2008/2009 programme

From 2008/09, Defra announced a three-year, £3 million continuation of the Fishery Science Partnership (FSP). The programme has been running since 2003, and is regarded nationally and internationally as a success.

The programme is managed by a steering group of Defra, the NFFO and Cefas. Most projects are agreed on an annual basis.

New Projects

New projects for the FSP were agreed, though about two-thirds of the funding allocated annually supported the long-term development and continuation of surveys that yield time-series of the catch rates of key species. Ultimately, it is hoped that these data will provide support for or be used in the ICES stock assessments, and this has already happened with the Western Channel plaice survey. The remaining funds support one-off investigations.

Time-series surveys

The following surveys were agreed to be continued for another three years.

• A northern and southern Western Channel beam-trawl survey, primarily for anglerfish, along with lemon sole, sole and cod.
• An eastern and western Western Channel beam-trawl survey, primarily for plaice and sole, along with anglerfish and cod.
• An eastern and western Irish Sea survey for cod, haddock and whiting.
• A North-east coast survey, primarily for cod and whiting, along with haddock.

Further, to ensure that the industry had a survey that contributed to the broader ICES North Sea stock assessments, a new survey was agreed to cover large parts of the North Sea. When this time-series is established it is hoped that the survey results will be as important as the current research vessel survey results in determining the status of the stocks. The target species for this new survey were decided as cod, haddock, whiting and plaice. For technical reasons, however, this new survey did not start in 2008/09, but was designed to run forward for three years from 2009/10.

One-off projects

Some individual projects were also agreed for the 2008/09 financial year, though for timing reasons some would run over after the end of the financial year.  

The so-called "Codwatch" and "Saithewatch" fisher self-sampling projects of 2007 recorded individual haul data, from a number of vessels and, in the case of Codwatch, fleets, on the abundance and distribution of size categories of cod and saithe. With joint support from Yorkshire Forward, both these projects were extended for another year.

A southern North Sea bass project was designed to look at the selectivity of gillnets and the feasibility of a targeted, selective fishery for bass. Another project initially meant to take place in 2008/09, but for technical reasons extended to last until November 2009, was established to evaluate the role of spurdog in North Wales longline fisheries and to examine the catch rates and sizes of fish taken in that fishery, to provide biological samples so that more recent data on length at maturity and fecundity could be calculated, and to tag and release a fish to inform on the potential discard survivorship from longline fisheries.

The 2008/09 Projects:

Project 1 North Sea Codwatch

A continuation of the programme set up in 2007/2008, this programme describes the fine-scale distribution and abundance in time and space of the 2006 year class as 2-year-olds in 2008, and the fine-scale distribution and abundance in time and space of the 2007 year class as 1-year-olds in 2008 and two-year olds in 2009. it also aims to provide a better understanding of the spatial and temporal distribution of aggregations of cod (of all ages).

Timing: Sampling to end in March 2009.

Timing: June 2008 - March 2009.
Final report (PDF, 2,934 KB)

Project 2 Northern North Sea Saithe

A continuation of the programme set up in 2007/2008 this will describe the fine scale distribution and abundance in time and space of saithe (primarily) and cod, including specific information on the 2005 and 2006 year-classes of saithe, and the 2006 and 2007 year-classes of cod.

Timing: May 2008 - March 2009.
Farnella (PDF 1,036 KB)

Project 3.North East Cod and Whiting

Purpose: To extend the time-series of surveys of NE coast cod carried out in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007 in order to provide year-on-year comparative information on distribution, relative abundance and size/age composition of cod, and to obtain additional information on distribution, relative abundance and size/age composition of whiting and haddock off the NE coast.

Timing: October.
Abbie Lee (PDF 1,169 KB)

Project 4. Western Channel Sole and Plaice

Purpose: To extend the time-series of surveys in the Western English Channel in order to provide information on distribution patterns of sole, plaice and other commercial by-catch species, trends in abundance and age composition of sole and plaice, and additional information on the by-catch of species such as cod.

Timing: late August to October.
Carhelmar and Lady T Emiel (PDF 908 KB)

Project 5. Western Anglerfish

Purpose: To extend the time-series of surveys to provide data on the distribution, catch rates and length distribution of anglerfish, lemon sole, sole and cod caught using commercial gear off Southwest England.

Timing: September to November. 
Bill Rowney and Twilight III. (PDF 1,674 KB)

Project 6. Irish Sea Roundfish

Purpose: To repeat the FSP surveys of cod, haddock and whiting in the western and eastern Irish Sea carried out since 2004, maintaining the time-series. The target species are cod, haddock and whiting.

Timing: February/March 2009.
Isadale and Benaiah IV. (PDF 1,540 KB)

Project 7. North Sea whitefish

Purpose: A time-series to develop a North Sea survey to compare the catch rate of our whitefish species using an otter trawl on hard grounds and a scraper trawl on soft grounds. Detailed measurements will be made of cod, whiting, haddock and possibly plaice.

Timing: September/October

Project 8. North Sea bass gill netting

Purpose: To assess the selective properties of gill nets (over a range of mesh sizes) in an emergent bass fishery in the central and Southern North Sea and to evaluate the survival rates of discarded bass caught in the gill nets.

Timing: August to November.
Rachel S (PDF 623 KB)

Project 9: North Wales Spurdog Longline Fishery

Purpose: To increase knowledge of the spatial and temporal dynamics of spurdog in the waters off North Wales, to provide contemporary data on those reproductive parameters used in demographic models and increase the understanding of the discard survival of fish caught under commercial conditions.

Sarah H (PDF, 4,183 KB)