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FISH GUIDE · Sea

Ling: identification, habitat and fishing guide

Molva molva

Common ling is an elongated fish of rocky bottoms. Irish sources confirm boat angling for it, but this biological sheet does not recommend deep-water capture without a local protocol for landing and managing catches.

Catalogue names : Julienne, Lingue. Forms and names may vary between habitats.

Editorial review : · This species guide is not permission to fish. Read the precautions below and check the current rules for your location before targeting a species. Some species or populations are protected.

Geographical distribution

Found from northern Norway to northern Morocco. DORIS describes more occasional presence south of Greenland and near Newfoundland, and exceptional occurrence in the northwestern Mediterranean.

  • Documented presence : Northeast Atlantic
  • Documented presence : Northwest Atlantic
  • Documented presence : Northwestern Mediterranean

Documented areas, not an exhaustive list. Presence in a region does not imply presence in every water body or permission to fish.

Distribution sources

Identification

Molva molva has a very elongated body, two dorsal fins, a projecting upper jaw and a chin barbel longer than the eye diameter. A dark spot often marks the first dorsal fin; compare several features with blue ling.

Habitat

North Atlantic, mainly in the east; rocky bottoms of the continental shelf and its edge. Offshore reefs and wrecks are cited by Inland Fisheries Ireland, without making them accessible fishing positions for every boat.

Diet

Fish, crustaceans, cephalopods and echinoderms. This diet alone does not validate a rig or bait.

Behaviour

It may remain motionless in holes and crevices. Young fish inhabit shallower water than adults, so a coastal encounter does not describe the entire population.

Indicative biological size

106 cm common total length according to FishBase. This biological reference is neither a legal size limit nor a prediction of local catches.

Fishing context and precautions

The IFI Kilmore Quay brochure describes a bottom rig for large ling, with a short snood below a boom, baited with whole mackerel or a mackerel flapper, and also a paternoster dressed with fish or squid. This evidence concerns common ling in its Irish context; it no longer rests solely on juxtaposing a general rig and a species list.

The proposed adaptation is to have an experienced person assess the site and catch management, prepare support and unhooking, then lower the bait near the seabed using a weight compatible with the current and rod. Watch the line and retrieve under control. Neither the depth nor the brochure’s large hooks become universal settings. Without a local protocol for landing and managing a deep-water catch, do not plan this targeting; no puncture procedure or automatic release is advised. Ferter and colleagues distinguish ling from cod in their response to decompression gases: their cod survival result validates no release protocol for Molva molva.

A distinctive feature

Its eggs are pelagic: they develop in open water.

Sources and review

Each reference includes its access date. Overall editorial review: . Local conditions and regulations may change.

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