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FFS Walther Herwig III 443

Cruise summary report

Cruise Info. 
Ship name (ship code)FFS Walther Herwig III (06NI)
Cruise identifier443
Cruise period2021-01-26 — 2021-02-15
StatusCompleted
Port of departureBremerhaven, Germany
Port of returnWilhelmshaven, Germany
PurposeResearch
ObjectivesThe cruise was part of the International Bottom Trawl Survey (IBTS), which is an inter-nationally coordinated ICES program aiming to provide fish population data and biolog-ical parameters of commercial fish species for stock assessment purposes. Sampling of fish was conducted by trawl hauls in allocated ICES statistical rectangles by means of the ICES standard bottom trawl GOV. In total, 67 GOV hauls were taken during the cruise. Fish sampling was accompanied by taking 67 CTD profiles, 144 MIK plankton samples and 36 microzooplankton samples. Standardized total catches of the GOV hauls were on average about 347 kg. Highest pre-recruit number were found for mackerel <25cm (248469 ind/hr) and lowest for cod <25cm (6 ind/hr). Except for cod and herring, all recruitment indices of the major target species haddock, whiting, Norway pout, sprat and mackerel were higher than the long-term average from 1980-2020. Standard length (SL) of the herring larvae from the night time MIK sampling var-ied between 7- and 41-mm. Abundance of large herring larvae in the potential nurse-ries was lower than last year. The 2021 index for the 2020 year-class is 95.2, which is higher than for the 2019, but still much lower than observed in the early and late 1990s.
Chief scientistHermann Neumann (Thünen Institute of Sea Fisheries, Bremerhaven)
ProjectICES International Bottom Trawl Survey (IBTS)
Coordinating bodyInternational Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES)
Cruise reportFFS Walther Herwig III 443 cruise report waltherherwigiii_443.pdf (1.08 MB) 
Ocean/sea areas 
GeneralNorth Sea