Working Group on Elasmobranch Fishes (WGEF)

ICES WGEF meets annually, with advice for a subset of stocks drafted in alternating years. Work in 2019 focused on those stocks for which it was an advisory year: (i) skate stocks in the North Sea ecoregion, the Azores and MAR; (ii) catsharks (Scyliorhinidae) in the Greater North Sea, Celtic Seas and Bay of Biscay and Iberian Coast ecoregions; (iii) smooth-hounds in the Northeast Atlantic; and (iv) tope in the Northeast Atlantic).

The following widely-distributed shark stocks were also assessed: (i) Portuguese dogfish; (ii) Leafscale gulper shark; (iii) Kitefin shark; (iv) Porbeagle, and the following species that are on the prohibited species list: (v) angel shark, (vi) basking shark and (vii) white skate.