CEFAS23-156 Contract for Western English Channel Sole & Plaice Time Series Survey

From 2003 to 2023, commercial beam trawlers, working under the Fisheries Science Partnership (FSP) and subsequent fisheries monitoring programme, have surveyed the abundance of sole, plaice, anglerfish, lemon sole, megrim and cod in the Western English Channel.<br/><br/>The locations fished, and gears used were chosen initially by the industry and since then were retained consistently. On-board the vessel, Cefas staff sample the catch and analyse the catch data. This catch rate data indicates the changing abundance of the year classes and the rate of fishing on the stock. This "time-series" catch data is used in the ICES stock assessments for plaice and sole. The results from the previous years are summarised in the annual reports on the Cefas web site.<br/><br/>This tender seeks to secure a suitable vessel and all management, crew, victuals, fuel, and other services necessary to carry out the requirements specified below.<br/><br/>The survey's main aim is to investigate trends in the distribution, abundance, and age composition of sole and plaice, and to provide some information on by-catch species. For sole and plaice, the indices of abundance from the survey are one of the datasets used in the ICES Division 7.e stock assessments, together with other survey and fishery data, which help estimate the stock trends over time.<br/><br/>This opportunity is for a data collection activity with a 4-metre beam trawl during 2024 (late August - mid October). The target species for age/length sampling are sole, plaice and & other commercially important species.<br/><br/>Subject to confirmation of funding, further surveys in subsequent years may be required. The Contract could be extended for up to a further 2 years in annual increments. If confirmed, these will be conducted within the same time period each year and following the same survey procedure.<br/><br/>The project has two components; fishing undertaken by fishermen with knowledge of the area and fishery, and the science undertaken by Cefas. This opportunity is for the fishing component only, although the skipper will be expected to contribute to the overall project report produced by Cefas.