The Labadie, Jones and Cockburn Banks Nephrops Grounds (FU2021) 2014 UWTV Survey Report and catch options for 2015

Abstract

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.