plaice

File:World catch European plaice 1950–2007.png: Species Fact Sheets: [http://www.fao.org/fishery/species/3354/en Pleuronectes platessa], Retrieved 23 November 2009.]]

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|image1=[http://www.seaaroundus.org/gis/default.aspx?dLayer=601342&Xmin=-55.78&Ymin=29.5&Xmax=49.28&Ymax=73.5&dGroup=1&dTaxon=Pleuronectes%20platessus%20%28European%20plaice%29 Distribution map for European plaice] (The Sea Around Us)

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The European plaice (Pleuronectes platessa) is a right-eyed flounder belonging to the family Pleuronectidae. It is a commercially important flatfish that lives on the sandy bottoms of the European shelf. It ranges geographically from the Barents Sea to the Mediterranean. European plaice are characterised by their smooth brown skin, with distinctive red spots and a bony ridge behind the eyes. They feed on polychaetes, crustaceans and bivalves and can be found at depths of up to 200 metres. At night they move into shallow waters to feed and during the day they bury themselves in the sand. Their maximum recorded length is {{cvt|100|cm}} and maximum reported age 50 years.{{FishBase_species|genus=Pleuronectes|species=platessa|year=2009|month=November}}

Together with sole, European plaice form a group of flatfish that are the most important flatfish in Europe.

[http://www.panda.org/how_you_can_help/greenliving/out_shopping/seafood/fish_dishes/plaice_fillet/european_plaice_and_sole/ European plaice and sole]{{dead link|date=March 2018 |bot= InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} World Wide Fund for Nature. Retrieved 22 November 2009. European plaice have been fished from the North Sea for hundreds of years. They are usually fished from beam trawlers, otter trawlers or seiners. In the Celtic Sea the plaice species is considered overfished.{{cite encyclopedia | first = C. Michael | last= Hogan| year = 2011 | url= http://www.eoearth.org/article/Celtic_Sea?topic=49523 | title = Celtic Sea | editor-first1= P. | editor-last1= Saundry | editor-first2=C. | editor-last2= Cleveland| encyclopedia = Encyclopedia of Earth| publisher = National Council for Science and the Environment| place= Washington, DC| accessdate =}}

File:Catch comparison European plaice 2007.svg, Retrieved 23 November 2009]]

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File:World catch American plaice 1950–2007 scaled.png: Species Fact Sheets: [http://www.fao.org/fishery/species/3359/en Hippoglossoides platessoides], Retrieved 23 November 2009.]]

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|image1=[http://www.seaaroundus.org/gis/default.aspx?dLayer=604239&Xmin=-77.55&Ymin=40.52&Xmax=66.55&Ymax=72.97&dGroup=1&dTaxon=Hippoglossoides%20platessoides%20%28American%20plaice%29 Distribution map for American plaice] (The Sea Around Us)

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Like the European plaice, the American plaice is a right eyed flatfish belonging to the family Pleuronectidae. American plaice are an Atlantic species,{{cite encyclopedia | title = Plaice| encyclopedia= Grolier Encyclopedia of Knowledge |volume= 15| year = 1991| publisher = Grolier Inc.| isbn =0-7172-5300-7}} which range from southern Labrador to Rhode Island. They are also found in Europe, where they are called rough dab or long rough dab. They spawn in the Gulf of Maine, with peak activity in April and May. They are brown or reddish, and are generally smaller than European plaice, with a rougher skin and larger scales. Their maximum recorded length is {{cvt|82.6|cm}}, and maximum reported age 30 years. They are usually found between depths of {{cvt|90|and|250|m}} on sandy bottoms with temperatures between {{convert |-0.5|and|2.5|C}}. They feed on small fishes and invertebrates.{{cite web |url= http://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/fbi/age-man/ampl/ampl.htm |title=Species Information: American plaice | website = nefsc.noaa.gov |access-date=2007-01-18 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070311050106/http://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/fbi/age-man/ampl/ampl.htm |archive-date= 2007-03-11| last= Dery| first= L. M. | publisher = Fishery Biology Program, Woods Hole Massachusetts Laboratory, National Marine Fisheries Service, Northeast Fisheries Science Center}}{{FishBase_species|genus=Hippoglossoides|species=platessoides|year=2009|month=November}}

The species is considered by the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization to be overfished, with no signs of recovery.{{cite web| url= http://www.nafo.int/fisheries/frames/fish-pla.html |title=Plaice Fishery Recent Assessment | year= 2005–2006| access-date= 2007-01-19 |url-status= dead | website = nafo.int |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070607020853/http://www.nafo.int/fisheries/frames/fish-pla.html |archive-date= 2007-06-07 |publisher= Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization}} Though they are also currently endangered in Canada due to overfishing,Bergeron, et al. 1997. Canadian Journal of Zoology 75: 1364–1371. the Canadian government believes the species is abundant. Flatfish, as a group, are second-most caught (by weight) only to cod in Canada, with American plaice accounting for 50 percent of all flatfish caught.{{cite web| url= http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/zone/underwater_sous-marin/plaice/plaice-plie_e.htm |work= Underwater World | title= American Plaice |access-date=2007-01-19 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070204122658/http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/zone/underwater_sous-marin/plaice/plaice-plie_e.htm |archive-date=2007-02-04 | via= dfo-mpo.gc.ca| publisher= Fisheries and Oceans Canada}}

American plaice may be an intermediate host for the nematode parasite Otostrongylus circumlitis, which is a lungworm of seals, primarily affecting animals less than 1 year of age.

File:Catch comparison American plaice 2007.svg

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Alaska plaice can live for up to 30 years and grow to {{cvt|60|cm}} long, but most that are caught are only seven or eight years old and about {{cvt|30|cm}}.{{FishBase_species|genus=Pleuronectes|species=quadrituberculatus|year=2009|month=November}}

Most commercial fisheries do not target Alaska plaice, but many are caught as bycatch by commercial trawlers trying to catch other bottom fish. Thus, many Alaska plaice get caught anyway — so much so that, for example, the 2005 total allowable catch in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (BSAI) was reached before the end of May of that year.{{citation needed|date=January 2016}}

The scale-eye plaice is a flatfish of the family Pleuronectidae. It is a demersal fish that lives at depths of {{cvt|18|to|900|m|ft|sigfig=2}}. It can reach {{cvt|46|cm|in}} in length and can weigh up to {{cvt|1.2|kg|lb}}. Its native habitat is the northern Pacific, primarily from the Sea of Okhotsk to Japan and Korea, though it is also found in the Bering Sea.{{FishBase_species|genus=Acanthopsetta|species=nadeshnyi|year=2009|month=November}}

Plaice, along with the other major demersal fish in the North Sea such as cod, monkfish and sole, is listed by the ICES as "outside safe biological limits." Moreover, they are growing less quickly now and are rarely older than six years, whereas they can reach forty.Clover, Charles. 2004. The End of the Line: How overfishing is changing the world and what we eat. Ebury Press, London. {{ISBN|0-09-189780-7}} The World Wide Fund for Nature says that in 2006 "of the eight plaice stocks recognised by ICES, only one is considered to be harvested sustainably while three are overexploited. Data is insufficient to assess the remaining stocks; however, landings for all stocks are at or near historical lows."[http://wwf.panda.org/how_you_can_help/live_green/out_shopping/seafood/fish_dishes/plaice_fillet/european_plaice_and_sole/ "European plaice and sole"]

In North German and Danish cuisine, plaice is one of the most commonly eaten fish. Filleted, battered, and pan-fried plaice is popular hot or cold as an open sandwich topping together with remoulade sauce and lemon slices. Battered plaice is often served hot with french fries and remoulade sauce as a main dish; this fish and chips variant is popular{{cite web | url= http://www.seafish.org/plate/fishandchips.asp | website=Seafish.org | title= Fish & chips| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20081011050658/http://www.seafish.org/plate/fishandchips.asp |archivedate=2008-10-11 }} and is commonly available on children's menus in Danish restaurants. Breaded frozen plaice, ready to be baked or fried at home, are readily available in supermarkets. Fresh plaice is also oven-baked.

"The flesh of plaice is white, tender and subtle-flavoured."{{cite web | url= http://www.msc.org/cook-eat-enjoy/fish-to-eat/plaice | title= Plaice| website = MSC.org | publisher= Marine Stewardship Council| accessdate = 22 November 2009}}

Smoked plaice is one of the traditional summer time delicacies of Hiiumaa island.{{cn|date=May 2024}}

{{reflist|2}}

• {{aut|Rijnsdorp, A.D.}} (1991) Changes in fecundity of female North Sea plaice (Pleuronectes platessa) between three periods since 1900. ICES Journal of Marine Science; 48: 253–280
• {{aut|Wimpenny, R.S.}} (1953) The plaice being the buckland lectures. Publisher Edward Arnold
• {{aut|Gibson, R.N.}} (2004) Flatfishes: Biology and Exploitation. Blackwell Publishing
• Clover, Charles. 2004. The End of the Line: How overfishing is changing the world and what we eat. Ebury Press, London. {{ISBN|0-09-189780-7}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070311035145/http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3089/is_4_60/ai_60591421 1998 Marine Fisheries Review article]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20090508111958/https://www.fakr.noaa.gov/index/infobulletins/bulletin.asp?BulletinID=1088 Bulletin announcing reaching the total allowable catch of Alaska plaice for 2005] (National Marine Fisheries Service)

• Guide to Responsible Sourcing of Plaice - produced by Seafish https://web.archive.org/web/20071008001434/http://www.seafish.org/upload/file/fisheries_management/Plaice%20Factsheet2%20%20final.pdf
• [http://www.msc.org/track-a-fishery/certified/north-east-atlantic/Ekofish-Group-North-Sea-twin-rigged-otter-trawl-plaice/meet-the-fishers Meet the Ekofish otter trawl plaice fishers] [https://web.archive.org/web/20060310232641/http://www.cefas.co.uk/fishinfo/fish/Plaice.htm Information about plaice] Marine Stewardship Council.

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Category:Pleuronectes

Category:Commercial fish

Category:Fish common names