Western English Channel Groundfish Survey using Charter Vessels Bogey 1 and Carhelmar, Qtr 4 (FSS: CARHELMAR)

This survey series ran from 1984 to 2013. The aim was to provide fisheries independent abundance indices of all age groups of sole and plaice which are used in assessment working groups to tune the ICES stock assessment and to estimate recruitment. The survey was undertaken annually. Fifty eight trawl stations on the main sole grounds in the English waters of the Western English Channel were fished and sampled. Surveys were carried out on chartered commercial fishing vessels with Cefas staff on board. Catches were sorted by starboard and port trawl. All commercial fish and shellfish species were identified either to species level or if not the highest taxa and measured. Non-commercial species were predominately observed, although for a period of the survey-series length distributions were collected for part of each survey. The epi-benthos was observed for the later part of the survey-series. Sole and plaice were biological sampled for age determination purposes, and the collection of individual weights and maturities.