Report of the Mackerel Working Group

At the 77th Statutory Meeting in The Hague it was decided (C.Res. 1989/2:4:14) that the Mackerel Working Group (Chairman: E. Kirkegaard) should meet at ICES Headquarters from24 April – 2 May 1990 to:

1) assess the status of and provide catch options for 1991 within safe biological limits for the mackerel stocks and management units in Sub-areas II-IX;

2) update the quantitative description of the distribution and relative abundance of juvenile mackerel by season and by as fine an area breakdown as possible, and re-evaluate possible management measures to limit the catches of juvenile mackerel;

3) for mackerel in Divisions VIlle and IXa, consider possible fishery closures by area and season which could be introduced to reduce the exploitation of juveniles;

4) provide quarterly catch-at-age and catch and stock mean weight-at-age data and information on the relative distribution at different ages by quarter for North Sea mackerel for 1989 as input for the multispecies VPA, and provide information on the likely level of Western stock mackerel which are seasonally present in the North Sea;

5) define distribution areas of high priority for recruitment surveys.Description not yet available