Aspects of the population dynamics of two deep-water species (Aphanopus carbo and A. intermedius), caught in the Northeastern Atlantic by the Madeira fishing fleet

Abstract

The black scabbardfish is a deep-water fish, caught intensively around the Madeira archipelago at least since the 19th century. In the last years this resource evolved from a local fishery using drifting long-lines with its commercial interest almost exclusively limited to Madeira, to a resource exploited in several fishing grounds in the Northeastern Atlantic, namely by a segment of the Portuguese mainland fishing fleet operating set long-lines off Sesimbra and a multispecies bottom fisheries targeting deep-water species, mainly developed by French trawlers in the slopes of Hatton and Rockall Banks and in the Mid Atlantic Ridge.