The state of exploitation of the Norway lobster stock, <i>Nephrops norvegicus</i>, in the Central North Sea

The state of exploitation of the Norway lobster stock, Nephrops norveqicus, in the Botney Gut-Silver Pit area (central North Sea) was assessed by analyzing the long-term trends in the average carapace length of the Nephrops landed by Belgian trawlers. These investigations showed that the Nephrops stock in the central North Sea is not overexploited. Apparently, however, the discarding practice on the Nephrops trawlers has slightly change over the years. Especially in 1982 and 1983 this resulted in a short-term but distinct decrease of the average size of the Nephrops in the smallest market class