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Anglerfish or monkfish (or goosefish)
Lophius piscatorius and Lophius budegassa
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BIOLOGY
Anglerfish are so called because they possess a fishing lure at the tip of a specially modified dorsal ray, with which they can entice prey. They are a long-lived species.Maximum reported age is 24 years.Females mature at 9-11 years at about 70 - 90 cm, males at around 6 years at 50 cms. Females can attain a length of 2 m and a weight of 40 kgs. Males rarely grow beyond 1 m. There is general consensus amongst scientists that there is one stock, and that this spawns in spring and early summer in deep water off the edge of the continental shelf to the west of Scotland, in waters down to 1,000 metres. Eggs are released in a buoyant, gelatinous ribbon or 'egg veil' that may measure more than 10 m in length. Anglerfish are also found in coastal waters. 2 species occur in most areas, L.picatorius (white) and L.budegassa (black-bellied), although catches are almost exclusively of the former. No distinction is made between the two species for assessment purposes.
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ADVICE
Monk or anglerfish are a long-lived species and have low resilience to fishing. They are found in both shallow and deep waters on both sides of the Atlantic. 3 species are discussed here - Lophius piscatorius and L. budegassa from the North Eastern Atlantic and L. Americanus from the North Western Atlantic. In the NE Atlantic, no distinction is made between species of anglerfish, so scientists are unable to assess the state of a stock for individual species. A number of management measures often used for other commercial species in the NE Atlantic are not practical for the use in the Anglerfish fishery: because of its body shape, large head and jaw, the introduction of a minimum landing size (MLS) for these species is not considered a useful or practical management measure, however, recent EU marketing standards fixed a minimum weight of 500 g for anglerfish. Measures designed to protect the spawning stock are also difficult because mature female anglerfish are rarely caught. The majority of catches, especially trawled catches, comprise immature or young fish (females mature at 70cm, males at 50cm), some of which are discarded- however the use of rigid selective grids (designed to protect juveniles and reduce discarding) would not be practical for many vessels that catch anglerfish as part of a mixed fishery, because many adult sized, commercially important species would also be lost. A voluntary Scottish tally book scheme which includes the recording of discards and spawning females, is currently helping to provide information on the distribution of anglerfish in the northern North Sea and west of Scotland, that is unavailable from usual log book. In addition there are currently dedicated Scottish and Irish anglerfish surveys including Industry-Science Partnerships, which are helping to improve the quality of catch and effort data of Anglerfish in the northern North Sea and west of Scotland. A Fisheries Science Partnership (FSP) project has been running for the past five years to monitor the South West Anglerfish. The state of the stock in the Southwest is unknown however survey data indicates that of L. budegassa is stable and L. piscatorius appears to be increasing. In Kattegat and Skagerrak, North Sea, West of Scotland and Rockall the state of the combined stock of anglerfish is unknown and ICES recommend that effort in this fishery is not allowed to increase, and must be accompanied by mandatory programmes which collect data on catch and effort of target and by-catch fish. Restrictions on fishing effort and TACs for other deepwater species in this area has also resulted in reduced fishing on monkfish in deeper waters. In addition, a number of closed areas established on the Rockall and Hatton Banks in 2006 and Darwin Mounds to protect cold-water corals potentially provide further incidental protection for spawning monkfish. In New England, USA, a Fishery Management Plan was introduced in 1999 to rebuild monkfish (L. Americanus) populations in 10 years. Management measures include a multi-level limited access program, target catch levels, days-at-sea limitations, trip limits, bycatch allowances, minimum landing and mesh sizes, gear restrictions and spawning season closures. New biological reference points were developed as part of the 2007 monkfish assessment, and based on these reference points, monkfish in this area is no longer overfished and overfishing is not occurring, indicating that the recovery plan has been working. To help increase the sustainability of fish eaten from healthy stocks, ensure fish is above or equal to the size at which it matures - at least 70cms - and avoid eating during its breeding season - spring and early summer. The use of gillnets with larger meshes (220 mm) is a more selective method of fishing for this species than trawling.
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