Availability of blue whiting (Micromesistius poutassou) in Faroese waters in relation to hydrography

Postspawning blue whiting migrating from the spawning areas west of the British Isles to the feeding areas in the Norwegian Sea are fished from late April to early June in Faroese waters, mainly along the southern parts of the Faroe Plateau. The main migratory route is through the Faroe-Shetland Channel. In some years, however, when a large proportion of blue whiting migrates through the Faroe Bank Channel, the success of the fishery is significantly better owing to the narrower shape of the Faroe Bank Channel compared with the Faroe-Shetland Channel. Data are presented for the last ten years of the fishery, including the distribution of blue whiting in the area from acoustic surveys and the distribution of the main watermasses from CTD profiles obtained during the acoustic surveys. It is found that the blue whiting distribution is consistent with relatively passive drifting and that the fish drift west of the Faroe Plateau through the Faroe Bank Channel when there is a strong flow towards the west in the Faroe-Shetland Channel at the preferred depth.