Whiting - Seafish

Responsible Sourcing Guide: 

Whiting 

Version 5 - May 2011 

BUYERS’ TOP TIPS 

Merlangius merlangus Image © Scandinavian Fishing Year Book 

Whiting (Merlangius merlangus) is widespread in waters 

around the British Isles and, historically, has been a popular 

fish with UK consumers. Its commercial importance has 

dwindled in the last three decades, due to declining stocks, 

and reductions in catch associated with larger meshed nets 

used to conserve other valuable species, such as cod and 

haddock. In 2009 the total weight landed into UK ports was 

around 10,000 tonnes (t), with a first-sale value of £9.3 million 

(1). The value of the UK market is around £2 million (2). 

Whiting belongs to the cod 

family and is found in the 

North East Atlantic from the 

southeastern Barents Sea 

and Iceland to Portugal, as 

well as in the Black Sea, 

Aegean Sea and Adriatic 

Sea (3). The combined 

international landings from 

whiting stocks in the North 

East Atlantic to UK markets 

have declined from over 

120,000 t per year in the 

early 1980s, to less than 

30,000 t by 2005. A large 

percentage of the catch is 

discarded due to low 

market value and a 

preponderance of 

undersized fish. 

The current Total Allowable 

Catches (TACs) for whiting 

are low due to the uncertain 

status of most of the whiting 

stocks, but the availability 

of whiting in some areas, 

such as along the north 

east coast of England, has 

remained relatively high, 

due to local aggregations of 

fish. 

The purpose of this guide 

is to outline the status of 

whiting stocks and 

describe some of the 

measures which are 

being taken to protect 

them. 

Know your species 

The species marketed as 

‘whiting’ in the UK is the 

European whiting, Merlangius 

merlangus. ‘Blue whiting’ 

(Micromesistius poutassou) and 

‘pout whiting’ (or whiting-pout or 

bib – Trisopterus luscus) are 

quite different species that occur 

in European waters. 

Know your source of supply 

and stock status 

To understand sustainability 

issues concerned with your 

supply, you need to know the 

assessment and management 

areas from which the fish have 

been caught. The table on page 

3 gives an overview of the status 

of whiting stocks in the North 

East Atlantic. Traceability 

systems (4,5) can help assure 

the origin of supplies. 

Although the status of most of 

the whiting stocks is uncertain, 

the overall decline in abundance 

to the current low levels in most 

areas is well known, and ICES 

has advised substantial 

reductions in catches and 

technical conservation measures 

to reverse this trend (6). 

Seafish Responsible Sourcing 

Service 

This is one of a series of 

Responsible Sourcing Guides 

produced by Seafish. 

For further guides and 

information see: 

http://www.tinyurl.com/seafishrsg

2 Responsible Sourcing Guide: Whiting. Version 5 – May 2011 

Status of whiting stocks June 2010 

Biology 

Whiting occurs mainly in 

waters down to 100m depth, 

but may extend out to 200m 

(7). The juveniles tend to have 

a more coastal distribution 

than adults. Most whiting 

around the UK are mature at 

two years of age (8) and 

around 27cm in length and 

spawn mainly between 

February and June. The 

average landed length is 

usually around 30-40cm, but 

whiting can grow to 70cm and 

a weight of 3kg (3). Whiting 

are opportunistic predators 

feeding on a wide variety of 

shrimps, squids and small fish 

such as sandeels, sprats, 

Norway pout, young herring 

and haddock. In turn, they are 

preyed upon by species such 

as cod, saithe, monkfish and 

seals, and larger whiting (9). 

Assessment 

Whiting populations in the 

North East Atlantic are 

allocated to ‘management 

areas’ comprising one or more 

ICES divisions. However, the 

areas within which stocks are 

assessed scientifically 

sometimes extend over more 

than one management area, 

or cover only part of a 

management area. In addition, 

tagging studies indicate that 

whiting may move between 

adjacent management areas, 

and there may be limited 

mixing within management 

areas (10). As a consequence, 

it is difficult to estimate the 

abundance of whiting stocks, 

or to follow the dynamics of 

the different populations 

around the UK coast. 

ICES has found it difficult to 

match-up year-on-year trends 

in population size, with the 

equivalent trends from fisheryresearch 

trawl surveys. This is 

due to inaccurate or missing 

data on the often substantial 

quantities of whiting discarded 

by all the fleets, and the 

different population trends 

within a management area. 

This makes it difficult to 

interpret fishery and survey 

data collected over larger 

areas, such as the entire 

North Sea. Management 

advice from ICES is currently 

based on indicative stock 

trends showing declining 

abundance in the North Sea, 

west of Scotland, Irish Sea, 

Celtic Sea and English 

Channel over the last decade, 

and relatively low numbers of 

juveniles in most areas, 

except possibly the Irish Sea. 

Maximum Sustainable Yield 

(MSY) and the precautionary 

approach 

Currently advice on fish stocks 

by ICES is described in terms 

of MSY and the precautionary 

approach. MSY relates to 

optimising yield, and the 

precautionary approach to 

avoiding stock depletion. 

MSY means fishing at levels 

that catch the maximum 

proportion of a fish stock, that 

can safely be removed on a 

continuous basis, while, at the 

same time, maintaining its 

capacity to produce 

sustainable returns, in the 

long- term. 

The ICES MSY approach (11) 

is based on a long-term 

strategy where catch rates are 

fixed, enabling fish stocks to 

reproduce so exploitation can 

occur in sustainable, social, 

economic and environmental 

conditions. The EU has a plan 

for transition to MSY in four 

steps (2011-15). ICES advice 

takes this into account (12). 

ICES has used previous catch 

based stock assessments to 

set reference points for whiting 

stocks. The reliability of 

assessments has deteriorated 

and ICES can no longer 

determine current status of 

whiting stocks in relation to 

these reference points. 

TACs are based on EU policy 

for stocks where data are 

insufficient for a full 

assessment (12).


Management 

Stock ( coded to 

map Figure 1) 

Agreed 

TAC 2011 

(t) (13) 

Advisory 

TAC 

2011 (t) 

Scientific advice and management 

(June 2010 ICES advice) (6) 

NORTH EAST ATLANTIC WHITING (Merlangius merlangus) www.ices.dk 

Stock status uncertain or unknown 

ICES IIIa 

Skagerrak & 

Kattegat 

ICES IV North 

Sea and VIId 

English Channel 

ICES Div VIIe-k 

English and 

Bristol Channels 

and Celtic Sea 

ICES Division VIa 

and VIb West of 

Scotland and 

Rockall 

ICES VIIa 

Irish Sea 

1,050 No advice No assessment and reference points have not been set. For 

2010 it was advised that landings should be less than the 

average (2003–2005) landings of 1,050 t (precautionary 

considerations). No advice for 2011 and MSY is not defined. 

14,832 14,600 

In line with 

EU Policy 

(12) 

16,568 16, 568 

In line with 

EU Policy 

(12) 

323 323 

In line with 

EU policy 

118 118 

In line with 

EU Policy 

(12) 

Spawning stock biomass in 2009 is slightly higher than 2008 

but remains below average. Fishing mortality has been stable 

over last four years. Recruitment of young fish very low 

between 2003 and 2007, stronger recruitments estimated in 

2008 and 2009, but size of these recruitments are uncertain. 

Industry perception of increasing whiting abundance in the 

southern North Sea is broadly in line with IBTS surveys. In 

northern North Sea the perception of increasing whiting 

abundance at odds with IBTS surveys which show a general 

decline. MSY is not defined. 

The status of the stock is not known. Stock has declined but 

has recently increased to long term average. Surveys indicate 

2008 year class may be strong. Whiting are taken in mixed 

species fisheries and discard rates are very high. Technical 

measures to minimise discards should be considered with 

urgency. Catches and spawning stock may increase in 2011 if 

effort remains constant. MSY is not defined 

Long-term information indicates spawning stock is at an 

historical low in VIa. Fishing mortality has declined since 

2005, however because of high levels of discarding total 

catches are not constrained by landing controls. Landings in 

VIb negligible and stock status unknown. MSY is not defined. 

State of stock is uncertain but long- term fishery data indicate 

that the present stock size is extremely low. Discards should 

be reduced. MSY is unknown. 

Figure 1: Management stocks of whiting by ICES division (coded by ICES area to table) 

Organisation key 

ICES: The International Council for 

Exploration of the Sea. Responsible for 

providing scientific advice for North East 

Atlantic fishery management. 

EU: The European Union manages 

fisheries within the Exclusive Economic 

Zone.


Research 

Research on whiting 

populations has focused 

mainly on biological 

aspects such as growth and 

maturity (8), stock structure 

(10) and the role of whiting 

as predator and prey (9). 

Although the decline in 

commercial fishery interests 

has shifted research 

interests away from whiting, 

the ‘Metagadoid’ project at 

the Fisheries Research 

Service Marine Laboratory 

in Aberdeen (UK) aims to 

establish the genetic 

structure of whiting 

spawning populations 

within the North Sea and 

waters to the west of 

Scotland. The results will 

help us to understand the 

degree of independence of 

the various populations and 

how this affects stock 

assessment models. Much 

research has been 

conducted to develop trawls 

that reduce the bycatch of 

whiting below the minimum 

landing size of 27cm (see 

Figures 2, 3 and 4). 

Fishing methods 

The main supply of whiting to UK markets is from fisheries in 

the North Sea (UK fleets), English Channel (UK, French and 

some Belgian vessels) and western shelf waters of sub-areas 

VI and VII (UK, Irish and French fleets). Historically, whiting 

have been taken mainly with otter trawls and seines, but its low 

market value and reduced abundance, mean that whiting are 

now mainly a bycatch in mixed demersal fisheries, and in the 

Nephrops fisheries. Since 2002 the requirements of EU cod 

recovery plans have resulted in the widespread use of 120mm 

codends by vessels using towed gears for demersal fish, in 

both the northern North Sea and to the west of Scotland. This 

has caused a reduction in whiting landings and discards. 

Figure 2 Square mesh panel. Mandatory measure (12) for 

release of haddock and whiting in Nephrops trawls; fish escape 

by swimming upwards through the panel. 

Figure 3 Coverless trawl (18). Non statutory measure in which 

the trawl is designed to avoid capture of haddock and whiting 

through the fish swimming over the top of the trawl.


Management and conservation 

Whiting is now mainly a bycatch 

in nephrops and 

whitefish fisheries and the 

information on the stocks is 

so poor that relaible 

assessments cannot be 

made. However, recently 

the European Commission 

has put forward a proposal 

for management of stocks 

with varying levels of 

information (12). The main 

issues are: 

Control of total catch 

Discard rates are high so 

TACs based on landings do 

not control overall catches 

in many areas. This has 

lead to recommendations to 

find measures to improve 

selectivity 

Selectivity and discarding 

The switching to 120mm 

mesh sizes and effort 

reductions in the whitefish 

fisheries in the northern 

North Sea in 2002, and to 

the west of Scotland may 

have contributed to reduced 

landings, discards and 

mortality in North Sea 

stocks of whiting over the 

period 2003 to 2007 (6). 

In western waters (Subarea 

VII) and the southern 

North Sea (IVc), demersal 

trawlers and Nephrops trawlers use mesh sizes down to 80mm 

and 70mm respectively. The use of these mesh sizes has 

generally increased in the North Sea over the period 2003 to 

2008. Since trawls retain a high proportion of small whiting, 

selectivity measures are important for the conservation of 

whiting. Whiting are known to swim upwards to escape from 

trawls. They are, therefore, well suited to conservation 

measures such as the square-mesh panel and coverless trawl 

(Figures 2, 3 and 4). Other methods, such as separator trawls, 

also exploit this tendency to gather the whiting (and haddock) 

into an upper codend, where it can be selected away from 

other species. 

Environmental impacts 

Whiting are taken mainly in otter trawls and seines, and the 

principal environmental effect of these fishing activities is 

mechanical disturbance of the seabed. However, whiting are 

mostly caught on soft seabed types, where the impacts of otter 

trawling, and the associated damage to seabed-living 

invertebrates, are less marked than on harder seabed types 

(17). Most areas trawled for whiting have been subject to many 

decades of such fishing. 

Ecological interactions 

Whiting are an important predator on other commercial 

species, such as sandeels, sprats and Norway pout, and on the 

juveniles of species such as herring, haddock and, indeed, 

whiting themselves (9). Whiting have been a large component 

of the discards from commercial trawlers around the UK, which 

provides an additional food supply for foraging seabirds. 

Figure 4 Whiting escaping from square mesh. (Source: 

Fisheries Research Services)


Product characteristics and seasonal cycles 

Whiting are slender bodied fish with conspicuous white sides, a 

silvery belly and sandy to blue-green coloured backs. Whiting 

are a low value species and are usually presented either whole 

(round) or gutted, depending on size, and on ice. This often 

overlooked fish is a good buy when fresh, but it can be easily 

overcooked. 

Whiting generally spawn between January and July, but mostly 

in March and April. 

North East Atlantic 

Mediterranean 

Black Sea 

Supply chain standards 

J F M A M J J A S O N D 

Spawning 

Peak spawning 

Responsible practice in the chilled and frozen supply chain 

depends on correct catching, gutting, washing, chilling or 

freezing, processing and handling practices throughout the 

chain. There are standards which cover these aspects from 

capture to retailer: 

• Seafish Responsible Fishing Scheme. Sets best practice 

standards for fishing vessels, based on British Standards 

Institution specifications (BSi: PAS 72:2006); 

• British Retail Consortium (BRC) Global Standard & Safe 

& Local Supplier Approval (SALSA) certification. Designed 

to raise standards in the seafood processing and wholesaling 

sectors. 

For further information contact: 

Bill Lart T: 01472 252323 or E: w_lart@seafish.co.uk 

Karen Green E: k_green@seafish.co.uk 

For further guides see: http://tinyurl.com/seafishrsg 

REFERENCES 

1.http://www.marinemanagement.org.uk/ 

fisheries/statistics/documents/ukseafish/ 

2009/final.pdf 

2. Seafish statistics. 

3. www.fishbase.org 

4. www.tracefish.org 

5. Seafish (2006). Guide to Recent 

Developments in European law for the 

Seafood Industry. 

6. www.ices.dk/advice/icesadvice.asp 

7. ICES (2008). Report of the 

International Bottom Trawl Survey 

Working Group. ICES CM2008/RMC:02. 

8. Gerritsen, H., Armstrong, M.J., Allen, 

M.M., McCurdy, W.J. and Peel, J.A.D. 

(2002). Variability in maturity and 

growth in a heavily exploited stock: 

whiting (Merlangius merlangus L.) in 

the Irish Sea. Journal of Sea Research, 

313:1-14. 

9. www.ices.dk/products/CMdocs/2005/ 

D/SGMSNS05.pdf 

10.www.ices.dk/products/CMdocs/2005/ 

G/SGSIMUWG05.pdf 

11.http://www.seafish.org/media/Publicat 

ions/SeafishGuidanceNote_MaximumSu 

stainableYield_201103.pdf 

12. *Consultation on fishing 

opportunities for 2011 EC (COM 2010) 

241 final. 

13.* (EC) No 53/2011. 

14. ICES (2008). Report of the Working 

Group on the Assessment of Demersal 

Stocks in the North Sea and Skaggerak. 

ICES CM2008/ACFM:09. 

15. ICES (2008) Report of the Working 

Group on the Assessment of Southern 

Shelf Demersal Stocks. ICES CM 

2008/ACFM:12. 

16. ICES (2008) Report of the Working 

Group on the Assessment of Northern 

Shelf Demersal Stocks. ICES CM 

2008/ACFM:08. 

17. Løkkeborg, S. (2004). Impacts of 

trawling and scallop dredging on benthic 

habitats and communities. FAO 

Fisheries Technical Paper 472. 

www.fao.org/docrep/008/y7135e/y71 

35e00.htm 

18. Dunlin G & Reese RA 2003 Seafish 

Report SR551. 

*See: http://europa.eu/ 

Origin Way, Europarc, Grimsby DN37 9TZ 

t: 01472 252300 f: 01472 268792 

e: seafish@seafish.co.uk w: www.seafish.org SIN: http://sin.seafish.org 

supporting the seafood industry for a sustainable, profitable future

Whiting - Seafish

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