeI combined {ICES Divisions \aIIa ud vlI, see Fig. 1) d it has therefore
been recessary to keep them combined in examining the long{erm catch trcrds and in
calolatirg total demersal productioL The 1977 Bulletin re@rils landings of 30 demecal
fish species, 5 pelagic fish species and 15 shellfish species from the Irish Sea. The
counties takirg pan in the Iishery are UK, Ireland, Frnce, Belgium d the Nether-
I ds. The pdncipål demersal species ee @d, wtuting, plaice, sole and the my species
Hernng make up the bulk of the pelagic catch æd the main sh€I[ish species are NoMaY
lobster, queeE scallops, scallops md mussels. In 1977 intemritional landings of demercal
fish in ICES Division \alla totaled about 34 000 tonne§, Pelagic Iish about 22 000 tomes
0/0
and shellish about 21 000 tonnes. The high prcportion of shelltish, over 27 of the total

I'

50m

il
)\*
t/
l
tffi:

Fig. 1. ICES Division vIIa (lish Sea)dd Brisaol Chdnel (VIf) vith depth ontor @d plae
nåmes nsed in the t*t
690

weight Imded, is a notevrorthy featue of the Lish Sea fishdies, particularly since
seveml of the species de of high value.
Figue 2 shows the hends in total demersal, total pelagic and shelfish landings from
DivisioDs \aIIa plus \4Il since 1922. Shellfish landings pdor to 1950 we]e small md have
not bem included because the mits de incompatible. All tbrce categories have shown
$eat increases over the pedod, but the rcæoc for the increæe ae varied. Pelagic
landings rcse shar?Iy ftom 1970 onwards due partly to good herring rcmitment in the
Idsh Sea ard inseased oAloitation oI the Celtic Sea stock, but maidy becaEe catches
of mackdel tuom the Westerly stock oud Comwall are §ometimes taken in Division
\alf. Therc is no indicatiotr that pelagic catches in Division \rIIa ould be maitrtained
above 20 000 tonnes on a sustained basis. Fishing on the Moune hering stock ha§ been
bmed md the MarE stocL could easily follow the same domw d path if tight conhols
The increased shellfish landings arc probably due to increased fishing effort on
tåem as the m ket lor shellfish has imprcved. Fishirg effort on NePIroP§ is too high
(Br der, 1977), but the mesh size has recently been inoeased and the stocks §eem to
stand up to the tishing pressure rcmarkably weII-
The demersal landrngs have risen considerably too over t}le past thirty years and
reached by f the highest level of the cenhry in 1973, since when thde has been a
slight decliDe. On their om these statistics cmot be taken as indication of
population size since the fluctuatioc in catch may be a resolt of varying fishing inteBity
nther than populatior changes. Staustics of fishing effo (fishing intensity
: fishing etrory ea) e less complete thm thoite oI intematioml catch and there are

Peloaic-' '

0
1922 26 30 34 38 60 80
Fig. 2. Total inlerrohooal lddings of demersal ald pelagic lish dd sherfish nom ICES Divisions
\alla + Mr. (Soucer ICES Bu[etn Statimque 1922 1973)
 Fisheries mmqement d conseration 691

dfficulties iD definirg the uits of effort d in standadising them between different

countries and methods of fishing. Nevertheless, ån indd oI the fishing effort on
demersal fish hæ been produced for the penod since 1954, which is derived from
English, Welsh md Belgiar hawl data, corrected for increases in hoEepower (Br der,
1977). The risiEg tsend ir the total intemational fishing effort thus derived is sho'$m iD
Figue 3 which also shows the resulting decliEe in total demersal catch per effort. Catch
pe. effort is tal<o as an indicator of available stock biomass and tuom these figues it
therefore appears that the total demersal fish biomass in the [rish Sea ud Bristol
Channel has falen to litde more tlan a third of its 1954 level as a result of nshing. Belore
goirg on to look funher irto these figues it is perhaps woth giving morc detail about
fishing intensity and its distribution. A rough calculation indicates that the total dea
sept by hawls in 1978 was about 147 000 km'z lvhich is about 2'l" times the total area of
Divisions VlIa dd \am. Since fishing effort is not evenly distributed this means that
populd gromals dd tows may have been trawled over m y more times than this,
whereas large areas are not ftshed at all.
The distribution of intemauonal fishing effort within the Irish Sea can oDly be given
approximately becaBe rot aI coutries colect the intomation, but Figrurc 4 shom the
English, Welsh and Belgian contributions in 1976, with most fishing tahing plae in the
Eastem Idsh Sea. The rmaining coutries, Eire, Nolthem Ireland and Fmnce lish
hairly in the central md westem pans, panioldly in the deas west ad southwest of
ihe Isle of Man.
A yield (]rre Ior the demereal species caD be derived Irom Fi$Ie 3 using the
methods desaibed by Brmdo (1977) and Anonymous (1974, 1979). md this is showtr in
Figure 5. Bearing in mind the limitatioDs of tlle method, it provides some uselul first
approximations. The mdimtm sutaimble yield (MSY) from the demersal lishery of
vlla d vIIf is just urder 50 000 tonnes (nomiDal weight) and the biomass or demersal
fish (of catchable size) at MSY is about 100 000 tomes, since fishing is removing about
half of the biomass each ye . In the absence ol fishing the biomass rould be around

r0

5e

0
a 2 4 6I l0 12 1!. 16
Rln.inq 3Vr meon oi eilorl n stonddrd unls xlO3
Fig. 3. Relahochip between total demersal catch.ate md lisling effon for ICES Divisions VIIa +
VTI
692

o
tr
n
tr

4, Dislribution of Belgid, Erglish and Welsh fishirg etrort iu 1976

Running 3yr heon ol efiorr in stonddrd

units x r03
Fis. 5. Totat demersal yielil (rwe for ICES Divi§oG \nla + Ur
 Fisheies manaqmeDt and coDservation 693

cuent level of fishing is greater thar that reeded to take the MSY
200 000 tonnes. The
and demeNal stock biornass, as indicated by 6tch pd etrort, is just over a thid of the
virgir stock biomass. The model is little more than a sumary of the changes u,hidl have
tal<etr place ir the demersal stocks over the last thity yens, but it does fit the ilata wetl
and is coDsistent with the more detailed single species ara\'tical models. As such it
forG part of the management case for æshaining md reducing the intemtional fishing

SINGLE SPECIES ANALYfiCAL MODELS OF FISH POPUI-ATIONS

Wldeas the total demeisal model alowed only rather broad generalisation§ about
the cuentstate of ldsh Sea fish sto&s, the single species models are based oD quanerly
or armual age compositiom of the landirgs obtained from routine §ampting on fish
mkets md on large EumbeB of age detmimtions from otoliths. For cod, plaice, sole
and whiting we loow the age structure of the lddings for a number of yeds @d e able
to recoEstruct the age stroctue of th€ populations using virtual poplrlaton analysis
(Pope, 1972).
Thus we have inlomation on the rates of giostn, mortatity md rc(fuitment for these
species extending back over 10 to 15 yeds md updated annually by a working group of
ICES (Anonymous, 1979). With the exception of fishing morlality, the chdges which
have taleD plaæ in these mtes de for the most pet mall md without treDd. For
exmple, Fi$re 6 shows the deviation in plaice gro&t about the loEg-tem mean for the
period 196rt-78. Reouitmetrt too has a random scatter (Fig. 7) in spite ol a marked
dediæ in the stock biomæs of od, plaice and sole. On the other hand fishing mortatity
has increased steadrly on plarce and cod, as one vould expect from the tsend ir total
iDtemtional effolt (Fig. 3). SoIe, which is taken mainly in a directed seæonal fishery,
has Eot apparently been subjected to increæed fishing motality and the whiting
æsessment is compli@ted by high mortali§ in small mesh fisheries for Nep]roPs and

q
q

logtn oI ptae (ages 3-§) lrom the tong-t@ me@ (b$ed

Fig. 6, Deviation itr mem on Fleetwood
ndket smples of trawl landings lrom ICES Division \aIIa)
694 K. Brander

-Ptoice

C
1

:
c^
d-
P5 I 1:
o ol'
E;
'l'
CfJ
eb
t; I
ar fwr,rtino

6L 66 68 7A 72
veor clqss
Tid.7. Deodhoos in ffudl remibneol ol pldF, §ole whiring dd cod Irom rh'seom"hcronS_
tem meoD lor I'Ls Divieoo V[d lddlE hom Atrontrous' IqTql

proportion oI
The cNent fishing mortality rates med that fishing removes a iarge
the adult populations ;f fish from the Idsh Sea each vedr tlle proportion rdging lrom
about 25 "7, ior sole to 65 0^ for cod As a result or the sinste species alYtical models'
which are in good aqeement ith the total alemersal model' a total allowable catcl
(TAC) is set ea:h yed in oialer to preveDt fishins effo from rising turther ed indeed to
realuce it to a level close b tnat giving the Mimum sustainable vield
(MS9 The
practical anal instituuonal ditficulties in enforcing these TACS de st I considdable' but
in pdrciple they should seNe to protect the four species for which tney de set The-effect
or ih*"i,qC" oth* speoes is difficult to rorecast since thev mav eiiher result in a
"n
general deoea§e in fishing effort in the ea or in of €lfort onto unprotecled
Jpecies, sucrr as occmed in the North West Atl 'liveEion
tic in the eaJly 1970s Even if fishing
effort does decline this may not be sulfioent to protect commercial species suc]! as ravs
partiolarlv sensitive to fishing pressure One
whrch, because of t}!en low feonditv, are
species, the comotr skate Raia baris' has alrcadv become utremely
rde if not eninct in
a rcsult oI fishing. In 1902 Herdman & Dawson wrote of its
Åe Idsh Sea, probablY as
occurrence in tre lrisrr sea: "abmdant in all pans, and tal<en bv line d bv trawting aII
the year round on nearly all our fishing grounds' The youg de Irequentlv taken
in
shrimp nets in shallow water. ' Not a single §pecimen has been taken in several
hun'lred
reseach trawl haurs over the past .Iecaale aI oDlv occasional fish apped in comercial
 Fisheries mmqement d coNeratior

Iandings from the North Cham€l. Its disappeararce seems to have been unnoticed or at
least mrecorded, and it is doubttuI whether a maniigement policy to protect it from
fishing ould have been devised in any case. The sme is probably true for the other ray
species ed this is a cled example oI the limitations of the protec'tion afforded by
fisheries manageBent.
A short@ming of the analytical models based on comercial market sampling is
that for Eost purposes it is impossible to work on a liner scale tllan the whole area (in this
case DivisioE VIla) by quartæ of the year. ID the case of plaice and cod it is knom that
thse de aliffe.ent spaMing areas and consistent growth rate differences between the
edstem and westem lrish Sea, but becaNe it is impossible to divide the total catch
between these deas the assessment cannot be split. WleD more detailed inJormauon otr
a particllar small area is needed, it is usally necessary to use special resedch sweys
ed the kind oI infomation which can be obtained with these is described in the next

RESEARCH SURVEYS OF FISH POPULATIONS

A series of crromdfish trawl sweys in the North East Idsh Sea has been caried out
over the lasi 5 years. The surveys tale place every 4 months using a small (16.7 m lengrth)
chdtered fishirg vessel. Details of the method and some of the results e given by
Brmder & Walace (1976). The advantages ol this kind of survey are that lishing
positioN cM be selected d methods kept stmdard; smal mesh covers are used and aII
fish whether commercial or not are recoidedr supplementary biologi@I iDJomation on
feeding, ondition, etc. .d be ollected.
A major problem which has always co.tonted studies ol fish populations is how to
sdpte them md in panicular whether the inherent variability in catches taken by geal
such as trawls is so large æ to obstue dy fine differenæs in distribution. Our surveys
have attempted to demonstrate consistent differences in fish distribution due to depth,
distance from the coast, season d sediment t!?e and in this they have Det with some

As an exmple, the dishibution of Melve species in relation to sedinent md month

is given in Table 1, which shows the geometric mem ol the trumber per haul, the overall
coefiicient of variation, the proportion of the total sm of sqEes due to haul-to-haol
(within stratm) variability dd the significatrce levels for the efiects of sedimeDt ti?e
and month. The whole alysis wæ cmied out on 1og transformed numbers po haul
(Iog. (1+Nl) because the ftequency distributions de highly skewed. Even so, many of
the coefficients of vadation are above 100 % and, becaBe this may lead to excessive
numben oI significdt F ratios in tne malysis of variance, ihe month r sediment
interaction term has been included in the "enor" srm ol squdes and only tlte main
effects have been tested.
In Table 1 the species have been gouped according to the sediment on which they
occured most abrndantly md the 4 species whictl ocru most commonly on muddy sand
(dab, small plaice, sprat and flounder) all show sigaificant dilferences in then distribu-
tion due to sediment type. Three of thm {small plaiæ, sprat and flounder) also show
significant seasonal differences. The sprat distibution is particutdly interesting since it
is a pelagic species, which might not be dpected to be lnfluenced by bottom tlTe. The
696 K. Brander

is very high' as
overal variability among the catches of spat in the 30 hauls analYsed
distributiotr' but the
,"JJ.i o, ,r'. å*nt-Jnt or vanaton or 148 '/" for the trGfomed 17 '/" or the total sum or
n."r-i"-naul
""rl.oto,V -ithin stata is low, accomting for onlv abundant Ner muddv
a. rc *; from the mean value§' sprat are rd mde
"q"--.". ."* "". *. sediments, a rather suprising result whicl is however cgDJir-
""'"J*"" "n- *. spe.ies elsewhere (Johnson' persrEl mmmmication)
-lJ t" "*r-" u"orrg
---oi,L od;poor cod and pout whiting can be shom to be tfluoced
"tn- "p."iå"
r, *år-.* tw" u.a oolv .oa and wbitiEg show statisticallv significant seasonal
composiiion md abm-
Using information of this klnal one can pre'Iict the species
aa.c. wii.t misht be expecteal in particular areas and season§ dd hence detect
which might indicate soloe other lacrtor at wok
a""itu."" rr"m;xpectation
"i*ii-."t
Uå-.r"., ,rr"v -" o"rv tfre fi§t step in understanding the structure of the fish
l'lmu_
to lie in instilhns caution wheE asoibing a
Jtr, -a tn ii -.1" at Pesent seems
n*"r- "* aecrine or atrence For *ample' Colett & o'sulivan (1e721
".,i*-i.l
tentativery ;nchded on the basis of two haYrrl hauls that
the stightly reduced Dumber oI
tlr" Liverpool Bav sludse dumpins area might be m in']rcation.or
i.i;,.""å";"".*
"r""t"" " r", o;r more deta ed såmplins in comparable depths ani the-
*"01tt""", or
;;;;-;i;,yr. ." -eas 15 mles west of fte dump site showed similar numb€E ol
.""-* ,t."" ne the dumping ground d 'ompddble
sttdlj oII lhe lsle Mdn
" r"**.,.b.it' LD thc ldtter 'dse lne redued number of sppciFs
"i.*"0,.*'r*,',
*1, i. J* g'..;. uual cuents, but this facto is §tremetv 'Lifficult to include in
the
_-_''fft. "
sampling design.
pr"Urå* .t *-pting fish populatioN in order io study the factors inlluencing
the trurnier of factors
theiråisåtution and auunalance is not u irBuperable one' but
residual variance is also tikelv to rcmain
J"or*a i" r-g" u.a th"refore the unexplained mav allow one to
r"-ir'iig å*t The analvsis of varime desoibed he'e
s;o "p"".i." ai"oitution appeaE to be welt explained by the Iactors included
"r *rt*."n."es.
in
pr"t* -. gooa exa-pi' a tu'tt'er a*1v§is has looked at their nmbers
""i "-i, " coast, seasoD and yed' but keeping §edimert tlT,e
rclation to depth, ilistance from the
significantrv on all
."""Å. 1", ""*n"rglv ther alistribution can be shoun to depend woutd be
* ""a one is I;i with a lairrv clear pictre or how their numbels
"iit

DISCUSSION

In commercial fisheies managemeDt the protection of liIe

in the sea islot a matter
stocks the tutue livetihood of the
of alhuism, but oI self interest, because bv maintaining
dgrcementovet thc me**":lI::
ir"*"n ind,""V'" *""ned Tbcre is brodd seneral d regime wbrch
ue nåeaed ro'Oo Uris, bul gredt diffrrutties remaiD in implemenlmg
eGures that the toDg-lerm .omloon beDetit prevails over shon-term.'ndiTo'"'
"qlT-
Is tiable lo bc cughl bv
taoe. To a lisheman anv tish whr'h he does not cdl'h toddy
The institu_
..L.""" A* a..""* -d rsbaDl i( tncrPlore a hard do'triEp lo åc'ePt' in an equitable
tional framework for carrying out tbe assessment, regulation and control
quotas
."a .rø.u"" r" .r,ly i" its inJancY' but alrea'Iv the setting oI amual catcl
".."* danger to stocks in
i" i"."J"g r"g"r- p.ocealure. There is every expectation that the
"
 Eshenes managment and @Gervauon 697

oåå!E
'agaE
g;-.iq

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g ez
åg cen1.1c + el
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:

.lg oi@6d dt vj n .rd .i @oi

øo
E
€gE ici.;i .i.;..; +di d cin
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1q.!e u'! a
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t 3aaa.
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å EE
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F r -åi-q § F" ;
-i"§E§5i € Is så
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EEåE §3 Åå3.8'Eå :i
.å-B
698

tlle Idsh Sea md elsewhere, which (ruent excessive fishing pressue represents, will be
curbed within the next few yea$. r this desirable state is aclieved it wiII be a notable
success for fishedes mamgement, but wiII be rcg ded by most of those concemed about
marine Iife as only the lirst step on a long mad.
The objectives of fishdies management e Imited to maintaining yields of con-
mercial species md practical cocidoations med that only a very few ol these de
properly studied and protected. The parallel with agricutture, which husbands a limited
number of species to the dehiment of many othm is inescapable. One of the main aims
of conservation is to maintain the diversity of species, but on Imd the oceNation
movement owes much of its force to aesthelc and amenity coDsiderations, which may be
hard to apply beyond littoral areas. As on I d, thse may be some conJlict between the
objectives of management to obtain a yield and those of general coNeratioq but
studies of the fisheries wi]l play a major part itr idenufying and rcsolving these and de
in ary case essential to an understanding of the m&ine e@system and of the d geB to
it.
Tming to the question whether fishefes data suctl as those used in the analFical
model could be used to detect changes due to polluUon, the first point, which is obvious
but needs to be made again, is that one certai.ly camot interyret any changes in the
marine ecosystem witlout taking account of the mssive effects of fishing on fish
populatioN md, dircctty or itrdirectly, on other life in the sea. For example, tlte
increased incidence of lesioN in Idsh Sea flatfish repo ed by PerkiB et a1. (1972)might
be explained by fishery indtrced shess, panioldly since the incidence wd higher
among adult fish living in less poluted offshore deas th among young fish on ichore
ded whicl de more polluted, but l€ss heavily fished. There is no evidence that fishirg
changed at that time in a way whlc]l might have b.ought this about, but neither is there
any direct evidence that pollutants did either. The etfects of fishing are so great dd
widespread tllat it is ind€ed doubuul whether polluton induced ch ges in gro&'tl,
natual mortality, rccruitment or migration could be detected agarDst them, unless the
changes are particularly disastrous or persist for a long enough pedod.

CONCLUSIONS
(1) The Iish poluted in several respects and is also subject to mmy
Sea is heaviiy
other human actiwities including navigation, receation, gravel, oil æd gas prospe.ting
and extracton and fishing. To date only fishing can be shown to have a widespread
effect on the meine ecosystemr it removes over hau ol the adult popuiations of several
commercjal species each year.
(2) In general, the dememal fishdies de producing yields whic]l are as high as or
higher than ever before, but there is tittle doubt that most species de ovefished. Fishing
has probably led to the disappedmce ol Raia ba,rs from the Idsh Sea and other species
of Raiidae are also in danger.
(3) The fisheries are begiming to be mamged by catch quotas dd other mems, in
oder to produce high sEtained yields, but it is doubtful whether such management will
Iead to the protection of more than a few commercial spe.ies. If a more comprehemive
conseryation policy is to be conside.ed then the objectives need to be formulated to
 Fisheries management and cocNation 699

(4) Studies of the fishenes can give information on longiem ch ges in population
levels, on the $owth, mortatity md rcouitment of fish populations and on their detaited
distribution h rclaton to each other d to envirortrnental factors. Such studies are
essential in detl:miling the possible causes of changes in the Iish populations and fom
I an impo.t t part of our understandi.g of the marine ecosystem.

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Brædd, K. M.,1977. The management oI ldsh Sea lisheries -a review. Lab.IÆan. MAFFDned.
Fish. Res. Lwestoit 36 1 40.
Breder, K. M. & Warh@, P. D., 19?6. fteliminary results of a series of gEomiuish surveys in the
N.rth Eåsr lrish S€a. - C. M. - ICES Fil1. 1 5.
Coletrook, J. M,, 1979. CDtrthuous planktotr re@rds: seasonal cycies of phYtoplarkton od
copepods i the Norlh Atl tic Oced md the Norlh Sea. Mnr, Bio1. 51, 2132.
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Her.tm@, w. A & Dawsoa, R. A., 1s02. Fish dd fisheries oI the Irish Sea. - Mem. LanG, Sea Fish.

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MAFF Dned. Fish. Res-, Lowestofi 20, 1 4r chalt 1 51,
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