Impact of fishery on the stock recovery of the Norwegian and Barents Seas Golden redfish (Sebastes norwegicus)

Abstract

The dynamics of by-catches of golden redfish in the Russian fishery of demersal fish in the Barents Sea in 2001–2020 is considered. It is shown that their growth in 2016–2020 was primarily due to the growth of fishing efforts, and not the stock recovery. This was influenced by the cancellation of the moratorium on fishing of the beaked redfish, together with which the golden redfish forms joint aggregations. The increase in by-catch of the golden redfish in recent years has also been facilitated by a reducing of feeding migrations of cod to the northern and northeastern parts of the Barents Sea. This has led to an increase in the overlap of fishing areas of cod with distribution of the golden redfish. The results of the study indicate that when stock of the beaked redfish has recovered, and stock of the golden redfish remains in a depressed state, separate criteria should be used to control by-catch of these species. With joint regulation of by-catch, the growth of the beaked redfish stock will slow down the rate of recovery of the golden redfish stock due to the technical relationship between these species in the multispecies fishery.