A temporal race-for-fish: The interplay between local hotspots offlatfish and exploitation competition between beam trawlers after aseasonal spawning closure

In this paper we examine the response of the Belgian beam trawl fishery after the implementation ofa 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 thisbehavior was examined by analyzing the landing rate of the target species (sole) in a generalized additivemixed model. Results showed that daily sole landings were up to twice as high just after re-opening ofthe fishery and dropped within 3 weeks to a reference level. This pattern of landing rate per unit (lpue) ofsole was strongly related to the spatial distribution of fishing effort in the closed area during the monthof re-opening. During the first week, fishing effort was very patchy, with increasing dispersal toward theend of the month. These results give indirect evidence for the occurrence of high local concentration ofsole as a result of the closure, and the occurrence of exploitation competition when the fishery restarted.