Skip to main content

IMIS

A new integrated search interface will become available in the next phase of marineinfo.org.
For the time being, please use IMIS to search available data

 

[ report an error in this record ] Print this page

MEGS: Mackerel and horse mackerel eggs surveys
Citation
ICES. Mackerel and horse mackerel eggs surveys. Available online at http://eggsandlarvae.ices.dk. Consulted on yyyy-mm-dd. https://marineinfo.org/id/dataset/4421

Availability: Licence
Conditions of supply and usage of the data are specified in a formal agreement.

Notes: ICES Data Policy: http://www.ices.dk/marine-data/guidelines-and-policy/Pages/ICES-data-policy.aspx

Description
A survey is carried out every 3 years in the north eastern Atlantic. The year after the Atlantic survey, a mackerel egg survey is conducted in the North Sea. The survey creates a basis for the stock assessment of Atlantic and North Sea mackerel and management plan for Atlantic horse mackerel. The group responsible for the survey is WGMEGS more

There are currently nine nations and ten institutes participating in the survey which has a geographical area that extends from Cadiz in the south to Icelandic waters in the north. Egg data collected from both surveys provide an estimate of the total annual egg production (TAEP) that in turn provides an estimate of spawning stock biomass (SSB) for both the western and North Sea stocks of Atlantic mackerel (Scomber scombrus). In addition it also provides a relative abundance index of spawning for horse mackerel (Trachurus trachurus) in the Northeast Atlantic. The surveys are divided into three geographical component areas, the western, southern and the North Sea. In the western area, the mackerel egg survey has been running continuously on a triennial basis since 1977 and since 1992 has also sampled the southern spawning component. It typically takes place between February and July and aims to cover the entire spawning area from Cadiz in the south up as far as NW Scotland in the north and since 2010, up to the waters around the Faroe Islands and southeast of Iceland. The egg survey in the North Sea has been running since 1968.

Scope
Themes:
Biology > Fish
Keywords:
Marine/Coastal, Spawning, Stock assessment, ANE, North East Atlantic, ANE, North Sea, Scomber scombrus Linnaeus, 1758

Geographical coverage
ANE, North East Atlantic [Marine Regions]
ANE, North Sea [Marine Regions]

Temporal coverage
From 2010 on [In Progress]

Taxonomic coverage
Scomber scombrus Linnaeus, 1758 [WoRMS]

Contributors
International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), moredata manager

Publication
Describing this dataset
The Working Group on Mackerel and Horse Mackerel Egg Surveys (2014). Manual for the mackerel and horse mackerel egg surveys (MEGS): sampling at sea. Series of ICES Survey Protocols, SISP 6 - MEGS V1.3. ICES: Copenhagen. 62 pp., more


Dataset status: In Progress
Data type: Data
Data origin: Monitoring: field survey
Metadatarecord created: 2013-10-31
Information last updated: 2022-08-09
All data in the Integrated Marine Information System (IMIS) is subject to the VLIZ privacy policy