Nursery and spawning areas of the squid Loligo vulgaris on the Portuguese Northwest Coast

No abstracts are to be cited without prior reference to the author.

The recent sharp decrease in common squid (Loligo vulgaris) Portuguese landings, demands for advice based on novel and sustainable management measures. The identification of essential fish habitats (EFH) that play an important role in critical life stages of exploited species can be used as a management tool to support stocks conservation and sustainable exploitation. Therefore, data from demersal surveys between 1990 and 2013 were analysed to describe the distribution of juveniles and females in mature condition and two main nurseries grounds and four spawning grounds were identified along the Portuguese shelf. Important differences were observed between the west and south regions. The relationships between several environmental variables and the abundance of juveniles and mature females are explored to characterize L. vulgaris EFH.