Cephalopod Stocks in European Waters:
Review, Analysis, Assessment and Sustainable Management
CEPHSTOCK, Contract number Q5CA-2002-00962

This project aimed to review current knowledge and issues in cephalopod fisheries science, to assemble, organise, analyse and synthesise data from ongoing national projects, previous and new EC-funded R&D projects, and to recommend future actions for scientists and cephalopod fishery managers in European waters. This will be achieved through (a) co-ordinated reviews and (b) development of common databases and associated GIS analysis capability, leading to (c) a series of co-ordination meetings and workshops at which the status of fished European cephalopod stocks will be reviewed, stock assessments carried out and management recommendations proposed. The project ran from October 2002 to October 2005 and involved 21 partner institutions from 7 European countries, contributing to work in 13 workpackages. The project's final report was accepted in April 2006.

Contents

 

Workpackage list

1. Co-ordination

2. Fisheries database and GIS for cephalopod stocks

3. Review and new analysis of fisheries-environment interactions

4. Review of cephalopod stock genetics

5. Review of life-history, ecology and movements

6. Review of cephalopod immunology and physiology

7. Review of cephalopod culture and capture fisheries

8. Socieoeconomic review of cephalopod fisheries

9. Data collection requirements for stock assessment

10. Stock status reviews

11. Stock assessment workshops

12. Fishery management recommendations

13. New research priorities

PROJECT PARTNERS

No Partner name Contact details
1 The University of Aberdeen (UNIABDN), UK School of Biological Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Tillydrone Avenue, Aberdeen AB24 2TZ, UK. Tel: 44 (0)1224 272459, fax: 44 (0)1224 272396, e-mail: g.j.pierce@abdn.ac.uk
2 Hellenic Centre for Marine Research (formerly IMBC), Greece Marine Geographic Information Systems, Hellenic Center for Marine Research, P.O. BOX 2214, 71003 Iraklion, Crete, Greece. Tel: +30-2810-337817, fax: +30-2810-337822, e-mail: vasilis@her.hcmr.gr
3a Instituto de Ciencias del Mar (CSIC ICM), Spain Instituto de Ciencias del Mar, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas, P.Maritim de la Barceloneta, 37-49. 08003 Barcelona, Spain. Tel: 34 932309500, fax: 34 932309555, e-mail: pilar@icm.csic.es
3b Partner 3b. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas (CSIC IIM), Spain ECOBIOMAR Research Group. Eduardo Cabello 6, 36208 Vigo, Spain. Tel: 34 986 231930, fax 34 986 292762, e-mail: brc1@iim.csic.es or afg@iim.csic.es
4 Renewable Resources Assessment Group (RRAG), UK Renewable Resources Assessment Group, Department of Environmental Science and Technology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, Prince Consort Road, London, SW7 2BP, UK. Tel: 44 (0)20 7594 9273, fax: 44 (0)20 7589 5319, e-mail: d.agnew@ic.ac.uk
5 Université de Caen (UniCaen), France Laboratoire de Biologie et Biotechnologies Marines, Institut de Biochimie et Biologie Appliquée (I.B.B.A.), Université de Caen, Esplanade de la Paix, 14032 Caen Cedex, France. Tel: 33 (0)2 31 56 53 95, fax: 33 (0)2 31 56 53 46, e-mail: robin@ibba.unicaen.fr
6 University of Wales, Bangor (UWB), UK University of Wales, Bangor, School of Ocean Sciences, Menai Bridge, Anglesey, North Wales, LL59 5EY, UK. Tel: 44 (0)1248 351151, fax: 44 (0)1248 716367; e-mail: oss016@bangor.ac.uk
7 AZTI Foundation (AZTI), Spain Department of Fisheries Resources, AZTI Foundation, Txatxarramendi ugartea z/g, 48395 Sukarrieta, Spain. Tel: 34 94 6029400, fax: 34 94 6870006; e-mail: msanturtun@suk.azti.es
8 Istituto Centrale per la Ricerca scientifica e tecnologica Applicata al Mare (ICRAM), Italy Istituto Centrale per la Ricerca scientifica e tecnologica Applicata al Mare, Via di Casalotti 300, 00166 ROMA, Italy. Tel: 39 06 615701, fax: 39 06 61561906, e-mail: p.jereb@icram.org
9 The Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS), UK The Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS), Oakfield Road, Lowestoft, Suffolk, NR33 0HT, UK. Tel: 44 (0)1502 524250, fax: 44 (0)1502 524569, e-mail: s.m.bramford@cefas.co.uk, b.a.roel@cefas.co.uk
10 University of the Aegean (UAEGEAN), Greece Department of Marine Sciences, University of the Aegean, Sapfous 5, 81100, Mytilene, Lesvos Island, Greece, Tel.: 30 251 36802/36814, fax: 30 251 36809, e-mail: drosos@aegean.gr
11 Royal Holloway, University of London (RHUL), UK School of Biological Sciences, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham Hill, Egham TW20 0EX England. Tel: 44 (0)1784 443774, fax: 44 (0)1784 470756, e-mail: p.shaw@rhul.ac.uk
12 Instituto Español de Oceanografía (IEO), Spain Instituto Español de Oceanografía (IEO), Unidad de Cádiz, Muelle pesquero s/n, CADIZ, 11006, Spain, tel: 34 915970840, fax: 34 915551954, email: alvaro.Fernandez@md.ieo.es or tel: 34 956261333, fax: 34 956263556, e-mail: ignacio.sobrino@cd.ieo.es
13 University of Algarve (UAl/CCMAR), Portugal Centre of Marine Sciences (CCMAR), Faculty of Marine and Environmental Sciences (FCMA), University of Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, 8000-117 Faro, Portugal. Tel.: 351 289 800 900, fax: 351 289 818 353, e-mail: tborges@ualg.pt
14 Leibniz-Institut fuer Meereswissenschaften (IFM-GEOMAR), Germany Leibniz-Institut fuer Meereswissenschaften (IFM-GEOMAR), Universitaet Kiel, Forschungsbereich Marine Oekologie, Duesternbrooker Weg 20, D-24105 Kiel, Germany. Tel: 49 431 6004571, fax 49 431 6001515, e-mail: upiatkowski@ifm-geomar.de
15 Instituto de Investigação das Pescas e do Mar (IPIMAR), Portugal Instituto de Investigação das Pescas e do Mar (IPIMAR), Av. De Brasília, s/n, 1449-006 Lisboa, Portugal. Tel: 351 21 3027000, fax: 351 21 3015948, e-mail: marcelo@ipimar.pt or jpereira@ipimar.pt
16 Queens's University, Belfast (UBELF), UK The Queen's University of Belfast, Lanyon North, Belfast, N. Ireland, BT7 1NN, U.K. Tel: +44 (0)28 9027 2577, fax: +44 (0) 28 9027 2570, e-mail:- h.anderson@qub.ac.uk or l.allcock@qub.ac.uk
17 Universidade Aberta (Uab), Portugal Universidade Aberta, Rua Escola Politécnica no 147, 1269-001 Lisboa, Portugal. Tel: 351 213916300, fax: 351 213969293, e-mail: sonia@univ-ab.pt
18 Laboratorio di Biologia Marina ed Ecologia Animale del Dip. Te. Ris (DIPTERIS), Italy Laboratorio di Biologia Marina ed Ecologia Animale del Dip. Te. Ris (DIPTERIS), Università di Genova, Via Balbi 5, 16126 - Genova, Italy. Tel: 39 0103588138, Fax: 39 0103538147, e-mail: largepel@unige.it or biolmar@unige.it
19 Hellenic Center for Marine Research (formerly NCMR), Greece Institute of Marine Biological Resources (IMBR), Aghios Kosmas, 16604 Helliniko, Greece. Tel: 30 1 9821354, fax: 30 1 9811713, e-mail: teuthis@posidon.ncmr.gr
20 DSUA, Italy Dipartimento di Scienze dell'Uomo e dell'Ambiente, Università di Pisa. Via Volta 6, 56126 PISA, Italy. Tel: 39 50 500943/500018, fax: 39 50 49694, e-mail: belcari@discat.unipi.it
21 Université de La Rochelle, France Laboratoire de Biologie et Environnement Marins (LBEM), Université de La Rochelle, 22 Avenue Michel Crépeau, 17042 La Rochelle Cedex, France Tel-fax: 33 546500294, e-mail: pbustama@univ-lr.fr

PROJECT SUMMARY

Objectives: This project aimed to review current knowledge and issues in cephalopod fisheries science, to assemble, organise, analyse and synthesise data from ongoing national projects, previous and new EC-funded R&D projects, and to recommend future actions for scientists and cephalopod fishery managers in European waters. This was achieved through (a) co-ordinated reviews and (b) development of common databases and associated GIS analysis capability, leading to (c) a series of co-ordination meetings and workshops at which the status of fished European cephalopod stocks was reviewed, stock assessments carried out and management recommendations proposed.

Specific objectives were: (1) To review the current state of knowledge on exploited cephalopods in European waters; (2) To review current data collection, stock assessment and management practices for cephalopod capture fisheries world-wide; (3) To review the current status of cephalopod culture and the prospects for commercial aquaculture; (4) To review socio-economic issues related to cephalopod fisheries; (5) To review current knowledge of cephalopod biology and ecology; (6) To review management options for currently unregulated cephalopod fisheries; (7) To design appropriate data collection protocols for each stock; (8) To hold workshops on assessment and management; (9) To develop a common database and GIS of biological, fishery and bibliographic data; (10) To develop models of interactions between cephalopods and the environment; (11) To disseminate the information synthesised and results generated; (12) To develop new research proposals to address perceived gaps in the information required for sustainable management of fished cephalopod stocks.

Results and Milestones: Results have been presented in approximately 50 deliverables and the main findings from each of the main workpackages are summarised here.

WP2 - Fisheries databases and GIS for cephalopod stocks The present project has compiled existing datasets on cephalopod distribution, abundance (and, with WP5, life history), developed GIS displays and analyses and reviewed prospects for commercial GIS applications in cephalopod fisheries.

WP3 - Review and analysis of fisheries-environment interactions: Population processes (e.g. paralarval survival, recruitment, migration, spawning success) in European cephalopods are influenced by oceanographic features such as current flows (Gulf Stream, Iberian poleward current, Algerian current), the North Atlantic Oscillation, upwelling, ocean gyres and thermal fronts

WP4 - Review of cephalopod stock genetics: Genetic studies on European cephalopods have been reviewed, recommendations for protocols and future studies have been produced.

WP5 - Review of life-cycle, ecology and movements. The major contribution has been a set of comprehensive but easy to read species reviews.

WP6 - Review of cephalopod immunology and physiology: ·Climate change, pollutants and harmful algal blooms will affect cephalopod populations and fisheries. Cephalopods represent an ideal model for biomonitoring studies. Research is needed into physiology and immune responses, prevalence of disease and effects of environmental perturbations on natural mortality in cephalopods.

WP7 - Review of cephalopod culture and capture fisheries: Status and trends in fisheries and aquaculture for European cephalopods are summarised; gaps in knowledge that limit commercial culture are noted.

WP8 - Socieoeconomic review of cephalopod fisheries: Cephalopods have increased in importance as other fisheries have declined but there is also increased targeted fishing especially in the north, and in culture of cephalopods.

WP9 - Data collection requirements for stock assessment: While current fishery data collection for cephalopods could be improved there is scope for wider use of existing data for assessment purposes.

WP10 - Stock status reviews: Stock status and abundance trends are summarised for the main fished cephalopod species.

WP11 - Stock assessment workshops: Workshops with invited experts have delivered a series of papers on assessment and data collection methodologies.

WP12 - Fishery management recommendations: A review highlighted the diversity of cephalopod fisheries. Management must therefore necessarily be adaptive and practices different from case to case.

WP13 - New research priorities: The project partnership identifies a series of priority areas for future research.

Benefits and Beneficiaries: Fisheries for these species are currently not managed in the framework of the CFP but their substantial economic importance indicates the likelihood that management may be necessary in the future. For example, during 2005, there was a substantial increase in interest in directed fishing for squid in UK waters. The results will have a natural outlet in the scientific fisheries literature (including special issues of Aquatic Living Resources in 2005 and Fisheries Research in 2006, also papers from a special issue of Vie et Milieau in 2006, on cuttlefish), and will be reported to the ICES Working Group on Cephalopod Fisheries and Life History.

Project results will contribute to future cephalopod fishery assessment and sustainable management in all partner countries. The project provides information directly relevant to the prospect for bringing cephalopod fisheries within the framework of the Common Fisheries Policy. This project also assembled available information on the social and economic value of the cephalopod fishery sector and its future prospects. The project explicitly recognised the need for fishery management to address the goals of biological, economic, social and institutional sustainability.

Future Actions (if applicable): The project has now terminated but maintenance of project databases and dissemination of project results will continue and it is expected that new research proposals on cephalopod biology and fisheries will follow.

 

PUBLICATIONS

 

Journal Special Issues

Payne, A.G., Agnew, D.J. & Pierce, G.J. (Guest Editors), 2006. Trends and Assessment of Cephalopod Fisheries - Proceedings of the CEPHSTOCK Cephalopod Assessment Workshop. Fisheries Research 78 (1), 1-106.

Pierce, G.J., Portela, J.M. & Robin, J.-P. (Guest Editors), 2005. Environmental effects on cephalopod life history and fisheries. Aquatic Living Resources 18 (4), 325-400.

Koueta, N., Andrade, J.P. & Boletzky, S.v. (Guest Editors), 2006. The cuttle Sepia officinalis. Vie et Milieu - Life & Environment 56 (2).

Journal papers

Challier, L., Royer, J., Pierce, G.J., Bailey, N., Roel, B.A. & Robin, J.-P., 2005. Environmental and stock effects on recruitment variability in the English Channel squid Loligo forbesi. Aquatic Living Resources 18, 353-360.

Chen, C.S., Pierce, G.J., Wang, J., Robin, J.-P., Poulard, J.C., Pereira, J., Zuur, A.F., Boyle, P.R., Bailey, N., Beare, D.J., Jereb, P., Ragonese, S., Mannini, A. & Orsi-Relini, L., 2006. The apparent disappearance of Loligo forbesi from the south of its range in the 1990s: trends in Loligo spp. abundance in the northeast Atlantic and possible environmental influences. Fisheries Research 78, 44-54.

Georgakarakos S, Koutsoubas D, Valavanis VD, 2006. Time series analysis and forecasting techniques applied on loliginid and ommastrephid landings in Greek waters. Fisheries Research 78, 55-71.

Payne, A.G., Agnew, D.J. & Pierce, G.J., 2006. Foreword: Trends and assessment of cephalopod fisheries. Fisheries Research 78, 1-3.

Pierce, G.J., Portela, J. & Robin, J.P., 2005. Foreword: environmental effects on cephalopod life history and fisheries. Aquatic Living Resources 18, 325-326.

Pierce, G.J., Zuur, A.F., Smith, J.M., Santos, M.B., Bailey, N., Chen, C.-S. & Boyle, P.R., 2005. Interannual variation in life-cycle characteristics of the veined squid (Loligo forbesi) in Scottish (UK) waters. Aquatic Living Resources 18, 327-340.

Rosa, R., Pereira, J. Costa, P.R. & Nunes, M.L., 2006. Distribution, abundance, biology and biochemistry of the stout bobtail squid Rossia macrosoma from the Portuguese coast. Marine Biology Research 2, 14-23.

Royer, J., Pierce, G.J., Foucher, E. & Robin J.P., 2006. The English Channel stock of Sepia officinalis: modelling variability in abundance and impact of the fishery. Fisheries Research 78, 96-106.

Seixas, S., Bustamante, P. & Pierce, G.J., 2005. Interannual patterns of variation in concentrations of trace elements in arms of Octopus vulgaris. Chemosphere 59, 1113-1124.

Semmens, J.M., Pecl, G.T., Villanueva, R., Jouffre, D., Sobrino, I., Wood, J.B. & Rigby, P.R., 2004. Understanding octopus growth: patterns, variability and physiology. Marine and Freshwater Research 55, 367-377.

Smith, J.M., Pierce, G.J., Zuur, A.F. & Boyle, P.R., 2005. Seasonal patterns of investment in reproductive and somatic tissues in the squid Loligo forbesi. Aquatic Living Resources 18, 341-351.

Valavanis VD, Kapantagakis A, Katara I, Palialexis A, 2004. Critical regions: A GIS-based model of marine productivity hotspots. Aquatic Sciences 66, 139-148.

Valavanis VD, Georgakarakos S, Kapantagakis A, Palialexis A, Katara I, 2004. A GIS Environmental Modelling Approach to Essential Fish Habitat Designation. Ecological Modelling 178, 417-427.

Valavanis VD, Katara I, Palialexis A, 2005. Marine GIS: Identification of mesoscale oceanic thermal fronts. International Journal of Geographical Information Science 19, 1131-1147.

Villanueva, R., Arkhipkin, A., Jereb, P., Lefkaditou, E., Lipinski, M.R., Perales-Raya, C., Riba, J. & Rocha, F., 2003. Embryonic life of the loliginid squid Loligo vulgaris: comparison between statoliths of Atlantic and Mediterranean populations. Marine Ecology-Progress Series 253, 197-208.

Villanueva, R. & Bustamante, P., 2006. Composition in essential and non-essential elements of early stages of cephalopods and dietary effects on the elemental profiles of Octopus vulgaris paralarvae. Aquaculture 261, 225-240.

Villanueva, R., Riba, J., Ruiz-Capillas, C., Gonzalez, A.V. & Baeta, M., 2004. Amino acid composition of early stages of cephalopods and effect of amino acid dietary treatments on Octopus vulgaris paralarvae. Aquaculture 242, 455-478.

Villanueva, R., Moltschaniwskyj, N.A. & Bozzano, A., 2007. Abiotic influences on embryo growth: statoliths as experimental tools in the squid early life history. Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries 17, 101-110.

Wang, J., Pierce, G.J., Boyle, P.R., Denis, V., Robin, J.P. & Bellido, J.M., 2003. Spatial and temporal patterns of cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) abundance and environmental influences - a case study using trawl fishery data in French Atlantic coastal, English Channel and adjacent waters. ICES Journal of Marine Science 60, 1149-1158.

Young, I.A.G., Pierce G.J., Murphy, J., Daly, H.I. & Bailey, N., 2006. Application of the Gómez-Muñoz model to estimate catch and effort in squid fisheries in Scotland. Fisheries Research 78, 26-38.

Young, I.A.G., Pierce, G.J., Stowasser, G., Santos, M.B., Wang, J., Boyle, P.R., Shaw, P.W., Bailey, N., Tuck, I. & Collins, M.A., 2006. The Moray Firth directed squid fishery. Fisheries Research 78, 39-43.

 


Last updated: 21/06/07