RV Lough Foyle LF/16/97
Cruise summary report
| Cruise Info. | |
| Ship name (ship code) | RV Lough Foyle (74LG) |
| Cruise identifier | LF/16/97 |
| Cruise period | 1997-04-13 — 1997-04-17 |
| Status | Completed |
| Port of departure | Belfast, United Kingdom |
| Port of return | Belfast, United Kingdom |
| Purpose | Research |
| Objectives | Nephrops and bycatch
1. To trawl selected stations sampled during earlier cruises and perform qualitative and quantitative analysis of catches. 2. To collect ovigerous female Nephrops. 3. To assess the prevalence of the dinoflagellate parasite Hematodinium in Nephrops catches. 4. To assess the amount of litter in catches as part of a DANI/DOE project. |
| Chief scientist | Richard P Briggs (Department of Agriculture for Northern Ireland) |
| Cruise report |  (0.25 MB) |
| Ocean/sea areas | |
| General | Irish Sea and St. George's Channel |
| Specific | Irish Sea |
| Track charts | (0.02 MB) |
| Measurements | |
| Biology and fisheries | |
| Demersal fish | Quantity: sample kilograms = 1070.1 Description: Catch per nautical mile of tow: 75.7kg of cod, 572.5kg of whiting, 9.6kg of hake, 90.2kg of haddock and 322.1kg of other fish. |
| Crustaceans | Quantity: sample kilograms = 787.8 Description: Catch per nautical mile of tow: 773.5kg of Nephrops and 14.3 of brown crab |
| Crustaceans | Quantity: number of stations = 20 Description: Trawls of 30 to 60 minutes duration were perfomed at each station using a custom made Nephrops net of nominal mesh size 50mm. Species composition, ovary maturity stage, carapace length frequency distributions, the number of recently moulted animals, and the prevalence of the parasitic Hematodinium were noted. The contribution of finfish in catches was also quantified and their length compositions measured. |
| Crustaceans | Quantity: number of specimens = 50 Description: Ovigerous female Nephrops were preserved in 4% formalin for future fecundity studies |
