Porcupine Bank Nephrops Grounds (FU16) 2019 UWTV Survey Report and catch scenarios for 2020

This report provides the results of the seventh 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. In total 65 UWTV stations were successfully completed in a randomised 6 nautical mile isometric grid covering the full spatial extent of the stock. The mean burrow density observed in 2019, adjusted for edge effect, was 0.14 burrows/m². The final krigged abundance estimate was 1010 million burrows with a relative standard error of 5% and an estimated stock area of 7,130 km2. The 2019 abundance estimate was 9.5% lower than in 2018. Using the 2019 estimate of abundance and updated stock data implies catches between 2127 and 2637 tonnes in 2020 that correspond to the F ranges in the EU multi annual plan for Western Waters (assuming that all catch is landed). Four species of sea-pen; Virgularia mirabilis, Funiculina quadrangularis, Pennatula phosphorea and the deepwater sea-pen Kophobelemnon stelliferum were observed during the survey. Trawl marks were also observed on 31% of the stations surveyed.

URI

http://hdl.handle.net/10793/1431

Citation

Aristegui, M., O’Brien, S., Tully, D., Galligan, S., McCorriston, P., Bentley, K. and Lordan, C. (2019). Porcupine Bank Nephrops Grounds (FU16) 2019 UWTV Survey Report and catch scenarios for 2020. Marine Institute UWTV Survey report.