Science Data Collection 2023 Annual Report

by | Apr 10, 2024 | News

The Scottish Pelagic Industry-Science Data Collection Programme (SPISDCP) has published its 2023 Annual Report.

SPISDCP is a collaboration between the Scottish Pelagic Fishermen’s Association, UHI Shetland and the Marine Directorate of the Scottish government. Within the programme, crews onboard Scottish pelagic fishing vessels undertake sampling of their catches in two ways: self-sampling, whereby vessel crews measure the length and weight of a sample of fish in the catch; and co-sampling, whereby crews collect frozen samples of fish for scientists onshore to carry out biological sampling of length, sex, maturity and ageing.

The data collected provide valuable biological information for each of the targeted species, highlighting patterns and changes in distribution and size of fish in the catch. In January 2022 the co-sampling scheme was adopted under Scotland’s national sampling programme to become the main mechanism for collecting biological data on the catches of pelagic fish to be used in stock assessments.

The annual report provides a summary of the data collected across the herring, mackerel and blue whiting fisheries, from the start of data collection in July 2018, up to the latest collation of data in September 2023, and is intended as an overview of the current dataset to date.

The report can be viewed at: Scottish-Pelagic-Industry-Science-Data-Collection-Programme-Document.pdf (scottishpelagic.co.uk)