During 1998–2003 stomach contents of 47 marine mammals stranded on the coast of Normandy were analysed. The animals were first examined by a veterinary network and stomach contents were analysed at the University of Caen. The sample comprised: 26 common dolphins (Delphinus delphis), four bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), seven harbour porpoises (Phocoena phoecoena), five grey seals (Halichoerus grypus), two long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melas), one white beaked dolphin (Lagenorhynchus albirostris), one minke whale (Balaenoptera acurostrata) and one striped dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba). The identification of food items was done using hard parts (i.e. fish otoliths and cephalopod beaks). Diet indices were computed including prey frequency and percentage by number. Common dolphins ate mainly gadoid fish (Trisopterus sp.), gobies and mackerel (Scomber scombrus). Cephalopods occurred in small numbers in the diet and commercially important species (cuttlefish and common squid) were scarce.

Cephalopod stocks are of increasing economic importance. Cephalopod fisheries show marked inter-annual fluctuations unrelated to fishery landings and effort. Their population dynamics, particularly recruitment, are thought to be strongly susceptible to changes in environmental conditions. This arises in part from the short life cycle, resulting in poor buffering of the population against changing conditions. These characteristics make traditional approaches to stock assessment and fishery management inappropriate. GIS offers a tool to improve understanding of spatio-temporal trends in abundance and facilitate rational management. A cephalopod fishery geographical information system for Northeast Atlantic waters (CFGIS-NEA) was developed. The system covers the area from 28.0° W to 11.0° E, and 34.5° N to 65.5° N. It was designed for investigating cephalopod resource dynamics in relation to environmental variation. It is based on Unix Arc/Info, and PC ArcView, combined with the statistical software package S-PLUS and supported by a database in Microsoft Access. Environmental data (e.g. sea surface temperature and salinity, sea bottom temperature and salinity, and bathymetric data), cephalopod fishery, survey and biological data, from a variety of sources, were integrated in the GIS as coverages, grids, shapefiles, and tables. Special functions were developed for data integration, data conversion, query, visualisation, analysis and management. User-friendly interfaces were developed allowing relatively inexperienced users to operate the system. The spatial and temporal distribution patterns of cephalopod abundance by species, the spatial and temporal relationships between cephalopod abundance and environmental factors, and the spatial and temporal patterns of cephalopod fishing activity were analysed using a combination of visual (qualitative) and quantitative methods. Predictive empirical models, such as GAMs (generalized additive models), were developed for modelling cephalopod abundance using environmental variables.

The cuttlefish Sepia officinalis is an important fishery resource in the English Channel, and one of the largest stocks of cephalopods in the Northeast Atlantic. Cuttlefish live for approximately 2 years and catches consequently depend largely on recruitment. Early life stages were analysed for differences in juvenile growth and age-at-recruitment to the commercial fisheries. Recruits were sampled monthly between October 2000 and June 2003, and pre-recruits from the coastal waters of the UK and France in the summers of 2000 and 2002. Age (days) was determined from statoliths. Although most cuttlefish were recruited during autumn, there was some recruitment throughout the year. Age-at-recruitment varied significantly between season and cohort, but was consistently in the range 3–4 months, so although there was some hatching throughout the year, most cuttlefish hatched during summer. Fitted growth models indicated that the growth rates of pre-recruits (7–59 mm mantle length) were significantly higher in 2002 than in 2000. Spatial differences in growth rate were apparent in 2000, suggesting that pre-recruit growth may depend on local environmental conditions. Pre-recruits and recruits combined (7–106 mm mantle length) also showed significant variation in growth between hatching months and years. Hypotheses explaining the observed patterns of growth and recruitment are presented.

Recruitment variability is commonly attributed to variation in spawning stock size and environmental variability. Here, the abundance of Loligo forbesi in the English Channel was estimated using cohort analysis. Environmental and adult biomass effects on recruitment variation were then tested. A stochastic length-age key was included in the cohort analysis, considering inter-individual variability in age at length. The number of recruits and parental stock biomass per monthly age-class were computed for a series of 13 fishing seasons (1989-2002). Recruitment was examined in relation to adult biomass and environmental parameters (sea surface temperature, SST, and the North Atlantic Oscillation, NAO) at the time of hatching. Recruits were approximately 7 months old and recruitment for each annual cohort occurred between April and August. Squid bigger than the length at maturity were assumed to be spawners. In the spawning season (September December), spawners were 11–13 months old. Parametric stock-recruitment curves (Ricker, Beverton and Holt, Shepherd, etc.) fitted poorly, while SST was negatively correlated with recruitment in a simple linear model. Recruitment was unrelated to NAO. A model combining SST and adult biomass showed that recruitment is probably density-dependent when stock size is high, and negatively correlated with temperature. The study did not indicate obvious recruitment overfishing in the English Channel L. forbesi population. La variabilité du recrutement est généralement attribuée à la taille du stock de géniteurs et à l'environnement. Dans cette étude, les estimations de stock du calmar Loligo forbesi en Manche sont mises à jour et affinées. Cette nouvelle série d'estimation est utilisée pour tester l'influence du niveau de géniteurs et celle des conditions de milieu sur le recrutement. La modélisation des stocks est améliorée par l'utilisation d'une clé longueur-âge stochastique considérant ainsi la variabilité inter-individuelle de croissance. Le nombre de recrues et la biomasse des géniteurs sont estimés mensuellement, pour une série de 13 saisons de pêche (1989-2002). Pour chaque cohorte annuelle, l'abondance cumulée des recrues est étudiée en fonction de la biomasse de géniteurs de la cohorte précédente et des paramètres environnementaux (température de l'eau de surface de la mer, SST, et l'oscillation Nord Atlantique, NAO) observés lors de la période d'éclosion. Les recrues sont âgées de 7 mois et le recrutement annuel intervient entre avril et août. Pendant la période de reproduction (septembre-décembre), les animaux ayant atteint la taille de maturité sexuelle sont âgés de 11 à 13 mois. Les relations stock-recrutement (courbes de Ricker, Beverton et Holt, Shepherd, etc.) ne sont pas significatives. La température de l'eau de surface en automne est négativement corrélée avec le recrutement de l'année suivante alors que la relation NAO-recrutement n'apparaît pas significative. Un modèle combinant SST et biomasse de géniteurs montre que le recrutement est probablement « densité-dépendant » lorsque le stock de géniteurs est abondant, et est négativement corrélé avec la température. L'étude n'indique aucune surexploitation du recrutement de la population de L. forbesi en Manche.