The Series of ICES Survey Protocols (SISP) is an online series of ecosystem survey manuals, covering the protocols and procedures used in ICES coordinated fisheries and ecosystem surveys.
SISP 5 WGMEGS Manual for the AEPM and DEPM estimation of fecundity in mackerel and horse mackerel describes how to collect samples from ovaries of mackerel and horse mackerel, how to prepare and analyse them. It includes excellent descriptions and pictures of the sampling and different development stages of oocytes (eggs) in the ovary, including atretic oocytes (oocytes which are resorbed by the female and will not be spawned). How to use image analyses for the staging of oocytes is also described. While directed at mackerel and horse mackerel surveys, the manual can also be used for fecundity and atresia sampling and analyses in any Annual (AEPM) or Daily (DEPM) egg production method.
SISP 6 Manual for the mackerel and horse mackerel egg surveys (MEGS): sampling at sea describes the planning of an Atlantic mackerel and horse mackerel egg survey and how sampling should be conducted at sea (which gears, speed, sampling through the water column, etc.).
Processing and analysing egg samples is explained with descriptions and pictures of the mackerel and horse mackerel eggs alongside species that can be confused with them. Different stages of egg development are described. Finally, WKMEGS present the method that converts the numbers of eggs in the collected samples to an SSB estimate.
