RV Corystes COR5/96
Cruise summary report
| Cruise Info. | |
| Ship name (ship code) | RV Corystes (74RY) |
| Cruise identifier | COR5/96 |
| Cruise period | 1996-04-03 — 1996-04-17 |
| Status | Completed |
| Port of departure | Lowestoft, United Kingdom |
| Port of return | Lowestoft, United Kingdom |
| Purpose | Research |
| Objectives | 1. To survey the seabed and sample benthos at the experimental site off Anglesey (ref 53.25.5N; 04.01.5W) at the conclusions of the programme designed to measure the environmental impact of beam trawling on the biodiversity and abundance of benthic animal communities. This site has been fished intensively with a beam trawl fitted with a chain mat during the period April 1993 until October 1994.
2. To film scavenging animals attracted to baited camera frames/and/or a frame mounted video camera on the seabed using various components of the by-catch as a measure of the response of non-target species to damaged or discarded fish and invertebrates from trawl catches. 3. To quantify, by sampling with a 3m beam trawl and/or towed skills camera sledge, the number of macro-epibenthic animals moving onto trawled tracks and control areas as a measure of the response of scavenging species to damaged or discarded fish and invertebrates from trawl catches. 4. To estimate with baited traps, the abundance of scavenging amphipods to determine the importance of their role in scavenging discarded fish and invertebrates from trawl catches. 5. To estimate community structure of benthic invertebrates at sites off Isle of Man, fished at different levels of intensity. 6. To estimate damage rates to selected invertebrate species of scallop grounds fished at different levels of intensity. Fishing intensity to be determined with side-scan sonar surveys. 7. To estimate the spatial distribution of discarded fish and crabs once they reach the seabed, using towed video surveys. 8. To collect live invertebrate scavenger species for experimental feeding and behavioural studies at Conwy as part of our EC collaborative programme to measure how fishing activities may change biodiversity and abundance of the benthic invertebrate communities of the North Sea and Irish Sea. |
| Chief scientist | B E Spencer (Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Conwy Laboratory) |
| Cruise report |  (0.19 MB) |
| Ocean/sea areas | |
| General | Irish Sea and St. George's Channel |
| Specific | Irish Sea |
| Track charts |  |
| Measurements | |
| Biology and fisheries | |
| Phytobenthos | Quantity: number of hauls = 26 Description: benthos survey |
| Zoobenthos | Quantity: number of hauls = 26 Description: benthos survey |
| Demersal fish | Description: 3m beam trawl survey |
| Other biological/fisheries measurement | Description: various video and stills camera surveys |
| Geology and geophysics | |
| Grab | Quantity: number of samples = 104 Description: infauna sampling using day grab. |
| Single-beam echosounding | Quantity: activity duration in days = 8 |
| Long/short range side scan sonar |
