Marine Scotland

  • Getting to know the Herring and Sprat

    19th July 2019 by

    MRV Scotia Survey: 0919S Programme Duration: 27 June – 19 July 2019 Sampling Gear: Midwater trawls PT160 x 3 Demersal trawl (BT237) Scanmar trawl eye sensor SIMRAD FS70 net sonde x 2 RBR-Concerto CTD with Dissolved Oxygen probe Water sampler for collecting water samples from bottom of CTD dips GoPro cameras x 2 with underwater…

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  • Surveying in the Moray Firth Wind Farm Sites

    17th July 2019 by

    Marine Scotland Science (MSS) colleagues and University of Aberdeen (UoA) postgraduate students set sail on the Alba na Mara to undertake a multi-disciplinary survey within the Moray Firth wind farm sites from the 8th – 12th of June 2019.  The aim of this survey was to characterise the distribution of the prey species (fish schools,…

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  • Nephrops Burrowing Complexes; Part Two

    28th June 2019 by

    The Nephrops TV survey continued through the South Minch without any issues and experienced some impressive sunsets. Due to a poor weather forecast, the vessel made way for Stanton Bank a little earlier than originally planned and recovered/deployed a COMPASS mooring in the south of the region (which had an even larger squid cluster than…

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  • Scallops, Starfish and Heavy Metal

    24th June 2019 by

    MRV Alba na Mara Survey: 1019A Programme Duration: 15 June – 04 July 2019 Fishing Gear: Scallop dredges Objectives: Carry out a survey of scallop stocks on the East Coast. Age, measure and assess shell damage on all scallops caught. Collect information on by-catch of other commercial fish and shellfish species. Identify and quantify numbers…

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  • BOWLing for Prey Species

    20th June 2019 by

    MRV Alba na Mara Survey: 0919A Programme Duration: 8-12 June 2019 Equipment: Pelagic net PT 154; “Bongo” net plankton sampling equipment; Seabird SBE19 CTD; Water sampling mini-rosette; Sandeel dredge; Day grab and grab table; and EK 60 sounder. Location Names: Beatrice Offshore Wind farm Limited  (BOWL); Moray East Offshore Wind farm (MEOW); and Moray West…

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  • All Eyes on New Worm Species

    18th June 2019 by

    There’s a worm at the bottom of the sea – and it’s been discovered off the Scottish coast by a team of scientists from the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC), Marine Scotland Science (MSS) and Thomson Environmental Consultants.  But this isn’t an ordinary worm – the newcomer has a unique anatomy with its eyes in…

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  • Coastal Temperature Data Published on World Oceans Day

    8th June 2019 by

    As part of the Scottish Coastal Observatory, Marine Scotland and a group of dedicated volunteers record coastal water temperatures around Scotland. Today, on World Oceans Day, the coastal water temperature data from 14 monitoring locations are being published. The volunteer-based observing network works by the volunteers receiving a small self-recording temperature sensor every three months…

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  • Ah, the humble chip!

    7th June 2019 by

    It’s National Fish and Chip day! Whilst we deal with the fish side of it, we decided to ask one of our potato-boffin colleagues in Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture, Dr Alex Reid, to give us his opinion on the best potato to make chips and the optimum way to make them. Question is,…

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  • Nephrops Burrowing Complexes

    6th June 2019 by

    MRV Scotia Programme Survey: 0819S Duration: 2-24 June 2019 Gear: 2 x Scotia BT175 60mm prawn trawls; 2 x Day grabs and 1 x sieving table; 2 x towed UWTV sledges; 3 x 600m umbilical towing cables and associated TV equipment (including back up); COMPASS work: VEMCO deck box, transponder and charging unit for acoustic release;…

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  • Monks, Megs and More…

    20th May 2019 by

    The second leg of the Monkfish Survey (1219H) departed a sunny Scrabster on the MFV Genesis on Sunday 28th April. It was a 36 hour steam out to Rockall, which gave us plenty of time for some beauty sleep.  We then began fishing on Tuesday in some fine, calm conditions. The aim of the survey…

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