This stock is data limited. There is no concern for the biomass of red gurnard in this area of the Northeast Atlantic. Landings have remained stable, decreasing slightly, there is no immediate concern for fishing pressure.
Route 2 scoring has been applied to this rating owing to the lack of a reference points for biomass or fishing pressure. Red gurnard is considered to have medium resilience to fishing pressure.
Survey data shows an increasing trend in red gurnard biomass until around 2009 following which it has fluctuated without a trend. Therefore, there is no concern for the biomass.
Landings information for red gurnard is of limited value as it is not always reported to species level, but rather as mixed gurnards or misidentified as tub or grey gurnard. However, reporting has improved since 2006. In previous years ICES provided advice on landing limits using a precautionary approach, however since 2022 ICES has provided no advice due to a lack of reliable catch data.
Between 2016 and 2021, average landings were 3,308 tonnes, representing 98% of the average advice of 3,377 tonnes. In 2021, landings dropped to a record low of 2,692 tonnes, below the advised level. Since 2022, landings have remained relatively stable with slight decreases, and no new advice has been provided. As a result, there is currently no concern regarding fishing pressure.
If future landings were to exceed previous advice levels, as seen in 2020, concern may arise. However, at present, there is no clear evidence of overfishing, and fishing pressure appears to be maintaining stock stability, despite being unknown.
The lack of advice and reliable data in the ICES assessment mean it is difficult to estimate the outlook for red gurnard.
