Six mid-water fishing trawlers have participated in an extensive scientific survey of Scottish west coast herring, that is yielding valuable data on the health of the stock.
The data gathered by the vessels will contribute to the scientific international stock assessment process used by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), to provide advice on annual quota limits and other management measures.
Existing catch and survey data is only available at times when the northern and southern components are mixed together.
The ground breaking project is being co-ordinated by marine scientist Dr Mackinson of the Scottish Pelagic Fishermen's Association (SPFA) and Martin Pastoors of the Pelagic Freezer-trawler Association (PFA).
Dr Mackinson was appointed earlier this year as chief scientific officer for the SPFA, Scotland's representative body for herring and mackerel fishermen and said: "Due to constraints on resources, there is often a shortfall in information from marine scientific surveys carried out by national governments."
"The scope of the activities of our fishing boats, and the wide sea area they cover, offers the ideal platform for collecting relevant marine data."
Part of the research involved determining the size of the various herring stocks by acoustic surveys, another element is to identify the separate components of the stock over the area.
Martin Pastoors says: "Identifying the different herring stock components within this area and their relative abundance, will lead to better decision-making on the sustainable management of the fishery."
Highlights of the Scottish part of the survey are being presented at the ICES Annual Science Conference taking place in Riga, Latvia, this week, with plans getting underway for further surveys off the coast of Ireland later this year.
