Status of exploited Baltic flounder stocks in the southern Baltic area (ICES SD 26)

Flounder is the target of directed fisheries in coastal waters and is a bycatch of cod fishing. Flounder were fished in the Baltic region ICES Subdivision 26 (SD 26) by Polish and Soviet fleets until 1991. Since that time political and economic changes have altered the exploitation structure of that area, leading to increased fishing effort and flounder catches. This report, which is based on Polish, Russian and Lithuanian data, presents a review of long term changes in flounder fisheries in SD 26, and describes the current status of flounder exploitation there. The eXtended Survival Analysis (XSA) method was used to assess the stock. The results indicate that the flounder stock in SD 26 is in good condition and that the spawning stock biomass (SSB) is at a consistently high level. However, the estimated mean fishing mortality (F_bar), with reference to Biological Reference Points, indicates that the stock is being exploited too intensely to be sustainable.