Porcupine Bank Nephrops Grounds (FU16) 2023 UWTV Survey Report and catch scenarios for 2024

This report provides the results of the eleventh underwater television on the ‘Porcupine Bank Nephrops grounds’ ICES assessment area; Functional Unit 16. The survey was multi disciplinary in nature collecting UWTV and other ecosystem data. In total 71 UWTV stations were successfully completed (100% of the planned stations) in a randomised 6 nautical mile isometric grid covering the full spatial extent of the stock. The mean burrow density observed in 2023, adjusted for edge effect, was 0.27 burrows/m². The final krigged abundance estimate was 2002 million burrows with a CV of 3% and an estimated stock area of 7,130 km2 . The 2023 abundance estimate was 47% higher than in 2022. Using the 2023 estimate of abundance and updated stock data imply that catches in 2024 should be between 3677 and 4560 tonnes, according to the EU MAP and ICES MSY approach (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 20% of the stations surveyed.

URI

http://hdl.handle.net/10793/1875

Citation

Aristegui, M., Ryan, G., Fahy, J., Manning, L., McCann, N., Woodcock, K., Course, G., Meireles de Castro, R. and Murphy, N. (2023). Porcupine Bank Nephrops Grounds (FU16) 2023 UWTV Survey Report and catch scenarios for 2024. Marine Institute UWTV Survey report, Galway, Ireland.