FFS Walther Herwig III 428
Cruise summary report
| Cruise Info. | |
| Ship name (ship code) | FFS Walther Herwig III (06NI) |
| Cruise identifier | 428 |
| Cruise period | 2019-07-08 — 2019-08-03 |
| Status | Completed |
| Port of departure | Bremerhaven, Germany |
| Port of return | Bremerhaven, Germany |
| Purpose | Research |
| Objectives | Survey WH 428 covered fisheries research representing the German contribution to the International Bottom Trawl Survey (IBTS) in quarter 3, as well as one component of the two-ship operation in the German Small-scale Bottom Trawl Survey (GSBTS). Both surveys use the same principal fishing methods but at different spatial scales, applying a GOV otter board trawl. A large subset of the fishing hauls are accompanied by hydrographic measurements and investigations of benthic epifauna, infauna and sediments. Bycatch of marine litter in the GOV is reported.
The GSBTS is a national program to monitor small-scale variability as well as long-term changes in demersal fish assemblages in relation to physical and biological habitat characteristics. In order to fully cover the international IBTS programme, the GSBTS component of the survey (boxes B and D) had to be reduced due to time constraints. The survey started on 08 July 2019 in Bremerhaven, starting with the IBTS on 09 July. Due to technical problems, Walther Herwig III returned to Bremerhaven on 20 July. After resolving these problems, the survey continued on 23 July and the remaining program was successfully completed on 02 August. The Walther Herwig III returned to Bremerhaven on 03 August 2019. |
| Chief scientist | Matthias Bernreuther (Thünen Institute of Sea Fisheries, Bremerhaven) |
| Project | ICES International Bottom Trawl Survey (IBTS) |
| Coordinating body | International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) |
| Cruise report |  (1.92 MB) |
| Ocean/sea areas | |
| General | North Sea |
