Atlas of Commercial Fisheries around Ireland

The Atlas of Commercial Fisheries around Ireland is the second of its kind published by the Marine Institute. It shows the distribution of fishing activities in Irish waters by gear and country. Fishing grounds as well as the distribution of landings for all the main commercial species is also shown at high resolution.This “Atlas of Commercial Fisheries Around Ireland” uses informatics, the science of processing data into information, to give useful new insights into fishing activities and fisheries resources. Fishing is one of the most significant ocean uses in the waters around Ireland with around 1000 vessels active on a daily basis. More than 8 million hours of fishing effort spent annually are mapped by gear and country. Landings statistics are summarised by port. Fishing activities and landings values and volumes within the Irish Exclusive Economic Zone are estimated for 2012. Landings of the key commercial species are mapped individually and by gear. This information is put into context by maps of effort and landings at a broader European scale and by the historical time series of landings that are provided for each species.European Union ERDF - INTEREG Atlantic Area Programm

CV11005

Use the URI link below to search the Marine Institute Data Discovery Catalogue for datasets relevant to this report.This report provides the main results and findings of the second underwater television survey of the various Nephrops grounds in Functional Unit 19. The survey was multi-disciplinary in nature collecting UWTV, CTD and other ecosystem data. In total 35 UWTV stations were successfully completed on the following Nephrops grounds: Bantry Bay, Galley, Cork Channels and Helvick. Raised abundance estimates for these grounds are provided for the first time based on improved knowledge of the boundaries of those areas

CV11005

Use the URI link below to search the Marine Institute Data Discovery Catalogue for datasets relevant to this report.This is the ninth in a time series of UWTV surveys in the western Irish Sea carried out jointly by the Marine Institute, Ireland and the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI), Northern Ireland. The 2011 survey was multi disciplinary in nature and this report details the final UWTV results of the 2011 survey and also documents other data collected during the survey

Sediment characteristics and local hydrodynamics and their influence on the population of Nephrops around Ireland

The Norway lobster, Nephrops norvegicus, is the second most valuable commercial spe-cies landed from Irish waters. The species is dependent on muddy seabed sediment in which burrows are constructed. Larvae are hatched from the seabed into the water column. The distribution of Nephrops depends in part to the presence of suitable sediment and also from larval supply modulated by existing local hydrodynamic regimes. The pelagic stage of the life-cycle is governed by both physical and biological factors including temperature, water speed and larval maturation rate. This study encompasses three aims, 1: to synthesise available sediment data and examine the spatial extent of potential Nephrops habitat in waters around Ireland, 2: investigate local hydrodynamic conditions on Nephrops fishing grounds which are likely to be encountered by planktonic larvae following hatching and 3: to employ a particle tracking model to study the potential dispersal fields of Nephrops larvae from individual fishing grounds and assess stock connectivity. The study finds that larval distribution between fishing grounds is dependent on variable seasonal conditions, the geographical size of an area and its proximity to other grounds. Fishing grounds in the Irish Sea and Porcupine Bank are isolated from other areas, whereas grounds in the Celtic Sea exhibit a high degree of connectivity and should be considered as a meta-population. Successful annual recruitment to the adult population of this species is largely dependent on favourable environmental conditions which enable the re-seeding of the same or adjacent grounds.Marine Institute & INFOMAR

CV12012

Use the URI link below to search the Marine Institute Data Discovery Catalogue for datasets relevant to this report.This report provides the main results and findings of the eleventh annual underwater television on the Aran, Galway Bay and Slyne head Nephrops grounds, ICES assessment area; Functional Unit 17. The survey was multi-disciplinary in nature collecting UWTV, fishing, CTD and other ecosystem data. The sampling intensity was reduced this year from around 75 stations in the past to 31 on the Aran grounds. A randomised isometric grid design was employed with UWTV stations at 3.5nmi or 6.5km intervals. Previously a 2.25 nmi square grid was used. The kigged burrow abundance estimate declined by 34% relative to 2011 with a CV (or relative standard error) of 5 %. Abundance estimates have fluctuated considerably over the time series but the 2012 abundance is the lowest in the 11 year history of the survey. Four UWTV stations were carried out on the Galway Bay and 3 on the Slyne Head Nephrops grounds. Raised abundance estimates for Galway Bay and Slyne Head are provided based on improved knowledge of the boundaries of those areas. Nephrops accounted for 85% of the benthic catch by weight from 4 beam trawl tows. The observed length frequency and maturity of female Nephops caught was similar to previous years. Various further investigations needed before the next ICES benchmark are discussed

Defining métier for the Celtic Sea mixed fisheries: A multiannual international study of typology

There is growing international focus on ecosystem based fisheries management. Within the EU this has manifested in the provision of mixed fisheries advice, using the FCube model. The operational implementation and accuracy of this model relies on accurate identification of the technical interactions between fleets, gears and the resulting composition of species in the retained catch. These interactions are defined using units of fishing activity based on gear type and target species assemblage, but with no consideration for spatiotemporal heterogeneity. We assess the relevance of the fishing units used in relation to the spatial and temporal trends in retained catch within the Celtic Sea. To achieve this multivariate analysis (principal component and hierarchical clustering) were conducted to identify homogenous groupings of fishing activity using 5 years of international Celtic Sea retained catch data. The groupings identified demonstrate that a fairly simplistic structure of fishing activity units (country of provenance, fishing location, gear and target species) can effectively describe the complex mixed fisheries scenarios being executed within the Celtic Sea consistently across multiple years. This international and multiannual analysis improves our understanding of the mixed fisheries scenarios within the Celtic Sea and reveals a multifaceted spatial structure in the species assemblages landed, indicating the presence of several distinct mixed fisheries within the region appropriate for mixed fisheries analyses

CV12010

Use the URI link below to search the Marine Institute Data Discovery Catalogue for datasets relevant to this report.This report provides the results of the first underwater television on the ‘Porcupine Bank Nephrops grounds’ ICES assessment area; Functional Unit 16. The survey was multi-disciplinary in nature collecting UWTV, CTD and other ecosystem data. The UWTV results and a scientific basis for survey based catch advice in 2013 are presented. In total 47 UWTV stations were successfully completed. The mean burrow density was 0.19 burrows/m² (empirical 95% confidence intervals are from 0.17-0.21). The final krigged abundance estimate was 992 million burrows with a relative standard error of 5% and an estimated stock area of 7,100km2. This abundance estimate can be considered as a conservative estimate given that the spatial coverage of the southern part of the ground was not complete. A correction factor of 1.26 is proposed based on expert judgments of burrow size and potential detection and identification biases. A yield and spawner per recruit analysis was used to estimate a harvest rate of 5.0% for the combined sex F0.1 and other F reference points. This harvest rate is low compared to other FUs and can be considered very conservative. Applying this harvest rate to the abundance observed in the survey and using a mean weight in the landings of 45.0g implies landings in 2013 of 1,770 t. The results here could form the basis of the catch advice for 2013

CV11004

Use the URI link below to search the Marine Institute Data Discovery Catalogue for datasets relevant to this report.The prawn (Nephrops norvegicus) are common in the Celtic Sea occurring in geographically distinct sandy/muddy areas were the sediment is suitable for them to construct their burrows. The Celtic Sea area (Functional Units 19-22) supports a large multi-national targeted Nephrops fishery mainly using otter trawls and yielding landings in the region of ~6,000 t annually over the last decade (ICES, 2011). Nephrops spend a great deal of time in their burrows and their emergence behaviour is influenced many factors; time of year, light intensity and tidal strength. Underwater television surveys and assessment methodologies have been developed to provide a fishery independent estimate of stock size, exploitation status and catch advice (ICES, 2009 & 2011).This is the sixth in a time series of UWTV surveys in the Celtic Sea carried out by the Marine Institute, Ireland. The 2011 survey was multi disciplinary in nature and this report details the final UWTV results of the 2011 survey and also documents other data collected during the survey