Report of the Planning Group on North Sea Cod and Plaice Egg Surveys in the North Sea

The current discussions on recovery plans for depleted fish stocks has highlighted the need for updated information on the extent and timing of spawning. This information can to some extent be estimated from the catches of mature adults in fisheries surveys but more precise information can be provided from egg surveys. This is because spawning may occur in regions which are not accessible to fishing gear; fisheries surveys may not coincide with the peak of spawning; unlike adult fish, eggs do not actively avoid sampling gear and because large numbers of eggs are spawned by each female, egg distributions may give more reliable estimates of spawning extent.