Survey trawling of inshore waters in Cork, Waterford and Wexford

Tender description

Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) invites tenders from suitably qualified and experienced applicants to carry out survey trawling in late August/September 2021 for various species in the Cork, Waterford and Wexford areas as part of ongoing national fish monitoring programmes being undertaken by IFI. This sampling requires the services of a trawler (<12 m length) with experienced crew. The skipper will be required to use the vessel’s trawl (of a type suitable for sprat or whitebait, which may require modification depending on its specification). Sampling will mainly be confined to the Slaney, Waterford Harbour and Munster Blackwater estuaries but sampling site locations may be modified following consultation with fishermen and scientists with knowledge of likely productive locations and on an ongoing basis over the course of the actual sampling cruise. It is intended that this sampling will be carried out on consecutive dates or specified blocks of dates in each estuary (1-3 days in each), over a period extending potentially from late August to end of September 2021, for a total of 8 fishing days (maximum), subject to funding and appropriate permissions/authorizations. IFI project scientists (max. 3) 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.