Aran, Galway Bay and Slyne Head Nephrops Grounds (FU17) 2018 UWTV Survey Report and catch scenarios for 2019

This report provides the main results and findings of the seventeenth 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. In 2018 a total of 43 UWTV stations were successfully completed, 33 on the Aran Grounds, 5 on Galway Bay and 5 on Slyne Head patches. The mean burrow density observed in 2018, adjusted for edge effect, was medium at 0.40 burrows/m². The final krigged burrow abundance estimate for the Aran Grounds was 488 million burrows with a CV (relative standard error) of 3%. The final abundance estimate for Galway Bay and Slyne Head was 33 million in both grounds with CVs of 17% and 12% respectively. The total abundance estimates have fluctuated considerably over the time series. The 2018 combined abundance estimate was a 37% increase compared to in 2017 and at 554 million burrows and is above the MSY Btrigger reference point (540 million burrows). Using the 2018 abundance estimate and updated stock data implies catch of 1002 tonnes and landings of 916 tonnes in 2019 when the MSY approach is applied (assuming that discard rates and fishery selection patterns do not change from the average of 2015–2017). Virgularia mirabilis was the only sea-pen species observed on the UWTV footage. Trawl marks were present at 9% of the Aran stations surveyed.

URI

http://hdl.handle.net/10793/1374

Citation

Doyle, J., O’Brien, S., Ryan, G., Galligan, S., Hernon, P., Aristegui, M. and Vacherot, J.P. 2018. Aran, Galway Bay and Slyne Head Nephrops Grounds (FU17) 2018 UWTV Survey Report and catch scenarios for 2019. Marine Institute UWTV Survey report.