Identification

Title

2017 - 2017 Centre for Environment, Fisheries & Aquaculture Science (Cefas) Reduce Whiting By-Catch in the SW Trawl Squid & Cuttlefish Fishery 2016/17 - Fisheries Science Partnership

Alternative title(s)

FSP Reduce Whiting By-Catch in the SW Trawl Squid & Cuttlefish Fishery

Abstract

Ten days of sea trials comprising 21 tows were successfully completed on board the commercial fishing vessel *‘Sue Ellen’* (BM211) in Lyme Bay in January 2017 allowing comparison of the catches in a modified box trawl fitted with a four-panel extension and cod end with those of a standard two-panel box trawl. The aim of this study was to try and reduce the catch of unwanted whiting without loss of squid or cuttlefish. The cuttlefish season had finished for the inshore trawlers at the time of this study, so the emphasis was on retaining squid.

Resource type

dataset

Resource locator

http://data.cefas.co.uk/#/View/18556/

function: order

Unique resource identifier

code

CEFAS6a64e418-0be4-45a0-9bf6-a17c9aa44cb0

codeSpace

http://www.cefas.co.uk/

Dataset language

eng

Spatial reference system

authority code

OGP

code identifying the spatial reference system

urn:ogc:def:crs:EPSG::4326

Classification of spatial data and services

Topic category

biota

Keywords

Keyword set

keyword value

Keyword set

keyword value

originating controlled vocabulary

title

reference date

date type

revision

effective date

2011-03-25

Keyword set

keyword value

originating controlled vocabulary

title

reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2008-06-01

Geographic location

West bounding longitude

-10

East bounding longitude

0

North bounding latitude

51.5

South bounding latitude

47

Extent

Extent group

authority code

title

reference date

date type

revision

effective date

2010-05-18

code identifying the extent

Temporal reference

Temporal extent

Begin position

2017-01-09T00:00:00.000Z

End position

2017-01-24T00:00:00.000Z

Dataset reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2017-05-18

Frequency of update

notPlanned

Quality and validity

Lineage

The primary objective of this project was to develop trawl modifications that reduce unwanted whiting catches while maintaining catches of commercial squid and cuttlefish in the SW otter trawl fishery. The stocks of whiting in the Western English Channel are believed to be in good condition but whiting is the most likely choke species for vessels operating from some SW ports, including Plymouth, Brixham and Looe. Many vessel operators, however, were not overly aware of this because the main target species, such as lemon sole, squid and cuttlefish, are non-quota. Whiting is a by-catch, landing prices for which are below those received for other species, and quota uptake for 2015 and 2016 was only about 50%. There are two well-known fisheries for squid in UK coastal waters – one off Lundy Island and another in the Moray Firth. In contrast to these fisheries, however, the squid fishery in Lyme Bay is highly mixed and requires a minimum cod end mesh size of 80 mm stretched mesh. In addition, the strength, distribution and seasonality of the squid fishery is quite unpredictable, hence squid tends to be an important by-catch of the more reliable cuttlefish and lemon sole fisheries. On board observations of catches during the autumn fishery for cuttlefish and squid in Lyme Bay in the years 2013-15 indicate that whiting accounted for up to 29% of catches by weight (Santos, 2016). Undersize whiting made up only a small proportion (3%) of these, and were discarded. Nearly a quarter, however, of fish larger than the minimum landing size were discarded. Lemon sole is a very important catch component of the inshore trawler fleet and considerable numbers were starting to show up on the inner grounds of Lyme Bay as these gear trials got underway.

Conformity

Data format

name of format

version of format

Constraints related to access and use

Constraint set

Use constraints

Public data (Crown Copyright) - Open Government Licence Terms and Conditions apply

Constraint set

Limitations on public access

Public data (Crown Copyright) - Open Government Licence Terms and Conditions apply

Responsible organisations

Responsible party

contact position

Data Manager

organisation name

Centre for Environment, Fisheries & Aquaculture Science

full postal address

Cefas Lowestoft Laboratory

Pakefield Road

Lowestoft

NR33 0HT

UK

telephone number

+44 (0)1502 562244

email address

data.manager@cefas.co.uk

responsible party role

originator

Responsible party

contact position

Data Manager

organisation name

Centre for Environment, Fisheries & Aquaculture Science

full postal address

Cefas Lowestoft Laboratory

Pakefield Road

Lowestoft

NR33 0HT

UK

telephone number

+44 (0)1502 562244

email address

data.manager@cefas.co.uk

responsible party role

custodian

Metadata on metadata

Metadata point of contact

contact position

Data Manager

organisation name

Centre for Environment, Fisheries & Aquaculture Science

full postal address

Cefas Lowestoft Laboratory

Pakefield Road

Lowestoft

NR33 0HT

UK

telephone number

+44 (0)1502 562244

email address

data.manager@cefas.co.uk

responsible party role

pointOfContact

Metadata date

2017-05-18T14:36:41

Metadata language