Fisheries Research 94 (2008) 121–122 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Fisheries Research journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/fishres Editorial Haddock conservation, harvesting and management Haddock 2007: An International Symposium on Haddock Con- servation, Harvesting and Management was held in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, USA, on October 25–26, 2007. It was the first major international conference specifically and exclusively on haddock, Melanogrammus aeglefinus. This special issue resulted from that symposium. The symposium, hosted by the University of New Hampshire, was organized by the following conveners who also acted as mem- bers of the scientific steering committee and the local organizing committee: Pingguo He (Institute for the Study of Earth Oceans and Space, New Hampshire Sea Grant, University of New Hamp- shire), Kenneth La Valley (Department of Zoology, New Hampshire Sea Grant, University of New Hampshire), Laurinda Sousa Smith (Northeast Consortium, University of New Hampshire), Michael Pol (Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries), Laura Skrobe (Rhode Island Sea Grant), Catherine Salerno (Gulf of Maine Research Institute), Steve Cadrin (NOAA/University of Massachusetts CMER Program), and Paul Winger (Fisheries and Marine Institute of Memorial University of Newfoundland). Steve Cadrin, Tom Nies, Paul Winger and Kenneth La Valley moderated sessions. Rachel Feeney and David Chosid acted as rapporteurs. Ninety-seven peo- ple, including 21 fishermen, from five countries on both sides of the Atlantic attended the conference. The meeting was held at the Sheraton Harborside Hotel, Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The symposium was financially supported by NOAA Fisheries, Mas- sachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, the Northeast Consortium, and New Hampshire and Rhode Island Sea Grant College programs. Haddock is an important species for fishermen on both sides of the North Atlantic. Peak harvest levels in the mid- to late- 1960s reached almost 1 million metric tons. The resource has since declined in abundance due to increased fishing capacity in the 1970s and 1980s and our inability to predict stock abundance and to manage the resource. While periodic episodes of high recruit- ment have occurred at irregular intervals, we have seen a general recovery since the turn of the century. In fact, the 2003-year class of the Georges Bank haddock stock is believed to be the strongest on record. Even though the species has been the subject of sci- entific investigation for more than a century, many gaps in our knowledge persist. One of the more challenging aspects is to under- stand fish movement and behavior in their natural environment. The second is to accurately predict their abundance and devise strategies to efficiently manage the species while allowing for sus- tainable harvesting. The third is the ability to harvest the species without catching non-target species. The symposium dealt with all of these identified aspects of haddock ecology to develop a bet- ter understanding of the species and to further their sustainable utilization. Specifically, the meeting covered the biology, behav- ior, fisheries, management, fishing gears targeting haddock, fishing gears which reduce non-target catch of haddock, selectivity, con- servation, and harvesting strategies. In addition to the three invited keynote speakers, the committee received 34 abstracts, allocating 22 for oral presentation and 12 for poster presentation. Mr. Bob O’Boyle of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans of Canada presented a keynote speech on the “Life and times of had- dock in the North Atlantic”. Mr. O’Boyle reviewed haddock stocks and haddock fisheries on both sides of the North Atlantic during the last century as well as provided projections for the fisheries in the near and medium future. Capt. Bill Lee, a fisherman from Rockport, Massachusetts, gave a banquet keynote address on fishermen’s involvement in fisheries research. By means of underwater video footage he made while involved in cooperative research, he vividly illustrated the knowledge, experience and capability of the fishing industry in enhancing fishing gear research for bycatch reduction. Dr. Clem Wardle, a world-renowned fisheries scientist and fish behaviorist who retired from the Marine Laboratory in Aberdeen, Scotland 8 years ago, gave an illuminating keynote speech review- ing “Half a century of research on fish behavior near fishing gears”. Dr. Wardle showed some of the earliest underwater films and photographs by Lowestoft and Aberdeen scientists, collected using the best technology available at the time. He stressed the importance of understanding fish behavior for improving fishing gear and stock assessment. Through his personal experiences, Dr. Wardle illustrated several major breakthroughs in underwater observations that furthered our understanding of fish behavior near fishing gears. The information provided by symposium presenters has con- tributed to filling the knowledge gaps described above. In particular, key concepts were identified including: recognizing the persistence of high recruitment variability across the North Atlantic; innovations and evolution of management strategies and appropriate control of fishing effort; the use of advanced technol- ogy including acoustics to understand fish behavior; and special emphasis on the development of sustainable harvesting practices through innovative gear design and fishing practice. This special issue contains 10 papers. Two papers describe specific haddock fisheries (Brodziak et al. and Newton et al.), one from each side of the Atlantic. One paper evaluates management strategies (nee- dle). Two papers describe harvesting strategies to improve yield either through seasonal adjustment of harvesting (Ferro et al.) or by optimization of the hauling process (Larsen and Rindahl). One 0165-7836/$ – see front matter © 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.fishres.2008.09.001