Catch Dynamics in an Intertidal Fishery of Sessile Crustaceans: What Can Be Learned From the Analysis of a Single Fishing Season?

ABSTRACT The fishery in the Western Asturian region (northern Spain) for Pollicipes pollicipes (commonly known as gooseneck, goose, or stalked barnacles) is divided into eight contiguous coastal stripes, each comanaged independently under Territorial Use Rights for Fishers (TURF). The stocks remained unassessed, and a few TURFs had already been closed in the past due to signs of stock decline. We built a database of weekly catch, effort, and weight data using fish auction records and biological sampling to apply intra‐annual generalized depletion models to a single fishing season (2021/2022). The models identified two positive pulses: one in early autumn and another during the Christmas period, related to the scheduled annual reopening of closed fishing grounds. All TURF fisheries had a proportional effort response and were hyper stable with respect to barnacle abundance. Our work shows that fisheries‐dependent, catch, effort, and weight data from just one season can provide important insights into population dynamics and stock status.