Monkfish

Scientific: Lophius piscatorius. English: Monk, monkfish, angler, anglerfish. Icelandic: Skötuselur. For more languages see the Marine Animal Dictionary.

Biology and distribution

The monkfish has a large head and a very large mouth with sharp teeth. Many people claim that it is among the ugliest fish in the ocean. However, despite its looks it is one of the most valuable fish in the sea per weight. As the sharp teeth imply, the monk is a predatory fish, mainly eating other fishes. It lies on the bottom hiding from its prey, which, when close enough, is swiftly engulfed whole by the enormous mouth.

The monkfish occurs at a very wide depth range, from shallow waters down to a depth of 1,800 m. It is usually associated with the bottom, but also occurs close to the surface where it has been seen eating seabirds.

It spawns in deep waters south of Iceland. The eggs and larvae then drift to shallower waters, settling on the bottom when 5 to 9 cm long. It grows to 15 to 20 cm in length the first year. The monk grows rapidly during its first years of life and reaches sexual maturity at the age of 4 to 6 and 40 to 80 cm in length, males younger and smaller. The largest monkfish caught in Icelandic waters was 155 cm long and 35 kg gutted.

Formerly the monk could only be found in the warmer waters south of Iceland. Due to a recent warming trend in Icelandic waters, however, the distribution has expanded to the waters west of Iceland. It even occurs now off the north coast. It occurs all along the coast off Europe, from Murmansk down to the Mediterranean Sea, and can even be found down the coast of Africa to the Bay of Guinea. Several related species of the genus Lophius exist along the entire Atlantic Ocean.

Catch and fishing methods

Monkfish catches were rather stable at around 500 tonnes per year from 1965 until 1997. These were mostly bycatch in other fisheries, especially lobster fisheries. Since that time, catches have increased rapidly to the current level of 2,500 tonnes. This is because the stock is growing and therefore bycatch is higher and direct fisheries have also evolved using special gillnets. Most of the direct fisheries are in the autumn until mid winter, when the bulk of the stock migrates to deeper waters to spawn. A few are left to sustain bycatch in other fisheries.

Stock status (from the Marine Research institute)

In 2009, about 4.000 t of anglerfish (Lophius pisca-torius) were landed from Icelandic waters which is the highest recorded catch. Results from surveys indicates strong fishable stock due to very good recruitment during the period 1998–2007. Survey indices indicate, however, poor recruitment for year classes 2008 and 2009. With current fishing effort and the reduced recruitment in the last few years the fishable stock will decline rapidly in the coming years. The MRI recommends 2.500 t as the TAC for the quota year 2010/2011.

Processing and markets

Most of the monkfish fished in Icelandic waters is exported unprocessed in containers or by air to the United Kingdom. From there it is processed and often exported again to Spain or France where it is considered a luxury product.

References and further information

References: (Jónsson & Pálsson, 2006), (Thangstad et al., 2006).

For full citation and further information on the main species in general see this page

Hreiðar Þór Valtýsson, University of Akureyri