CV16022 Aran/Porcupine Nephrops Under Water TV (UWTV) Survey 2016

Annual Nephrops Galway Bay (Aran) and Porcupine Underwater television (UWTV) Survey undertaken by Marine Institute. This survey took place in June 2016 on board the R.V. Celtic Voyager. Nephrops is a genus of lobsters comprising a single extant species Nephrops norvegicus (the Norway lobster or Dublin Bay prawn). It is common around the Irish coast occurring in geographically distinct sandy/muddy areas where the sediment is suitable for them to construct their burrows. The Nephrops fishery is extremely valuable. Underwater television surveys and assessment methodologies have been developed to provide a fishery independent estimate of stock size, exploitation status and catch advice. This was a multi-disciplinary survey collecting UWTV, fishing, Conductivity, Temperature and Depth (CTD) and other ecosystem data. 34 UWTV stations were successfully completed on the Aran Grounds, 7 on Galway Bay, 4 on Slyne Head patches and 65 on the Porcupine Bank Nephrops grounds. 1.To obtain 2016 quality assured estimates of Nephrops burrow densities from a randomised isometric grid of UWTV stations at 6 nautical mile spacing over the known spatial a bathymetric distribution of the Porcupine Nephrops stock. 2. To obtain 2016 quality assured estimates of Nephrops burrow densities from a randomised isometric grid of UWTV stations at 4 nautical mile spacing on the “Aran” Nephrops ground. 3.To carry out UWTV indicator stations on the Galway Bay and on the Slyne Head Nephrops ground. 4.To collect ancillary information from the UWTV footage collected at each station such as the occurrence of sea-pens, other macro benthos and fish species and trawl marks on the sea bed. 5.To collect oceanographic data using a sledge mounted CTD. 6.To sample Nephrops and macro benthos using a 4 m beam trawl deployed at stations on the Aran Grounds