This report provides the main results of the 2014 underwater television survey on the ‘Labadie, Jones and Cockburn Banks’ ICES assessment area; Functional Unit 20-21. Some exploratory UWTV stations were carried out in 2006 and 2012. In 2013 ~60% of the ground was surveyed. This was the first survey to achieve full coverage of the newly defined area. The 2014 survey was multi-disciplinary in nature collecting UWTV, CTD and other ecosystem data. A randomised isometric grid design was employed with 98 UWTV stations at 6.0 nmi intervals. The mean burrow density was 0.19 burrows/m2 compared with 0.16 burrows/m2 in 2013. The 2014 geostatistical abundance estimate was 2.1±0.1 billion a 26% increase on the extrapolated abundance for 2013. Highest densities were general observed towards the middle of the ground, but there were also high densities observed close to boundaries. Using the 2014 abundance and recent fisheries data it is possible to estimate harvest ratios consistent with various landings options. These can be used by ICES to provide catch options for 2015. The occurrence of sea-pens and trawl marks on the UWTV footage and processed CTD is also presented.

This report provides the main results of the 2015 underwater television survey on the ‘Labadie, Jones and Cockburn Banks’ ICES assessment area; Functional Unit 20-21. This was the second survey to achieve full coverage of the full area. The 2015 survey was multidisciplinary in nature collecting UWTV, CTD and other ecosystem data. A total of 96 UWTV stations were completed at 6 nmi intervals over a randomised isometric grid design. The mean burrow density was 0.20 burrows/m2 compared with 0.19 burrows/m2 in 2014. The 2015 geostatistical abundance estimate was 2.0±0.02 billion a 2% decrease on the abundance for 2014 with a CV of 3% which is well below the upper limit of 20% recommended by SGNEPS 2012. Highest densities were general observed towards the north and southwest of the ground, and there were also high densities observed close to boundaries. Using the 2015 abundance estimate and updated stock data implies catch of 3045 tonnes and landings of 2225 tonnes. Only one species of sea pen Virgilaria mirabilis was recorded as present at the stations surveyed. Trawl marks were observed at 30% of the stations surveyed.

This report provides the main results of the 2017 underwater television survey on the ‘Labadie, Jones and Cockburn Banks’ ICES assessment area; Functional Unit 20-21. This was the fourth survey to achieve full coverage of the full area. The 2017 survey was multi-disciplinary in nature collecting UWTV, CTD and other ecosystem data. A total of 86 UWTV stations were completed at 6 nmi intervals over a randomised isometric grid design. The mean burrow density was 0.44 burrows/m2 compared with 0.18 burrows/m2 in 2016. The 2017 geostatistical abundance estimate was 4.4±0.01 billion a 236% increase on the abundance for 2016 with a CV of 4% which is well below the upper limit of 20% recommended by SGNEPS 2012. Highest densities were generally observed throughout the ground, and there were also high densities observed close to boundaries. Using the 2017 abundance estimate and updated stock data implies catch of 8,673 tonnes and landings of 6,553 tonnes in 2018 when MSY approach is applied (assuming that discard rates and fishery selection patterns do not change from the average of 2014–2016). One species of sea-pen were recorded as present at the stations surveyed Virgilaria mirabilis. Trawl marks were observed at 32% of the stations surveyed.

This report provides the main results of the 2019 underwater television survey on the ‘Labadie, Jones and Cockburn Banks’ ICES assessment area; Functional Unit 20-21. The 2019 survey was multi-disciplinary in nature collecting UWTV, and other ecosystem data. A total of 95 UWTV stations were completed at 6 nm intervals over a randomised isometric grid design. The mean burrow density was 0.06 burrows/m2 compared with 0.27 burrows/m2 in 2018. The 2019 geostatistical abundance estimate was 617 million, a 77% decrease on the abundance for 2018, with a CV of 5% which is well below the upper limit of 20% recommended by SGNEPS 2012. Low densities were observed throughout the ground. Using the 2019 estimate of abundance and updated stock data implies catch in 2020 that correspond to the F ranges in the EU multi annual plan for Western Waters are between 1131 and 1150 tonnes (assuming that discard rates and fishery selection patterns do not change from the average of 2016–2018). One species of sea-pen (Virgularia mirabilis) were recorded as present at the stations surveyed. Trawl marks were observed at 32% of the stations surveyed.