Stocking
Genetic Stock Identification
Fisheries for Atlantic herring (clupea harengus) take place in different areas around the coast of Ireland. The herring stocks are divided into three stocks: 6aS/7bc (northwest herring off Donegal), Irish Sea herring and Celtic Sea herring, with the separation largely based on information from fisheries and the recognition of temporal and spatial differences in spawning season and grounds. Herring from separate stocks are believed to mix on common feeding grounds outside of the spawning season and mixed-stock fisheries and surveys operate in these areas. The inability to assign catches to their stock of origin has until recently prevented accurate assessment, thus hampering the development and implementation of effective management strategies.
Research Development
Collaborative Research
The KFO recognised this issue in relation to distinguishing the Northwest Herring in Donegal from the herring that spawn of the north of Scotland and in 2015 initiated a research programme to develop a genetic method to distinguish the herring stocks. Over the following three years, the research was funded by a collaboration of the Irish, Scottish and Dutch pelagic industry organisations with the Irish Marine Institute and Marine Scotland Science. In December 2018, the project partners secured funding from the European Commission’s Executive Agency for Small and Medium Enterprises (EASME) to extend the project until December 2020. Ultimately the research led to the development of separate stock assessments for these two herring stocks and an improved basis for management. The project also led to further genetic stock identification projects on herring and hose mackerel, which are ongoing.
Research Project Outputs
Discover more about these research project outputs
Farrell, E.D., Andersson, L., Bekkevold, D., Campbell, N., Carlsson, J., et al. 2022. A baseline for the genetic stock identification of Atlantic herring, Clupea harengus, in ICES Divisions 6.a, 7.b-c. R Soc Open Sci 9: 220453.
Farrell, E.D., Campbell, N., Carlsson, J., Egan, A., Gras, M., Lusseau, S.M., Nolan, C., O’Connell, S., O’Malley, M., and White, E. Herring in Divisions 6.a, 7.b and 7.c: Scientific Assessment of the Identity of the Southern and Northern Stocks through Genetic and Morphometric Analysis: Final Report. Service Contract EASME/EMFF/2017/1.3.2.1/SI2.767459. 251 pp.
ICES. 2023. Benchmark Workshop on North Sea and Celtic Sea Stocks (WKNSCS). ICES Scientific Reports. 5:04. 324 pp.