A temporal race-for-fish: The interplay between local hotspots of flatfish and exploitation competition between beam trawlers after a seasonal spawning closure

In this paper we examine the response of the Belgian beam trawl fishery after the implementation of a spawning closure in the Celtic Sea. It was observed that fishing effort was mainly reallocated in time, resulting in a short-term “race for fish” immediately after re-opening of the fishery. The rationale of this behavior was examined by analyzing the landing rate of the target species (sole) in a generalized additive mixed model. Results showed that daily sole landings were up to twice as high just after re-opening of the fishery and dropped within 3 weeks to a reference level. This pattern of landing rate per unit (lpue) of sole was strongly related to the spatial distribution of fishing effort in the closed area during the month of re-opening. During the first week, fishing effort was very patchy, with increasing dispersal toward the end of the month. These results give indirect evidence for the occurrence of high local concentration of sole as a result of the closure, and the occurrence of exploitation competition when the fishery restarted.