In this second Collective Article with fisheries-related data from the Mediterranean Sea we present the evaluation of bony structures in aging of Barbus tauricus, otolith dimensions-body length relationships for two species (Trachinus draco and Synchiropus phaeton), information on the growth of juvenile Thunnus thynnus and of Ruvettus pretiosus, weight-length relationships for three species (Aulopus fiamentosus, Thunnus thynnu...

A growth study of the swordfish in the Strait of Gibraltar was carried out, based on monthly size frequencies data collected from the Moroccan driftnet fishery during the period 2006-2011. The growth parameters were estimated by the modal progression analysis (MPA), using both the Bhattacharya and NORMSEP methods. The standard von Bertalanffy growth function (VBGF) for length was found to be: Lt =253.6 [1-exp (- 0.17(t + 1.30)...

This article describes in detail the “IMAS-Fish” web-based tool implementation technicalities and provides examples on how can it be used for scientific and management purposes setting new standards in fishery science. “IMAS-Fish” was developed to support the assessment of marine biological resources by: (i) homogenizing all the available datasets under a relational database, (ii) facilitating quality control and data entry, (...

Discarding practices from 110 fishing operations in a Mediterranean small‐scale fishing fleet (Patraikos Gulf, western Greece) from August 2004 to July 2005 were analysed. On average, 1 kg of fish was discarded per fishing operation (10% of the catch). The reasons for discarding were: low commercial value (78% of discards), damage at sea before retrieval of the gear (5%), and bad handling on‐board (17%). More than half of disc...

Recent records on the occurrence of the species Etrumeus teres, Siganus rivulatus, Stephanolepis diaspros, Sphoeroides pachygaster, Lagocephalus sceleratus, Fistularia commersonii and Siganus luridus are presented for the Aegean, Cretan and Libyan Seas and the new record of Upeneus moluccensis in the Cretan Sea is reported.

Analysis of the cephalopod beaks found in the stomachs of 69 swordfish Xiphias gladius caught in the Aegean Sea resulted in the identification of nine cephalopod taxa. Cephalopod consumption was higher in summer and autumn, and larger swordfish were more likely to feed on cephalopods. Todarodes sagittatus was the most abundant species, a finding suggesting its abundance in the Mediterranean sea.

The present study concerns faunal composition and distribution of cephalopods in the southern Aegean Sea (35Ζ 13’ 19’’- 37Ζ 55’ 25’’ N, 23Ζ 00’ 15’’ - 28Ζ 15’ 37’’ E). Samples were collected from 708 hauls, obtained by an experimental bottom trawl net during eight surveys carried out in the summers of the years 1994-2001, as well as by commercial trawl net during four surveys carried out in September 1995, December 1995, May a...