Western cod 2003/04 - Fisheries Science Partnership

The first survey of three in a series of FSP surveys of cod in the Bristol Channel and Celtic Sea. The first two surveys took place in spring 2004 and 2005 on FV Our Josie Grace, a commercial trawler based in Ilfracombe. Programme 7 in 2006 used the same vessel for 20 days between 5 February and 17 March. Tows were carried out in and close to the three ICES rectangles closed to fishing in spring, and in the Bristol Channel, using twin-rig and single-rig nets with 85mm codends. The objectives of the 2006 FSP survey were to investigate the potential of the western cod FSP survey for providing time-series data on abundance and population structure of cod, and to examine the distribution of a range of species in and near the closed rectangles.