FRV Scotia 0712S
Cruise plan
| Cruise Info. | |
| Ship name (ship code) | FRV Scotia (748S) |
| Cruise identifier | 0712S |
| Cruise period | 2012-06-16 — 2012-06-27 |
| Status | Completed |
| Port of departure | Aberdeen, United Kingdom |
| Port of return | Aberdeen, United Kingdom |
| Purpose | Fisheries |
| Objectives | Objectives
1. Map areas of seabed within UK territorial waters using Swathe MBES. 2. Carry out a transect of trawls from ~ 300 m to maximum 1500 m at 100 m intervals on the western flank of the bank to assess distribution of haddock and deepwater species. 3. Sample benthic fauna using combination of ground-gear bags and Agassiz trawl. 4. Sample a range of species for analysis of contaminants (Marine Assessment). General Scotia will work the plateau area around the islet of Rockall and the deep slope to the north and west. Allowing four days steaming to and from Aberdeen, seven full days and nights are expected on station. Fishing operations will be generally carried out during daytime and MBES mapping at night, but given the extended daylight hours at this time of year, some flexibility in scheduling may be necessary to maximize the opportunity for MBES survey during favourable weather conditions. MBES target survey areas are within the UK territorial waters (12 nm from the rock) to a maximum depth of 200 m. Mapping will continue on from that achieved in 2011, working out from the islet of Rockall, joining up areas that were mapped last year. Trawling will be carried out during daylight hours at stations along depth contours between the 300 and 1,600 m isobaths at approximately 100 m depth intervals. Transects will be made in two areas; the slope to the NW and the slope due west of Rockall (Areas 1 and 2 in Map 1). Trawl Area 1 is to be done first, then Area 2. Some known trawling positions will be covered; other new tows will need to be sourced especially from deeper areas. All species will be identified, weighed and measured. Biological sampling will take place concurrently. Benthic fauna will be sampled simultaneously with trawling by using ground-gear bags. T his new technique will be compared to a traditional benthic sampling trawl (the Agassiz trawl) for comparison. Comparative tows will be undertaken only at shallower depths (300-500m). Gear selectivity research will be undertaken for a sub-set of hauls at depth of around 1000 m. Fish escaping the gear both under the ground rope and over the headline will be quantified using additional bags. |
| Chief scientist | Francis C Neat (Marine Scotland Aberdeen Marine Laboratory) |
| Project | SP001 (OFFCON: 20098) |
| Cruise programme |  (1.02 MB) |
| Ocean/sea areas | |
| General | North East Atlantic Ocean (limit 40W) |
| Specific | Rockall |
| Track charts | (1.01 MB) |
