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Topic: Plaice

European plaice are distributed in the eastern Atlantic from the Barents Sea in the north and south to the northwest coast of Africa.

There are a number of different of stocks, but the North Sea stock is by far the largest. Adults migrate each year between spawning areas in central and southern parts of the North Sea and undertake feeding migrations to areas further north.

There is evidence that at least parts of this migration take place in pelagic waters. Plaice occur at depths down to 200 m. Younger individuals are concentrated in shallow coastal waters, especially in the eastern portion.