Cornish Biodiversity Network  -  Supporting Wildlife Recording

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Cornish Red Data (2009)

The descriptive text, below the map, is from the Cornish Red Data Book (2009). The map on this web page depicts the organisms distribution and shows the records made pre-2000 and those made since.

Micromesistius poutassou - Blue Whiting



Habitat & Distribution

A small oceanic and benthopelagic species which inhabits the Continental Slope and Shelf down from a depth of 100m to more than 1000m. It is found off northern and western Scotland, in the northern North Sea, off the south and west coasts of Ireland, south-west England and the Celtic Sea. It is not commonly recorded off the Cornish coastline but at times it can occur in large numbers, so much so, as to be a ' nuisance' to trawlermen, especially in deeper offshore waters. The main population in British waters spawns from February to May around the Irish coast, before moving to the Norwegian coastline. Its great abundance at times, has led to an increasing commercial interest in this species for processing as fish-meal, and it is an important economic fish, which, however, is being subjected to over-fishing. It has been placed on the UK List of Priority Species.

Source:

I.J. Bennallick, S. Board, C.N. French, P.A. Gainey, C. Neil, R. Parslow, A. Spalding and P.E. Tompsett. eds. 2009. Red Data Book for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. 2nd Edition.Croceago Press.

The Cornish Red Data Book Project was led by the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Federation for Biological Recorders (CISFBR). The full text and species accounts (minus the maps) are available on the CISFBR website.



Cornish Biodiversity Network. 2017.