Spawning and nursery grounds of forage fish in Welsh and surrounding waters from 2008 to 2020

The maps provide information on the location of spawning and nursery areas of several forage fish species in Welsh and surrounding waters, including the Irish and Celtic Seas and the western English Channel. The forage fish populations inhabiting these waters provide a key source of prey for many predators, such as marine mammal and seabird species, including several of conservation concern, that either breed or overwinter in the study area. Given that several forage fish species in the northeast Atlantic have shown major changes in distribution and abundance, up-to-date information on their recent distribution patterns is important, including on where the main nursery and spawning grounds are presently located. The maps are provided for eleven fish species that are prey to marine mammals and seabirds: herring, sprat, sardine, anchovy, sandeel, horse mackerel, mackerel and garfish as well as the gadoid species poor cod, whiting and cod. Using survey data from 2008 to 2020, hotspot maps were created for adults and juveniles of each of the species. Data on most of the species was sparse and some of the gears used in fisheries surveys were not designed to catch the target species. However, a hotspot methodology allowed data from different gears to be standardised and combined into a composite map which covered most of the study area during two periods of the year (Quarter 1 and Quarter 4). Maps largely corresponded to those previously reported although several new species were included for which no or limited historic maps were available, specifically sprat, poor cod and garfish.