Living in the Baltic Sea

Age
6-7 years old
Record size & age
100 cm / 7 kg and 50 years old
Habitat
They live in coastal shallow waters with sandy bottoms where they hide by digging themselves into the sand. Place are stationary during the day and active at night. In the fall and winter they travel to depths of 250 meters.
Food
Worms, crustaceans, small fish and mussels

Spawning
Age: 3-7 years old
Season: December - February
Number of eggs: 500 000 for an average size female.

The Plaice can travel up to 30 km in 14 days and their spawning migrations can be long. Each female releases eggs in batches every 3 to 5 days for approximately one month. The eggs hatch after about 2 weeks and drift passively with plankton. After about 8 to 10 weeks the larvae goes through a metamorphosis. During this process one eye move over to the other side, the body flattens and they place themselves with the blind side down against the bottom. This transformation can take up to 10 days. The juveniles will stay in shallow habitats for up to 7 months before migrating to deeper waters.

Human impact and Status
It is a commercially important and a very popular food fish. The stock of Plaice has decreased remarkably since the 1980’s, due to changes in the environmental conditions. It is now considered outside safe biological limits. The species is growing slower and rarely grow older than 6 years old. Landings for all stocks are at or near historical lows. The Plaice is also bread in aqua cultures and used as an aquarium fish. CLOSE