European plaice European plaice The European plaice ("Pleuronectes platessa") is a commercially important flatfish. The geographical range of the European plaice is off all coasts from the Barents Sea to the Mediterranean, also in the Northeast Atlantic and off Greenland. In some locales such as the Irish Sea this species is considered fully exploited by commercial fishing. It is a common flatfish, occurring on the sandy and muddy bottoms of the European shelf, usually at depths between 10 and 50 m, where they tend to burrow in sediment during day time and remain stationary for long periods. They can be found at
RV Platessa RV "Platessa" was handed back to the Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom) after 20 years in service, she was replaced by the "RV Corella". In 1968 the RV "Platessa" was sold to private owners (H.J. Lamprell Ltd) and after sinking in Hamilton Dock, Lowestoft in 1975 she was eventually hulked at Lake Lothing where her remains lay for many years. She was recorded as still extant in Lake Lothing on August 19th 2015, and from examination of Google Earth images it seems that she continues to exist as one of two wooden wrecks (the other being the MFV Yellowtail) in