Exploring the potential to record species specific monkfish 2019/20 - Fisheries Science Partnership

This work was carried out as part of the Fisheries Science Partnership (FSP) programme. Commercial landings of monkfish into UK ports consist of the two species, *Lophius piscatorius* and *Lophius budegassa*, mixed together. As there is no EU or UK requirement to report, land, or market the two species separately, this places a limit on the quantity of data that can be generated on catch distributions and size composition for the individual species, with the result that stock assessments are weakened, and management advice for monkfish issued by ICES is precautionary. This project looked at the possibility of introducing changes to normal working practices of the fishing industry in SW England that would improve the data available for the individual species. As part of completing electronic logbooks participating vessels recorded the total weight of monkfish caught on a daily basis together with ICES Rectangle fished.