Seafish is continuing its ongoing research into the UK squid fishery and is inviting tenders for charter vessels in North East Scotland and South West England for fishing trials.
“This is part of an ongoing research project into the targeted squid fishery,” said Mike Montgomerie, Seafish Project Manager. “Last year we wanted to find out more about the level of discards within the fishery. Visitors to the Seafish stand at Fishing 2008 may well recall seeing footage of squid entering trawls, which also interestingly featured several seals swimming up and down the length of the trawl.
“This was filmed using low light underwater cameras fitted to the trawls. We gleaned a lot of valuable information on how squid react in the vicinity of squid trawls. Now we want to continue this work by testing some innovative trawls and codends,” he said.
To do this Seafish wants to charter two registered vessels, one in North East Scotland and the other in the South West, who have experience of the squid fishery in their area, for approximately five days.
The vessel needs to be 250 – 350HP with 6 – 7 ft V doors or equivalent. There needs to be adequate space onboard to accommodate two Seafish personnel and provide access to a 240v power supply for laptops and charging batteries.
“We want to test some innovative trawl modification which could improve the flow of water through the trawls and keep the catch in better condition, these include modifications to the T90 netting in squid trawls, knotless netting codends and different coloured netting panels. In addition we want to do further underwater camera work and gain more data on discards and by-catch,” said Mike.
The closing date for all applications, which should be marked Squid Fishery Project Tender, is 20 June 2008. Applications should be sent to Mike Montgomerie, Sea Fish Industry Authority, Seafish House, St Andrews Dock, Hull, HU3 4QE.
