Project Details
Description
Denmark holds a unique status in European sandeel fisheries, accounting for over 90% of the quota in EU waters. The management, advisory processes, and fishing activities related to sandeel continue to pose significant challenges for the industry due to area divisions, national closures, and quota allocations that do not always align with actual fishing opportunities. To address these issues, the TRUST project aimed to improve understanding of sandeel movement within and between management areas, providing a foundation for discussing the current area divisions.
Across the two EHFAF-supported TRUST projects, more than 30,000 sandeel have been tagged and released across management areas 1r, 2r, and 3r. Of these, nearly 1,000 have been recaptured. Preliminary analyses of recapture data indicate that while most sandeel exhibit a stationary behavior once settled after their larval drifting phase, some individuals travel considerable distances between known sandeel banks.
A previous FAF-supported project recorded a limited number of recaptures in the Norwegian zone near the EU’s EEZ, leading to an interest in further investigating the impact of size on both survival and migration. The observed stationary behavior forms the basis of this project, where tagging and release efforts aim to enhance the understanding of bank-specific sandeel behavior. The goal is to gain a more detailed insight into sandeel movement patterns on a small spatial scale, which will improve the interpretation of recapture data and, if possible, optimize tagging and release procedures for PIT-tagging of juvenile fish in the field.
Additionally, the project examines whether tagging mortality and behavior on a small spatial scale are influenced by sandeel size. This is crucial for interpreting recapture results and understanding sandeel migration patterns. The newly acquired knowledge will ultimately serve as a basis for testing a method to estimate local fishing mortality in real time. Such an approach could support an alternative management strategy for the sandeel fishery, where fishing is regulated based on a specific fishing mortality threshold at the bank or area level.
Funding
The project is funded by Fiskeafgiftsfonden.
Research area: Marine Living Resources
Across the two EHFAF-supported TRUST projects, more than 30,000 sandeel have been tagged and released across management areas 1r, 2r, and 3r. Of these, nearly 1,000 have been recaptured. Preliminary analyses of recapture data indicate that while most sandeel exhibit a stationary behavior once settled after their larval drifting phase, some individuals travel considerable distances between known sandeel banks.
A previous FAF-supported project recorded a limited number of recaptures in the Norwegian zone near the EU’s EEZ, leading to an interest in further investigating the impact of size on both survival and migration. The observed stationary behavior forms the basis of this project, where tagging and release efforts aim to enhance the understanding of bank-specific sandeel behavior. The goal is to gain a more detailed insight into sandeel movement patterns on a small spatial scale, which will improve the interpretation of recapture data and, if possible, optimize tagging and release procedures for PIT-tagging of juvenile fish in the field.
Additionally, the project examines whether tagging mortality and behavior on a small spatial scale are influenced by sandeel size. This is crucial for interpreting recapture results and understanding sandeel migration patterns. The newly acquired knowledge will ultimately serve as a basis for testing a method to estimate local fishing mortality in real time. Such an approach could support an alternative management strategy for the sandeel fishery, where fishing is regulated based on a specific fishing mortality threshold at the bank or area level.
Funding
The project is funded by Fiskeafgiftsfonden.
Research area: Marine Living Resources
| Acronym | FAF-TRUST 2 |
|---|---|
| Status | Active |
| Effective start/end date | 01/01/2025 → 31/12/2025 |
Collaborative partners
- Technical University of Denmark (lead)
- Danish Fishermens Producers Organisation
- Danish Pelagic Producers Organisation
- Marine Ingredients Denmark
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