Norwegian blue whiting investigation in April/May 1980.
Original version
This report is not to be quoted without prior consultation with the General Secretary.Abstract
An acoustic survey on the blue whiting stock was conducted from
8 April to 14 May 1980. The area west of the British Isles was
covered twice and then the area around the Farces and further up
to Shetland and the Norwegian coast covered once.
Blue whiting was recorded in the area around the Faroes and along
the slope continously south to the Porcupinebank, with densest
concentrations found off the Hebrides.
The hydrographical situation is presented and also the age and
length compositions, maturity conditions and the length-weight
relationships of the blue whiting in the area.
Higher contributions of young fish were found to represent the
blue whiting stock in the spawning area, than observed in recent
years. Acoustic abundance estimate gave a figure of 5.4 mill.tonnes
of blue whiting, which is 2,5 mill.tonnes lesser than the recalculated
figure of 1979.