Irish Groundfish Survey Stations

Irish Groundfish Survey shot and haul stations. The Irish Groundfish Survey covers fisheries trawl stations in the North Atlantic Ocean, Celtic Sea, Irish Sea and Saint Georges Channel around Ireland. The Irish Groundfish Survey has been a two-legged survey taking place each October-December since 2003. Irish Groundfish Survey has involved shot and haul stations at regular sites where fish species are caught and processed on board the Irish research vessel RV Celtic Explorer in the fisheries lab. The primary goal of the Irish Groundfish Survey has been to develop estimates of juvenile abundance for important fish species. Measurements of the abundance of juvenile fish are a critical measure of the health of a stock, serving as an annual indication of recruitment (the number of newly spawned fish which enter the population each year) success or failure. Most importantly, they allow forecasting of future commercial abundance. In addition, the Irish Groundfish Survey has provided data on the distribution and biology of commercial and non-commercial species of ecological interest, as well as hydrographic and environmental observations. When these data are combined with annual recruitment indices they can help identify the possible causes driving year-class success or failure, and allow us to see long-term changes in populations that may have been caused by fishing, pollution, or climate change. The Irish Groundfish Survey feeds into the International Bottom Trawl Survey (IBTS) for international reporting. The Irish Groundfish Survey has been managed by the Fisheries Ecosystem Advisory Services (FEAS) section of the Marine Institute (Ireland). Data complete for each year survey has taken place.