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Since 1980 there has been a sudden recovery of recruitment to the central and southern North Sea herring stocks (Bank and Downs, respectively). In contrast, recruitment to the northern North Sea has continued at a low level and spawning stock biomass has even declined since 1979. These events underline the independence of the substocks in the North Sea, each of which has reacted differently to the cessation of the directed herring fishery in the North Sea since 1977. A precondition to the reopening of a herring fishery in the North Sea was that the severely depleted spawning stock biomass should have recovered to 800 000 t, the underlying assumption being that all components would respond in a similar manner and that a reopening of the whole North Sea would be possible. This has not happened and it may well be that management of the North Sea as a single unit is not a viable management procedure. The paper examines the historic changes in sizes of the Bank and Downs stocks, with particular emphasis on the most recent period. Evidence of density-dependent growth change is considered together with the recent data on fecundity and larval herring production. It is concluded that if the separate stocks are to be managed individually for maximum yield, then global North Sea regulations such as a total allowable catch and size regulation are inappropriate. Regulations must also take into consideration the seasonal distributions of the stocks. Indeed, this would lead, in particular, to more restrictive and specific regulation of the industrial fisheries.

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In conventional photoacoustic setups, the photoacoustic signal results from stimulation of a sample placed in the photoacoustic cell by the light modulated at a selected frequency. The signal can be amplified in a resonance photoacoustic cell. For this purpose, different types of acoustic resonators are used. Acoustic resonators are passive, frequency selective elements. An acoustic resonator used in a photoacoustic cell offers the opportunity to design a system working on a basis similar to that of a self-oscillating generator. The geometrical dimensions of an acoustic resonator, and the temperature, composition, and concentration of substances in the gas filling its interior determine the resonance frequency. In conventional photoacoustic setups, in which the resonance method is used, the variability of parameters requires continuous adjusting of or searching for the actual resonance frequency. Use of a fixed and arbitrary selected modulation frequency of the light beam can cause considerable errors in detection of substances in the sample or in determination of their concentration. Unlike conventional photoacoustic methods, the frequency of a photoacoustic signal in an improved photoacoustic generator is self-tuned to the actual resonant frequency of the photoacoustic cell. The improved photoacoustic generator operates without an external circuit that controls the optical modulator. The improved photoacoustic generator has been tested in different measurements of the concentration of methane in air. The automatic gain control signal can be used for determination of the absorption by the sample.T. Borowski