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R EPORT OF THE D IADROMOUS FISH C OMMITTEE (DFC)
Chair: Ted Potter (UK, England) Rapporteur: Julian MacLean (UK, Scotland) The Committee met on 22 and 24 September 2008. Between 20 and 25 people were present throughout the meetings. 1. Opening The meeting was opened by the Chair who welcomed the participants. The agenda was adopted following the addition of a new item – “Proposals for teaching needs to be included in the ICES Training Programme” (Item 8.1 below). The Committee appointed Julian MacLean (UK, Scotland) as the meeting rapporteur and Árni Ísaksson (Iceland) as the DFC Awards Committee Representative. 2. Implications of new ICES science structure for work on diadromous fish species The DFC discussed the proposals for the new ICES Science Plan and Science Structure. The new Science Plan consists of three thematic areas covering 16 research topics. Members agreed that while many of these topics were of great relevance to their work, the new Plan could result in issues relating to diadromous species being spread widely across the whole programme. It was also not clear how many of the current functions and roles of DFC would be addressed in the new structure. It was noted that the main responsibilities of most DFC members related to the conservation, restoration and rational management of freshwater and diadromous fish species, and there was therefore a strong driver for providing a focus for this work in the future. Members also expressed concerns on a number of other issues, including: the implications of having national representation on the Science Committee; how the Science Committee and the Advisory Committee would interact; the management of Expert Groups during the transition period (i.e. they will be commissioned for 2009 but will have no parent committee after 1st Jan); how members would recommend Expert Groups and Theme Sessions relating to diadromous issues; the risk of not finding a niche for dealing with non‐commercially exploited diadromous species in the coastal zone; and whether the incorporation of socio‐economic considerations would affect the advice given by ICES. Finally the DFC considered that, the absence of a focussed group dealing with diadromous issues would make it more difficult for members to justify attending the ICES ASC, and it could affect the way in which ICES interacts with its ‘clients’ for example with regard to the identification of scientific research needs. DFC therefore proposed establishing a Working Group to provide a focus for the co‐ ordination of work on issues relating to diadromous fish species within the new Science Plan. The Committee agreed that this group would probably operate over a number of years and that it should be able to propose the establishment of Study Groups, Theme Sessions and Symposia as well as reviewing their outputs. The proposal would emphasise the need to provide a forum for developing collaborative links between scientists, the importance of such collaboration for the management of endangered, and the potential for integrating work on diadromous species with other groups.
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The DFC therefore resolved to propose draft terms of reference for a new Working Group for consideration by the Consultative Committee. 3. Review of Expert Group reports and consideration of future work
3.1 Working Group on Baltic Salmon and Trout (WGBAST) [Chair: Atso Romakkaniemi, Finland]
An overview of the meeting of WGBAST was presented by the Working Group chair. The stock assessment is performed on five of the six recognised groups of wild salmon in the Baltic (categorised according to genetic, geographic, migration, fisheries exploitation and fisheries management criteria), and a Bayesian approach is used. The assessment highlighted the continued overall decrease in post smolt survival over the last 20 years to the current low level, although it was noted that abundance in northern groups has been increasing. The offshore drift net fishery was banned in 2008 and this should result in an increased number of spawners in the near future, but there has also been an increase in post smolt mortality. The opposing effects of these factors were taken into account in developing management advice, and ICES concluded that the catch in 2009 should not exceed the expected 2008 catch value. No assessment has been made for assessment group 6 and, consequently, the advice (no catch permitted) remains the same as last year. With respect to Baltic trout, information had been prepared for WGBAST by a separate Study Group (see below). Parr density surveys show a low abundance of 0+ parr, particularly in the northern areas (Gulf of Bothnia and Gulf of Finland). Management advice is therefore to introduce fishing restrictions in the northern areas, to reduce exploitation, and to restore rearing habitats. In the Main Basin, the advice is to improve habitat and improve access to spawning and rearing areas. In addition fishing restrictions are required in some regions of the Main Basin. WGBAST had recommended a revision of current tagging programmes, expansion of index sites and continuation of investigations into the factors involved in the declining trend in marine survival. The DFC recommended a continuation of the Study Group on Baltic Sea trout, with the primary objective of coordinating the collection and assessment of sea trout data.
3.2 Working Group on North Atlantic Salmon [WGNAS] [Chair: Tim Sheehan, USA]
An overview of the Working Group on North Atlantic Salmon (WGNAS) was presented by Jaakko Erkinaro, the incoming chair of the group. Catch levels in both the North East Atlantic Commission (NEAC) and the North American Commission (NAC) areas were at the lowest levels recorded. No fishing took place in the Faroese fishery, while the catch of 25t at West Greenland was for internal consumption only. The management advice for the Faroese fishery, based on a consideration of the status of the NEAC stock complexes, was that no fishery should take place. For the West Greenland fishery, a preliminary assessment was conducted using the Framework of Indicators, which indicated that there had been no significant improvement in stocks and so there should be no change in the previously agreed multi‐year regulation permitting a subsistence fishery only. In both NEAC and NAC estimates of marine survival have been decreasing. A description of significant, new or emerging threats to, or opportunities for, salmon conservation and management was given and included the following topics: development of Conservation Limits in Norway; standardisation of NEAC and NAC run reconstruction models; trials with
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the Didson fish counter; links between changes in the biological characteristics of stocks and marine mortality trends; size and abundance of 1SW returns to Norway; sonic tracking of smolts at sea; and an update on marine initiatives in the North Atlantic. Recommendations from WGNAS had included proposals to: establish a Study Group to further develop collation and investigation of information on biological characteristics from populations throughout the North Atlantic; to establish a Study Group to develop pre‐fishery abundance modelling approaches; and to expand monitoring programmes and complete a metadata directory of datasets from the West Greenland fishery. The DFC considered possible ways in which it could assist with some of the recommendations made in the report. Specifically, the DFC recommended establishing Study Groups on the changing biological characteristics of stocks in relation to changes in marine mortality and on further developing pre‐fishery abundance modelling approaches.
3.3 Joint EIFAC/ICES Working Group on Eel [WGEEL] [Chair: Russell Poole, Ireland]
An overview of the WGEEL was presented by Laurent Beaulaton (France) on behalf of the Working Group chair. He began by reiterating the main points of the EU Eel regulation, which was adopted in 2007, and aims to improve the current silver eel escapement to at least 40% of the pristine escapement. Each Member State must produce an Eel Management Plan (by end of 2008) which describes how this will be achieved and, after approval by the EU, must implement the plan by July 2009. The main terms of reference of the WGEEL were to gather data, to look at trends in recruitment and in the fisheries, to develop stock status methods, and to review oceanic factors impacting on eels. Measures of recruitment have continued to decline and that the rate of decline was greater at the northern and southern limits of the species range. There is a need to obtain data to assess the outcome of any measures introduced under the EU Regulation, in particular the requirement to collect information on both recruitment and silver eel escapement. The Working Group cautioned that it may be difficult to obtain data on recruitment trends in future due to reduced fishery effort. A decision tree was developed to monitor the effects of actions that would be introduced under the EU Eel regulation on an international scale. Member states would be responsible for monitoring the effects of actions introduced within their own jurisdictions. It was noted that while the EU regulation recognise stocking as a management option, stocking has decreased due to the high cost of glass eels. The Working Group also noted that, in addition to biomass, the quality of eels would need to be factored into assessments. WGEEL made a number of recommendations which included the need to: reduce eel mortalities as much as possible due to the continuing decrease in recruitment; develop assessment methods; establish two Expert Groups to review available information on the use of saline waters by anguillid eels because this was largely ignored in current assessments, and to undertake calibration exercises on eel age determination to support requirements under the EU Data Collection Regulation. The DFC recommended the establishment of a Study Group on anguillid eels in saline waters and a Workshop on eel age calibration.
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3.4 Study Group on Data Requirements and Assessment Needs for Baltic Sea Trout [SGBALANST] [Chair: Stig Pedersen, Denmark]
An overview of SGBALANST was presented by Atso Romakkaniemi (Finland) on behalf of the Study Group chair. The terms of reference for the group were to review data availability for assessment of wild and mixed sea trout stocks and fisheries and to review monitoring methods. The Study Group identified that over 100 streams were monitored to some extent. Of these juvenile survey data were available for over 800 streams, 10 streams had smolt counts and redd count information was available for almost 20 streams. It cautioned, however that not all monitoring was done on an annual basis and that most was performed through a rolling programme. The Study Group concluded that 3 streams could be classed as index sites and that a further 3 could be classed as potential index rivers. The Group considered that catch information from both commercial and recreational fisheries was of a high standard but that improved information on catches taken as by catch in other fisheries was required. Recommendations included; to seek clarification if an ICES assessment was required, decide upon the most appropriate assessment methodology, selection of Index Rivers and the development of stock and recruitment relationships. The DFC recommended the continuation of this Study Group’s work for a further year.
3.5 Workshop on the Salmon Historical Information – new investigations from old tagging data [WKSHINI] [Chair: Lars Petter Hansen, Norway]
An overview of WKSHINI was presented by the Workshop chair. The terms of reference were to build on the progress achieved in a previous Workshop (WKDUHSTI), agree the format of, and collate additional tag recapture into the database, and develop and test hypotheses relating to the distribution and behaviour of salmon in the ocean. The Workshop reported that additional tags had been entered into the database that several hypotheses relating to distribution had been considered and preliminary analyses had been performed. A total of 4743 tag recaptures at West Greenland from salmon tagged in home waters were recorded. The distribution of recaptures was not uniform across the NAFO divisions, the distribution was not temporally stable and furthermore distributions varied among home water countries. A further 2509 tag recaptures from the Faroese fishery were entered into the database and, as for the West Greenland recaptures, differences in spatial distribution were observed among the home water countries. In conclusion, good progress has been made, the data base has been added to and updated and testable hypotheses have been developed and tested. The DFC recommended the establishment of a follow‐up workshop. 4. Plans for NASCO/NPAFC/ICES Symposium on “Factors affecting Mortality of Salmon at Sea” and update on SALSEA programme. Peter Hutchinson (NASCO) provided an update on the work of the NASCO IASRB. The board was set up to promote collaboration and cooperation on research into marine mortality and identify opportunities to counteract any factors negatively impacting on survival. It has established an inventory of current relavent marine research has developed the SALSEA Research Programme and has secured funding for aspects of this work from various sources. A large programme of surveys for salmon post‐smolts, SALSEA‐Merge, has been initiated in the North East Atlantic (funded through EU‐FP7, national programmes and a private source) and four
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research cruises have been undertaken to date. This project also includes extensive genetic profiling of baseline populations to allow the assignment of post‐smolts caught in the surveys to area of origin. A similar cruise has been undertaken in Canadian waters under the SALSEA‐North America project (funded by the Canadian Government). In addition to the cruise programmes, there are plans to extend the existing West Greenland sampling programme although this had not been possible during 2008 because of issues linked to the operation of a private compensation agreement. The Committee was also advised that Iceland has plans to undertake surveys for salmon post smolts in the Irminger Sea. An update was provided on arrangements for a joint NASCO/NPAFC/ICES international symposium on marine mortality of salmon. The aim is to hold a high quality, prestigious event that is well supported and communicated to the media and politicians. The symposium will provide a forum for presentation of the findings of the SALSEA and BASIS programmes and related studies. The proposed date for the symposium has now been deferred until 2011, and it is hoped that this will permit PICES to participate. ICES has offered a financial contribution and has offered the Journal of Marine Science for publication of the symposium proceedings. A steering group has been appointed and is expected to meet next year (2009). 5. Proposals for Theme Sessions in 2009 and 2010 The DFC noted the success of the 2008 theme session on “Problems and solutions for the assessment, conservation, and restoration of rare, threatened, and endangered fish species”. The session had been well attended (up to 86 attendees), and had brought together papers on a wide range of marine and diadromous species. It included papers on the evaluation of methods, population models, stocking, use of GIS, by‐catch and a non‐invasive tagging methods, and a common theme was the use of results to inform management actions. A proposal had been received for a Theme Session on ‘stock restoration from a multi‐ species viewpoint’ but it was felt that this idea needed further development. It was also agreed that the committee should see how work on links between biological characteristics and performance of populations developed before they proposed a Theme Session on this topic. A proposal was presented to hold a Theme Session in 2010 on interactions between salmon in aquaculture and in the wild, but is was noted that a similar session on Atlantic cod was being proposed by MCC for 2009. DFC therefore recommended proposing a join joint session with MCC addressing both species; Terje Svansand (Norway) agreed to act as one of the co‐convenors on behalf of DFC. ‘Causes and variations in natural mortality in wild fish’ was proposed as the topic for a Theme Session in 2010. It was agreed that the aim should be to attract papers on a wide range of species, and the DFC chair therefore agreed to develop the proposal in consultation with the chairs of RMC and LRC; Dave Reddin (Canada) agreed to act as co‐convenor on behalf of DFC . 6. Proposals for Expert Groups in 2008 and 2009 DFC discussed the proposed Terms of References and arrangements for the following Experts Groups:
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6.1 Study Group on Salmon Age Determination [SGSAD]
Terms of reference for this Study Group were approved in 2007, and it will meet in autumn 2008. The DFC noted that there would be interest in following this group up with one including Atlantic salmon. While it was also noted that a SALSEA work package on age determination and scale reading has already been set up to deal with Atlantic salmon, an advantage of dealing with this issue within ICES is that it would allow a broader participation than would be possible under SALSEA.
6.2 Workshop on learning from salmon tagging records [WKLUSTRE]
This Workshop will meet in London in September 2009 (prior to ASC) and will: develop databases of tagging and recovery information; investigate the use of tagging databases to verify outputs for migration models; test hypotheses of salmon migration and behaviour; and make recommendations in relation to future tagging studies and investigations of salmon mortality at sea.
6.3 A Study Group on Biological Characteristics for use as Predictors of Salmon Abundance [SGBICEPS]
This Study Group will meet in Lowestoft (UK) in January 2009 and will initiate the process of compiling data on biological characteristics of salmon from monitored rivers, investigating associations between biological characteristics of all life stages of Atlantic salmon, reviewing analyses, investigating environmental changes and variations in marine survival with a view to identifying predictors of abundance and conducting preliminary analysis to explore datasets to identify predictors of abundance. It was anticipated that there was likely to be a need of a series of meetings.
6.4 Study Group on Salmon Stock Assessment and Forecasting [SGSSAFE]
This Study Group will meet prior to the WGNAS in 2009 would update stock forecast models, evaluate options for such forecasting and develop risk analyses for the provision of salmon catch advice.
6.5 Study Group on Anguillid Eels in Saline Waters [SGAESAW]
This Study Group will meet in September 2009 (or immediately preceding the next WGEEL) would review and synthesize knowledge about habitat use, demographic characteristics and stock assessment methods in anguillid eels in saline waters.
6.6 Study Group on data requirements and assessment needs for Baltic Sea trout [SGBALANST]
This Study Group will meet in February 2009 and will build on the achievements realised during their first meeting in 2008. It will further review data availability for assessment of wild and mixed sea trout stocks and fisheries and monitoring methods.
6.7 Workshop on Age Reading of European and American Eel [SGAREA]
This Workshop will meet in Bordeaux in 2009 to review, compare and validate methods for reading eel otoliths and establish current best practice.
6.8 Working Group on the Science Requirements to support conservation, restoration and management of Diadromous Fish Species [WGSRDFS]
This Working Group will meet in September 2009 (prior to the ICES ASC) and will operate over the period 2009 ‐2013. It will aim to provide a mechanism to coordinate diadromous work, and will specifically: identify research activities that may be
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undertaken within the ICES science plan to support advisory requirements for conservation, restoration and rational exploitation; prepare plans for future science activities; provide mechanisms through which estuarine and freshwater issues can be dealt within the ICES plan; stimulate international scientific co‐operation on diadromous fish issues; review reports from expert groups; and propose relevant theme sessions and symposia. 7. Co-ordination of activities on rare and threatened diadromous species DFC recognised the need to highlight the current status of a wider range of diadromous species and proposed the following possible ways forward: preparing a list of ongoing work relating to diadromous species and posting this on the ICES web page; using the proposed Working Group [WGSRDFS] to encourage greater participation and to link this work with the EU DIADFISH Network. It was noted that a number of diadromous species were dealt with under EU Regulations and Directives and/or CITES and that the proposed Working Group could help improve links between the research on these species and the statutory management requirements. 8. Matters arising from Consultative Committee and Advisory Committee meetings
8.1 Proposals for teaching needs to be included in the ICES Training Programme
The draft action plan for an ICES Training Programme was discussed. In short, the plan was to invite universities to offer and run training courses relevant to assessment/advisory scientists. In general, it was thought to be an excellent idea. In particular the plan would offer training in science areas that would support the advisory work carried out by DFC members. The DFC noted that the plan would need to evolve to offer new training courses as new techniques were introduced to advisory work. 9. Arrangements for meeting The DFC wished to thank ICES and the Canadian hosts for providing an excellent room and facilities for the meetings. 10. Any other business There was no other business Closing The Chair, Ted Potter, thanked committee members, and other participants, for their active participation and support during the meeting and looked forward to a continuation of such collaboration in the future.