Squid, North Sea, demersal trawl

The status of squid in Subarea IV (North Sea) has been scored as high risk. This is because vulnerability of these squids as assessed by SealifeBase can be high in some species and because mixed abundance trends are reported for different squid species.

The management of squid in Subarea IV (North Sea) has been scored as high risk. This is because data from active fisheries and research surveys are collected regularly, but are not adequate for the stock assessment that would be required to inform management of these populations. There are no management measures in place to restrict catch of any particular species involved into the multi-species fishery because there is no species-specific reporting, though surveillance of boats (and landing)s in the fisheries is at the highest level.

The bycatch risk of this fishery has been scored moderate risk. This is because squids represent a bycatch of larger demersal otter trawl fisheries targeting finfish in which discarded undesirable bycatch can represent over a quarter of the total catch. Squid discards are highly variable between fleets. In directed fisheries for squids discards occur occasionally in larger amounts (25% of total catches by weight).

The habitat risk of the squid fishery in Subarea IV (North Sea) has been scored as high-moderate risk. Although demersal trawls are considered to have potential to cause significant habitat damage, damage to vulnerable and sensitive marine habitats is likely to be minimised given that the footprint of the fishery is within core areas of historically fished ground. In addition future MPA networks will provide further protection to squid habitat.