Report of the Mackerel Working Group

At the 78th Statutory Meeting in Copenhagen it was decided (C.Res.1990/2:5:14) that the Mackerel Working Group (Chairman: Mr E. Kirkegaard, Denmark) should meet at ICES Headquarters from 23 April - 1 May 1991 to:

a) assess status of and provide catch options for 1992 within safe biological limits for the mackerel stocks and management units in Sub-areas II-IX;

b) 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;

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

d) 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 1990 to the Multispecies Assessment Working Group as input for the multispecies VPA, and provide information on the likely level of Western stock mackerel which is seasonally present in the North Sea.