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Demersal fish
Studies on the dynamics and state of the stocks of several commercially important demersal fish of the Greek seas are currently being conducted. Baseline studies on aspects related to the biology and distribution of species such as hake, bogue, pandora, picarel and mullets are accomplished by means of bottom trawl surveys, carried out regularly in the southern Aegean and Cretan seas within the framework of a large-scale Mediterranean research project. Complementary plankton surveys give data permitting rough demarcations to be made of spawning ground areas (and seasonality) for a wide range of demersal species.
Information on the discards of the commercial bottom trawlers is collected on a seasonal basis by observers on board representatively selected fishing boats. The work is carried out in collaboration with Greek, Italian and Spanish Research Institutes; analysis of the collected data will help to improve our knowledge on the dynamics of the stocks.
The distribution, vertical migration and abundance of the main commercial small pelagic species such as sardine and anchovy are studied, not only through the analysis of traditional fisheries data, but also by means of fishery-independent information, i.e., ichthyoplankton and acoustic surveys. Modern ichthyoplanktonic methods are used to estimate the spawning biomass of anchovy in the northern Aegean sea and methods are being developed for species identification using acoustic data. Factors affecting mortality during the early life stages of the fish and the subsequent size of the stocks are also investigated. Concurrent hydrographic surveys help to understand the link between distribution characteristics of the species and the environment.
Studies on large pelagic fish stocks are carried out within the framework of several national and EU projects, targeted towards swordfish and bluefin tuna, the main commercial species. The exploitation pattern and the parameters of the stocks are studied through the analysis of fisheries and biological data obtained from commercial catches landed in selected pilot ports of the Aegean sea.
Plankton surveys are made regularly in the Aegean sea to detect possible spawning grounds for all large pelagic species. In addition, the migration patterns of swordfish and tunas are studied by means of tagging operations performed on juvenile animals in collaboration with Italian, French and Spanish institutes.
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