EIFAC/XXII/2002/Inf.5

BIOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT

Chairperson: T. Brenner
Vice-Chairperson: P. Fitzmaurice
Rapporteur: K. Hensel
Technical Secretary: G. Marmulla

Activities and achievements of the Sub-Commission during the intersessional period are summarized as follows:

Working Party on Eels (Convener: W. Dekker)

In August 2001, the EIFAC/ICES Working Party on Eels met in Copenhagen, at ICES headquarters, to address the following Terms of Reference:

· In response to the 1998 EC request on providing escapement targets and other biological reference points on European eel for management use the Group should:

a) assess trends in recruitment and their causes and the effects on stock and yield of the species;

b) investigate the impact of fisheries on spawner escapement in selected systems;

c) define relevant units where escapement targets would be applicable;

d) where information warrants, propose preliminary biologically-based escapement goals for selected systems;

· propose management actions leading to the required escapement;

· report progress in work on improvements in the scientific basis for advice on management of European eel fisheries; inter alia on

a) development of harvest rate models for eel fisheries in data-rich systems;

b) assessment of density-dependent processes (growth and mortality) and their impact on spawner escapement;

c) development of reference points for management use in data-poor systems;

d) developments of procedures to verify effects of eel fisheries management measures, in data-rich and data-poor systems;

e) assessment of the (positive) impacts of management measures not directly related to exploitation, e.g. fish passes, habitat improvement, re-stocking, etc.

A total of 19 people from 10 countries attended the meeting.

The report was presented at the ICES/ACFM meeting in October 2001 and ACFM has provided advice to Brussels on the eel fisheries (ICES C.M. 2002/ACFM:03 - http://www.ices.dk/reports/acfm/2001/wgeel/wgeel01.pdf) and is currently under preparation for publication as EIFAC Occasional Paper No. 36.

The general picture of the eel stock in Europe is one of declining trends: recruitment has declined in the 1980s and has remained low in the 1990s, with even lower records in 2001; the landings are in decline during a much longer period, in many countries. It is concluded, the eel stock is outside safe biological limits. Current scientific knowledge is, however, inadequate to derive specific and detailed management targets. Application of general targets (escapement of at least 30% of the unexploited spawner production) is recommended. Implementation should take place on a river catchment basis. Potential causes of the decline (including natural causes as well as man-made: habitat destruction, migration barriers, overexploitation) have been reviewed and time trends documented. Although no conclusive evidence for individual or synergetic effects could be compiled, anthropogenic impacts have been shown to exceed reasonable provisional targets in many places and management actions in compliance with provisional targets are therefore urgently needed.

It is noted, that the poor state of the stock has been brought to the attention several years ago and management advice has been specified, but no action has yet been taken. Further development of the advice, and furthering our scientific knowledge, cannot proceed without close cooperation between managers and scientists. An outline of required scientific developments has been listed. However, due to the lack of a coordinated management framework and the low priority of national and local research programmes on eel, lack of progress has been reported on several issues, while others had to report only marginal progress. In addition, concerns have been raised about the ability to maintain existing monitoring efforts and time-series of data. Consequently, the Working Party has had to express its views on further development of the advice, without having the opportunity to fully address the Terms of Reference. A pragmatically reduced outline for future work of the Working Party is presented.

The ICES/EIFAC Working Group on Eels at its 2001 session in Copenhagen (Denmark) recommended that:

· an international commission for the management of the European eel stock be formed, organizing monitoring and research on eel stocks and fisheries, and serving as a clearing house for regular exchange of information regarding landings and resource status and facilitating and coordinating management action;

· a recovery plan for the eel stock is compiled and implemented as a matter of urgency and that fishing mortality be reduced to the lowest possible level until such a plan is agreed upon and implemented;

· a provisional limit reference point is set at an escapement from currently available habitat of female silver eel of at least 30% relative to the unexploited state; to be achieved by exploitation regulations and/or habitat restoration measures, and

· monitoring of recruitment, stocks, fisheries and escapement at least be sustained at recent levels, until a stock recovery plan is agreed upon and implemented, including a comprehensive monitoring and research plan.

ICES/ACFM has prepared the Terms of Reference for the 2002 meeting of the Working Group (http://www.ices.dk/committe/acfm/wg/wgeel/tor.htm). The working group has suggested to meet in France (one of the prime glass eel fishing nations), with the official French ICES representation to the Working Group (IFREMER, Nantes), but Nantes has not yet been contacted.

Working Party on Fish Monitoring in Fresh Waters (Convener: P. Hickley)

During the intersession there was little progress with the work programme of the Working Party on Fish Monitoring in Fresh Waters. This situation resulted from the Working Party deciding to await initial progress by the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) on their programme of new standards related to fish sampling. The main task for the Working Party at the moment is to contribute to the work of CEN and to assist in the development of protocols for fish monitoring with particular reference to the requirements of the Water Framework Directive. CEN has commenced work on a draft standard entitled "Water quality - Guidance on the scope and selection of fish sampling methods" and input from the Working Party will be required. Provision of recommendations for this forthcoming standard will be the main task of the Working Party during the 22^nd Session (Windermere, UK, Saturday 15 and Wednesday 19 June 2002).

In addition to the activities of CEN, the Fishbased Assessment Method for the Ecological Status of European Rivers (FAME) project started in January 2002 and will finish in November 2004. The intention is that this fishbased assessment method will be applicable throughout Europe and, to this end, it involves partners from 16 of the 25 eco-regions. The Convener's host organization, the Environment Agency (UK), is Applied Partner No.23 and other Working Party members are also involved. Within the four sections and 15 work packages of the FAME project, the relevant work package from the EIFAC point of view is work package 3, in section 1: Defining Metrics and Sampling procedures. Also, the FAME project is 'clustered' with the EU funded STAR project (Standardisation of River Classifications) which will be investigating the most relevant assessment methods and carrying out an inter-calibration exercise. The second meeting of FAME partners was held 4-7 May 2002 and members of the Working Party were in attendance.

The Environment Agency (UK), reviewed its entire fish monitoring programme and implemented a new core programme from 1 April this year. In order to comply with immediate management protocols, whilst trying to take account of future Water Framework Directive needs, the Agency developed a guidance note which has been made available to CEN. A future task of the Working Party will be to encourage sharing of similar documents with other member countries to facilitate mutual awareness of what is being developed, where and by whom.

Working Party on Introductions and Stocking (Convener: I. Cowx)

In the previous period, members of EIFAC contributed towards the EU review on Analysis of the Environmental and Economic Impact of Operations to Reinforce the Aquatic Fauna of Fresh Waters for Fishery Purposes. This document is being updated and summarized to be made available in the near future. It provides a valuable insight into the state of knowledge of the results of operations concerning restocking of fish for fishery purposes (including leisure fishing) in fresh water, in particular concerning the impact on the environment and genetic interactions with wild populations in EU countries. An analysis of the economic importance of restocking, in particular for Community aquaculture companies, was also carried out.

Similar data have been requested from non-EU member States of EIFAC, but to date only Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Poland and Romania have provided sufficient information to justify any indepth analysis. Unfortunately it has proven difficult to find alternative sources of data for Eastern European countries as databases in central agencies which collate such information are lacking. Again the results are being prepared as a document for dissemination at the forthcoming Session of EIFAC.

The Working Party will convene a meeting during the 22^nd EIFAC Session to debate the way forward, but in view of all the new information on the impact of stocking and introductions at the population level, development of the Code of Practice must be considered a priority.

Working Party on Mapping of Fish Distribution and Aquatic Habitat Quality (Convener: A. Lelek )

There has been no action in the intersessional period due to lack of manpower and financial facilities.

Danube Sturgeons - Fisheries Management under CITES Criteria

The EIFAC Executive Committee (EXCOM), at its meeting in Rome, 23-25 May 2001, discussed the issue of sturgeon management (see document EIFAC/XXII/2002/2). It recommended that EIFAC, jointly with the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM), establish a Working Party on Management of Sturgeon to address this problem and focus on sustainable exploitation of the remaining resources. The proposed Terms of Reference for the Working Group are as follows:

· to review existing information on the biology and distribution of sturgeon species in the Danube, Black Sea, Caspian Sea and Adriatic Sea regions;

· to determine long-term trends in the dynamics of the stocks and their exploitation patterns;

· to determine the current status of the stocks and exploitation based on catch composition (size, species and weight caught), effort, export licences and controls, and

· establish a comprehensive regional catch assessment programme to support rational management of the stocks. Review existing conservation and management measures and advise on appropriate interventions for the sustainable exploitation of the stocks, including enhancement through aquaculture production and stocking.

The GFCM, at its 26^th Session in Lacco Ameno, Ischia, Italy, 10-13 September 2001, took note of the EIFAC proposal for setting-up a Joint EIFAC/GFCM Working Group on Sturgeon to cover the Danube, the Black Sea, the Caspian Sea and the Adriatic Sea regions and of the action of the GFCM Secretariat to seek the advice of the concerned Members about the proposal and agreed to establish such a Group.