The blue ling is a Japanese favourite.

It specializes in seafood - particularly such fish as porbeagle, blue ling and starry ray.

Quotas for forkbeards and blue ling were unchanged.

Various fish have been observed, including blue ling, roundnose grenadier, and the orange roughy.

The blue ling (Molva dypterygia) is a member of the cod family from the North Atlantic.

We had seabird pate, followed by blue ling and Icelandic lamb with dates and red-wine sauce.

Molva dypterygia (blue ling)

Blue ling (Icelandic Fisheries)

Blue ling feed on fish (flatfishes, gobies, rocklings) and crustaceans and benthic invertebrates.

These fragile habitats are home to deep-sea species such as blue ling, grenadier, orange roughy and black scabbardfish which grow very slowly and mature late.

More recently, however, an incredible range of fish life has been identified, including blue ling, roundnose grenadier, black scabbardfish, and the most ruthlessly exploited orange roughy.

The political agreement foresees that the biggest total allowable catches (TACs) reductions for 2007 and 2008 concern deep-sea sharks, blue ling and orange roughy.

This year, however, its proposals call for a fishing ban for two species of deep-sea shark, spurdog and porbeagle, as well as the creation of protection zones for blue ling in west Scotland.

"These are mixed fisheries where the situation for most stocks is uncertain, given the scant information available, and where several of the species, such as sharks, orange roughy and blue ling, are not fished directly.

The reductions for blue ling, and also for tusk, will indeed result in higher discard rates for these species when taken as by-catches, since these species live closer to the surface than others covered in the proposal.

Other deep creatures now being harvested or targeted as seafood include rattails, skates, squid, red crabs, orange roughy, black oreos, smooth oreos, hoki, blue ling, southern blue whiting, sablefish, black scabbard fish and spiny dogfish.

Little-known species such as orange roughy, grenadier, black scabbard and blue ling are all already titillating French palates, after the decision of a Breton company, Jego-Query, to form a Scottish subsidiary, Brescot, and base eight supertrawlers at Lochinver in Sutherland.

The blue ling (Molva dypterygia) is a member of the cod family from the North Atlantic.

Blue ling (Molva dypterygia)