Merlin II 2209H
Cruise plan
| Cruise Info. | |
| Ship name (ship code) | Merlin II (74N3) |
| Cruise identifier | 2209H |
| Cruise period | 2009-10-15 — 2009-10-15 |
| Status | Completed |
| Port of departure | Stromness, United Kingdom |
| Port of return | Stromness, United Kingdom |
| Purpose | Fisheries |
| Objectives | Objectives
1. To increase the knowledge of the offshore and inshore crab stocks to the North of Scotland. 2. To tag Brown Crab, of a range of sizes, from inshore waters to the north of Scotland for investigations of their movements. Tagging will involve using both high-visibility double t-bar tags that are retained on moulting and 'cable-tie' type tags which will be attached to the claws of some of the animals. 3. To biologically sample all tagged crabs for carapace width, shell condition, sex and reproductive state (of females) and record date, time, latitude, longitude, and depth of the return location. Procedure The 3 day charter will be split between 2 vessels to maximise the spread of tagged crabs on the target fishing grounds. Merlin II (K69) All gear and scientific equipment will be loaded onto the vessel in Stromness on the morning of Thursday 15 October. Weather permitting, the vessel will then depart and make passage to inshore fishing grounds to the north/west of Hoy, where it already has gear deployed. The vessels crew will be responsible for hauling and removing crabs from pots. Marine Scotland scientific staff will deal with the catch, selecting crabs for tagging, conducting the tagging and recording time, date, biological and positional information before release. The daily work plan for the vessel will be to haul as many creels as possible. It is estimated 50-60 can be tagged per hour; total numbers tagged will depend on numbers of crabs caught on grounds. The vessel shall return each night to port. Marine Scotland staff working hours will not exceed 13 hours in a 24-hour period and appropriate rest breaks will be scheduled. |
| Chief scientist | Gareth Jones (Marine Scotland Aberdeen Marine Laboratory) |
| Project | MF06R06 |
| Cruise programme |  (0.02 MB) |
| Ocean/sea areas | |
| General | North East Atlantic Ocean (limit 40W) |
| Specific | North/West of Orkney |
