Experimental trawling for sea trout in the Irish Sea

Tender description

Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) invites tenders from suitably qualified and experienced applicants to carry out experimental trawling in summer 2011 for sea trout in the Irish Sea (ICES Division VIIa) as part of the Celtic Sea Trout Project (CSTP) research programme. The CSTP is part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund through the Ireland Wales Programme (INTERREG 4A).The Celtic Sea Trout Project aims to:- understand and describe sea trout stocks in the Irish Sea in order to enhance their fisheries, and strengthen their contributions to quality of life, to rural economies and to national biodiversity.- to explore the use of sea trout life history variation as a tool to detect and understand the effects of climate change.Sampling sea trout from the marine environment is a key element of the overall sampling programme and this survey cruise proposes to:- Sample along a route based on available (but limited) sea trout distribution data- Devise trawl sampling methodologies for sea trout in different habitats- Collect samples of sea trout from pelagic and/or surface trawls- Collect available habitat and environmental data from trawl sitesThe service provider will sample in locations throughout the Irish Sea, including Irish and United Kingdom waters (subject to appropriate permissions and clearances by the sampling parties – IFI and Bangor University) over a 7 day sampling cruise. Project scientists will be on-board for the duration of the operation. All relevant sampling and trawl data will be recorded by the service provider. Flexibility regarding sampling and possible modifications will be required to ensure maximum sampling efficiency.