WESPAS will take place over two legs and forms part of a time series used to provide biomass estimates of herring and boar fish stocks in ICES areas VIIB and VIA and assist stock assessments by ICES expert groups. Ciaran O’Donnell and Mike O’Malley will lead an experienced teams of biologists from the Marine Institute on survey transects deploying a pelagic trawl to ground truth echo traces of herring, boar fish and other pelagic species.
WESPAS bursaries are an excellent opportunity for graduates and postgraduate students who wish to develop field skills in fisheries acoustics, biometric sampling and plankton sampling. WESPAS data collection also extends to marine mammal and seabirds. The survey will take place over two legs as follows:
- WESPAS 2023 Leg 1: 8th to 29th June
- WESPAS 2023 Leg 2: 30th June to 19th July
Survey Information
Read the 2023 WESPAS report here.
Also see Marine Institute Acoustic Surveys Webpage
Applications
Applications can be submitted online here.
For application advice see Applying for SMART Marine Institute Research Vessel Bursaries
The closing date for applications for applications is Friday the 3rd of May 2024.
Further Information
For more information about this survey email John.Boyd@atu.ie.