Stock Assessment: Quantitative Methods and Applications for Small Scale Fisheries is a book about stock assessment as it is practiced. It focuses on applications for small scale or artisanal fisheries in developing countries, however it is not limited in applicability to tropical waters and should also be considered a resource for students of temperate fishery management problems. It incorporates a careful sample design, various mathematical models as a basis for predicting consequences for stock exploitation, and discusses the impact of exploitation on non-targeted species. This was a unique concept involving a collaborative effort between U.S. and host country scientists to address issues of regional and global concern through innovative research. Unlike other books on stock assessment that show mathematical models, this is the only book of its kind that discusses how an assessment is carried out. It looks at the field as a whole and includes sampling, age determination and acoustics. The book represents the culmination of a nine-year program financed by the United States Agency for International Development to provide new or improved methods of stock assessment for artisanal fisheries.

The atlas presents a unique set of abundance data to describe the spatial, depth, size, and temporal distribution of demersal and pelagic fish species over an extensive marine area, together with accounts of their biology. A large number of pictures, graphs and distribution maps illustrate the text. By largely avoiding - or at least explaining - scientific terms and providing extensive references, the book should be useful for both laymen and scientists. The quantitative information on some 200 fish taxa is derived from 72,000 stations fished by research vessels during the period 1977-2013. The area covers the northwest European shelf from west of Ireland to the central Baltic Sea and from Brittany to the Shetlands. Although the surveys extend beyond the shelf edge, only taxa reported at least once in waters less than 200 m are included. Typical deep-water species and typical fresh-water species are excluded. We hope this publication will contribute to gaining a better understanding of the ocean ecosystems.

Advances in Marine Biology