Too many herring were caught by fishermen between 1960 and 1977. Herring can live for up to 12 years and begin to reproduce when 3 to 4 years old. Laws have been introduced to help conserve herring: • 1977 to 1981 – herring fishing was banned in the North Sea • 1984 to present day – control of mesh size of fishing nets • 1997 to present day – fishing quotas were introduced • 1998 to present day – herring fishing was banned in breeding grounds during the breeding season. Evaluate the effect of these laws on the conservation of herring stocks. Use data from Figure 3 and information from Figure 4 in your answer. – 7093

One thought on “Too many herring were caught by fishermen between 1960 and 1977. Herring can live for up to 12 years and begin to reproduce when 3 to 4 years old. Laws have been introduced to help conserve herring: • 1977 to 1981 – herring fishing was banned in the North Sea • 1984 to present day – control of mesh size of fishing nets • 1997 to present day – fishing quotas were introduced • 1998 to present day – herring fishing was banned in breeding grounds during the breeding season. Evaluate the effect of these laws on the conservation of herring stocks. Use data from Figure 3 and information from Figure 4 in your answer. – 7093”

1. Fishing laws seem to have helped increase fish numbers. Between 1977 and 1981, a fishing ban helped fish biomass rise from 0.1 to 0.48 or even 0.9 million tonnes by 1984. This is likely because small fish were not being caught and had time to grow and reproduce.
   More laws also helped. In 1984, bigger mesh sizes were used, and biomass grew from 0.9 to 1.8 by 1990. In 1997, quotas helped increase stocks again, from 1.15 to 1.25. Then in 1998, fishing was banned during breeding season, and fish numbers went up to 2.5.
   But it’s not certain the laws were the only reason. Other things might have helped too. The laws were also added one after another, so it’s hard to know which one worked best. Also, quotas sometimes caused fish to be thrown back dead into the sea.

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