Spotted Ray
Common Name: Spotted Ray
Scientific Name: *Raja montagui
(synonym: Dipturus montagui)
Description: The diamond-shaped spotted ray is one of the smallest skate species. It has a varied diet, eating crustaceans, worms and fish. The young often live in shallow areas near the coastline, known as nursery grounds, but adults are typically found further offshore.
OSPAR Regions where it occurs: II, III, IV, V
OSPAR Regions where under threat and/or in decline: II, III, IV, V
What is the latest status of the Spotted ray?
The status assessment describes the latest changes in distribution, abundance and range of the feature, as well as any changes in the threats and pressures impacting the feature. The status assessments are updated regularly and inform OSPAR’s consideration of the effectiveness of the measures and actions that have been adopted and implemented by Contracting Parties.
Why is this feature included on the OSPAR List? |  | |
What protective measures and actions has OSPAR committed to taking? |  |  |
What actions have been implemented by OSPAR? |  |
Key message
The ICES stock-size indicators for spotted ray show an increasing trend within some OSPAR regions where the species is assessed, with OSPAR Region II showing a more pronounced increase since 2009. For Regions III and IV, the indicative trend based on stock size is less clear, there are comparatively wide confidence limits around the estimates and the increases indicated are more recent (i.e. over the last decade or so). Like all elasmobranchs this species is vulnerable to fishing mortality.
For more information please visit our latest status assessment
Threats and Impacts
The main threat identified in the last assessment was “fisheries mortality (primarily bycatch in commercial fisheries)”. Habitat damage (e.g. due to mobile fishing gears, pollution, eutrophication) was also considered but not evaluated (OSPAR 2010).
A decrease in fishing effort is shown in the North-East Atlantic from the beginning of the 21st century (e.g. Gascuel et al. 2016; Couce et al. 2020, ICES 2020e). However bycatch remains a threat to the species.
For more information please visit our latest status assessment
Measures that address key pressures from human activities or conserve the species/habitat
For EU waters, fishing pressure on spotted ray is currently regulated through a Group-TAC which includes all skate and ray species except Raja undulata and those listed as prohibited. The Group-TAC was introduced in 1999 in the North Sea (Division 3.a and Subarea 4) and in 2009 in the eastern English Channel (Division 7.d) and other areas. Recent studies suggest variable at-vessel mortality and discard survival, depending on several factors (e.g. gear type, soaking time, fish size) (Ellis et al. 2018, Schram and Molenaar 2018, Serra-Pereira and Figueiredo 2019). It is possible that this bycaught small-bodied species may be less susceptible to fishing pressure than the large-bodied skates (e.g. Silva et al. 2012), though further studies on discard survival are required.
For more information please visit our latest status assessment
