Stock Annex: Anglerfish (Lophius budegassa, Lophius piscatorius) in subareas 1 and 2 (Northeast Arctic)

From stock definition: Anglerfish occur in a wide range of depths, from quite shallow inshore waters down to at least 1000 m. Little is known about when and where anglerfish spawn in northern European waters and consequently stock structure is unclear. This lack of knowledge is due to the unusual spawning habits of anglerfish. The eggs and larvae are pelagic, but whereas most marine fish produce individual free-floating eggs, anglerfish eggs are spawned in a large, buoyant, gelatinous ribbon which may contain more than a million eggs. Due to this strange behaviour, anglerfish eggs and larvae are rarely caught in conventional surveys.