Profile updated on 19 December 2023

SUMMARY

SUMMARY

IDENTIFICATION

SCIENTIFIC NAME(s)

Trachurus trachurus

SPECIES NAME(s)

Atlantic horse mackerel

COMMON NAMES

Southern horse mackerel, Atlantic horse mackerel, European horse mackerel, scad

The geographic range of the species encompasses the Eastern Atlantic: from Madeira, the Straits of Gibraltar and Canary Islands and Cape Verde Islands to South Africa; northward extending into the Mediterranean Sea and along the Atlantic coasts of Europe to Norway (fishbase). Recently (Healey et al. 2020) brought new findings of the species’ stock structure and distribution. Contrarily to what has been defended so far (Froese and Pauly 2019), the Atlantic horse mackerel can only be found in the NE Atlantic and the Mediterranean until Ghana, initiating Trachurus capensis its distribution from there on to Angola and South Africa. Several studies have been developed in the NE Atlantic area (e.g. (Abaunza et al. 2008)), and even if 3 units were identified in the region – western, southern and North Sea – the boundaries and migration patterns among the units were never clarified (Azevedo et al. 2017)(ICES 2017)(ICES 2019)(ICES 2023). Therefore, and because the sampling area from the (Healey et al. 2020) study included southern Portugal towards South Africa (lacking the whole southern unit, western and North Sea units), the assessment units assumed by ICES are here considered: NE Atlantic, Atlantic Iberian waters (this profile) and Skagerrak and Kattegat, southern and central North Sea, eastern English Channel. The Sahara-Mauritanian area assessed by CECAF/FAO is also considered (FAO 2018).


ANALYSIS

Strengths
  • A Management Plan (MP) was proposed for this stock and has been evaluated as precautionary by ICES (Azevedo et al. 2018).

SCORES

Management Quality:

Management Strategy:

≥ 6

Managers Compliance:

≥ 8

Fishers Compliance:

≥ 8