FRV Scotia 0121S
Cruise plan
| Cruise Info. | |
| Ship name (ship code) | FRV Scotia (748S) |
| Cruise identifier | 0121S |
| Cruise period | 2021-01-05 — 2021-01-20 |
| Status | Completed |
| Port of departure | Aberdeen, United Kingdom |
| Port of return | Aberdeen, United Kingdom |
| Purpose | Research |
| Objectives | Objectives
1. Undertake water, sediment and biological sampling for the Clean Seas Environmental Monitoring Programme (CSEMP). 2. Monitor and record all litter brought aboard in all trawls. Sample water column and sediment for micro-plastic litter. 3. If possible, deploy Aquatracka and Seabird 25 to collect fluorescence data. Procedure Once all drills have been completed, the vessel will depart Leith and head to the first sampling station. The order that sampling locations are visited will be weather dependent and coordinated by the SIC in conjunction with vessel officers. Fish sampling for biological effect assessment will be carried out in multiple locations. Due to a lack of sites in certain sampling regions, two new sites will be tested and assessed for the collection of dab (North of Coll and West of Orkney). If successful, the target species will be sampled for the full suite of tests. Another new site is also included in the programme, however, this site is of lower priority as it was unsuccessful last year. The focus of the fishing is Shetland and the west coast. Fish will be sampled for chemical analyses, biological effects and fish diseases. Some biological effects measurements will be carried out during the survey. Sediment sampling will be carried out in ten areas: Outer Moray, Inner Moray, East Shetland, East Shetland Basin, West Orkney, North Minch, South Minch, Sea of Hebrides, Hebrides and a site in the Scottish Continental Shelf (name TBC). The number of stations per area varies from 5 to 20. Sediment sampling will also be carried out at the three CSEMP fixed sites (NMMP85 – North Minch, NMMP95 – Inner Moray Firth, NMMP165 – Montrose Bank) and also, if time allows, from a single station in the Outer Forth that was missed on the earlier Alba cruise (0720A). Sediments will be sampled for chemical analyses and determination of microplastic at all locations. The sediment sampling in the West of Orkney and in the Scottish Continental Shelf are both new sites. Monitoring of all litter brought on board during trawling operations will continue throughout the survey. The catamaran will be deployed to sample for micro-plastics whenever possible at specific target locations. Samples will be processed onboard as far as possible. The Aquatracka will also be deployed during the survey, at different locations depending on time availability and weather conditions. Vertical dips and towing (2 m deep at ~3 knots) using the sampling frame will both be tested. Data will be initially processed on board to ensure the Aquatracka is collecting data correctly. |
| Chief scientist | Guillaume Hermann (Marine Scotland Aberdeen Marine Laboratory), Hilary Anderson (Marine Scotland Aberdeen Marine Laboratory) |
| Cruise programme |  (0.28 MB) |
| Ocean/sea areas | |
| General | North Sea Inner Seas off the West Coast of Scotland North East Atlantic Ocean (limit 40W) |
| Specific | Moray Firth, Shetland, Orkney, The Minch, Sea of Hebrides |
