Population studies of the whiting Merlangius merlangus (L.) of the northern North Sea

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Abstract
The possibility of the existence of more than one stock within this area is considered. The data are derived from (1) conventional tagging experiments carried out along the east coast of Scotland and around the Orkneys and Shetlands from 1964 to 1972, and (2) a biological tag project using a larval cestode Gilquinia squali, parasitic in the eyes of whiting, conducted over the same period. No tagged whiting were recaptured south of the Dogger Bank, thus supporting the results of earlier studies which suggested that whiting to the north and south of the Dogger Bank mix very little. Neither were any recaptured to the north or west of the Scottish mainland. Generally speaking, whiting tagged in coastal areas were recaptured within 30 miles of the coast, whereas those tagged at the Shetlands were recaptured over a wide area of the open North Sea. Whiting tagged at the Shetlands also yielded evidence of a southerly migration in summer followed by a return northerly migration in spring. The parasitological results showed a coastal strip of consistently low incidence of infection (< 5%) and an offshore area of higher incidence (usually > 10%). Around the Shetlands the incidence of infection varied from the typical offshore level in young whiting (2+, 3+) to that of the coastal area in older fish. Both sources of information suggest that there is little interchange of whiting between coastal and offshore waters in the southern part of the study area (from the Moray Firth to the Northumberland coast), but the parasitological results suggest that some three-years-old and older whiting migrate from the Moray Firth to Shetland waters and thence to the deeper waters to the east.

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