| An assessment of the sommon sole stock in the Bay of Biscay is presented, based on Jones's cohort analysis method on length composition data (1974) according to a computer program set up by De Verdelhan (1980). The results show that for the present fishing pattern, Fmax is overpassed and that a reduction of fishing effort would be necessary to come back to it. Furthermore, an increase in mesh-size of trawlers without modifying the shrimp fishery would lead to only small long-term benefits (15% maximum): the effect of shrimp trawling on the whole sole fishery appears to be very important. |
