Marine Directorate Communications
Written 357 posts
Rockall Haddock Trawling Survey – An update
4th October 2018
Survey: 1318S Rockall Haddock Trawling Survey Duration: 19 September – 1 October 2018 The 2018 Rockall haddock trawling survey got off to a blustery start with Scotia departing Aberdeen on the morning of the 19th September and heading straight into the teeth of Storm Ali; the first officially named storm of Autumn 2018. Gusts of…
Surveying the Haddock on the Rockall Plateau
3rd October 2018
Survey: 1318S Rockall Haddock Survey Duration: 19 September – 1 October 2018 Fishing Gear: • GOV (Grand Overture Verticale) Trawl (BT 137) with ground gear D. Other Gear: • Conductivity Temperature Depth (CTD) Seabird 19+; and • Van Veen Grab. Objectives: • Undertake the bottom trawl survey of haddock on Rockall Bank to a depth…
A Nurturing Home for the Juveniles
1st October 2018
Survey: 1518A MRV Alba na Mara Programme Duration: 29 September – 16 October 2018 Background and Objectives: The primary objective of this survey is to identify whether the availability, quality, and distribution of habitat acts as a constraint on the number of juvenile fish that can develop into adults. This study focusses on three types…
Herring or Sprat; and the Notorious Case of Burke and Hare
24th September 2018
One of the earliest pieces of fisheries research carried out in Scotland concerned the Firth of Forth herring fishery, and whether herring and sprat were two separate species. An artefact from this research is on display in the library foyer at the Marine Laboratory, in Aberdeen. The Board of British White Herring Fisheries was established…
Let’s Go Fly a Kite
17th September 2018
Survey: 1418A MRV Alba na Mara Programme This survey will be executed in two parts during the window of 12th September to the 25th September 2018. Part One Objectives: Live fish capture for tank based trials in our Fish Behaviour Unit (FBU); and Trialing new Vonin ‘Flyer’ headline kites. Part Two Objectives: Recover (VR2Tx) salmon…
A Tall Ship Amongst the Nephrops
14th September 2018
Survey: 1318A MRV Alba na Mara Duration: 25th August – 10th September 2018 Another busy week of TV deployments aboard Alba na Mara for the Nephrops Underwater TV (UWTV) Survey. This weeks efforts were concentrated in the Firth of Forth where we managed a total of 56 TV stations and two fishing operations. Poor visibility…
Amazing Footage at Half-landing for Survey 1218S
7th September 2018
It’s Monday the 3rd of September and since the last blog post the team here have been squirreling away, successfully collecting video data from all of the planned stations at Rosemary Bank Seamount and are starting to collect still photos and video from Wyville Thomson Ridge. The weather has delayed us a little on this…
Reality TV at its Best
6th September 2018
Survey: 1318A MRV Alba na Mara Duration: 25th August – 10th September 2018 MRV Alba na Mara left Fraserburgh on Sunday the 26th of August, a day later than planned due to poor weather, to begin survey 1318A – the ‘Annual Nephrops Underwater TV (UWTV) Survey’. The areas to be covered are Moray Firth and…
The Latest News from Survey 1218S
5th September 2018
It is 3am and we’re on our way to Rosemary Bank. We’ve had three nights of towing the chariot across the different depths at Faroe Shetland Sponge Belt and three days of sampling the fish and benthic fauna with trawls, and we’ve seen lots of sponges, bizarre invertebrates, and fish. We’ve recorded lots of video…
How Mature are Nephrops?
4th September 2018
Survey : 1318A MRV Alba na Mara Duration: 25 August – 10 September 2018 Objectives: Obtain estimates of the distribution and abundance of Nephrops burrows in the Firth of Forth and the Moray Firth using underwater cameras. Use the TV footage to record the occurrence of other benthic fauna and evidence of commercial trawling activity….