The fishing vessels Tomkat of Selsey and Beachy Head were chartered
in September 2009 to carry out two potting surveys in the whelk (Buccinum
undatum) fisheries in two areas off the Sussex coast in the eastern English
Channel as part of the Fisheries Science Partnership programme 2009/10. The
main objective was to investigate the population structure of whelks spread
throughout the two survey areas, one off Selsey (West Sussex) and the other
off Eastbourne (East Sussex). Additionally, samples of whelks were collected
and a sampling programme initiated to determine various aspects of whelk
reproductive cycle. Data are size distributions of whelks and estimates of
catch numbers by station, station details and morphometric data with
assignment of sexual maturity for individual whelks.
