A number of foreign marine scientific research programmes (FMSR) are undertaken in Irish waters each year. Summary details of the surveys are available in the table below.
If you're interested in participating in any of these surveys as the Irish Observer onboard, please see details of our Foreign Vessel Observer Scheme to check that you qualify.
All observers are required to comply with current Covid-19 safety regulations and protocols on board the relevant vessel.
FOREIGN MARINE SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH SURVEYS 2022
| COUNTRY | VESSEL NAME | LOCATION | CRUISE OBJECTIVES | FROM (DATE) | TO (DATE) | IRISH OBSERVER |
| UK | Scotia | ICES Mgt area VIA | Bottom trawl survey targeting juvenile gadoid species. | Feb 15th | Mar 6th | N/A |
| UK | FV Achilles | Irish Sea | To estimate the distribution, abundance and population structure of cod, haddock and whiting by semi-pelagic trawling, using commercial fishing gear. | Feb 20th | Mar 25th | TBC |
| UK | CEFEAS Endeveour | Celtic Sea, Bristol & Western Channel. | Ground-fish survey using 4m beam trawls operating as part of the internationally coordinated Working Group on Beam Trawl Surveys. | Feb 20th | April 15th | TBC |
| UK | Queen of Ulster | North West of Ireland | Retrieval and Redeployment OF ACOUSTIC ARRAY. | Feb 20th | April 3rd | TBC |
| Spain | Vizconde De Eza | South Porcupine bank & Porcupine Seabigh | Acoustic abundance estimates and distribution patterns of blue whiting. | Mar 2nd | Mar 12th | TBC |
| Netherlands | Tridens | Western Approaches & West of Ireland | Estimate the spawning stock abundance of Blue Whiting using acoustic methods. | Mar 9th | April 15th | TBC |
| Spain | Ramon Margalef | Northeastern Atlantic | To estimate the spawning stock biomass of the northeastern Atlantic mackerel and horse mackerel stock. | Mar 20th | April 3rd | TBC |
| UK | Altaire | Scottish and Irish West Coast | Blue whiting survey to acoustically determine the stock biomass in the east Atlantic. | Mar 23rd | April 19th | TBC |
| Germany | Walther Herwig III | West Ireland and Porcupine Bank, the Celtic Sea. |
The main objective of the survey is to produce both an index and a direct estimate |
Mar 23rd | April 23rd | Berth available |
| Norway | MV Vendla | Atlantic Ocean Northwest of Ireland | The cruise is part of the international blue whiting survey coordinated through the ICES working group of International Pelagic surveys with participants from Ire, Norway, the NLs, Faroes and Spain. | Mar 24th | April 2nd | Berth available |
| Norway | Unknown | Porcupine Bank and SE of Rockall Bank | To test catch regulation devices in the Blue Whiting fisheries. | Mar 28th | April 11th | TBC |
| UK | Scotia | The Rockall Plateau, NW slope and NW Ireland. | To conduct a trawl survey to estimate the abundance and distribution of anglerfish. | April 11th | April 30th | N/A |
| Norway | Fiskebas | West of Ireland and Scotland | Tagging and biological sampling of mackerel. | April 18th | May 26th | N/A |
| UK | James Cook | Whittard Canyon/PAP-SO | Sustained observatory (Annual service visit; High Seas), and mooring recovery and deployment in Whittard Canyon. | May 1st | May 9th | TBC |
| Netherlands | Tridens | North Atlantic Ocean, Celtic Sea, Bay of Biscay | To collect data of the distribution of mackerel and horse mackerel eggs, to collect data on fecundity of female mackerel and horse mackerel and to obtain hydrographical data. | May 9th | May 27th | TBC |
| Germany | RV Maria | Continental Shelf adjacent to the Rockall Trough | To investigate the carbon and nitrogen cycling in the shelf region off Western Ireland and compare this to the open ocean productivity and export. | May 21st | June 4th | TBC |
| Netherlands | Tridens | North Atlantic Ocean, Celtic Sea, Bay of Biscay | Biomass estimation of mackerel and horse mackerel stock. To collect data of the distribution of mackerel and horse mackerel eggs, to collect data on fecundity of female mackerel and horse mackerel and to obtain hydrographical data. | June 6th | June 24th | TBC |
| Northern Ireland | Corystes | Northern/Western Irish Sea | Various research surveys, including Oceanographic surveys. | Jan | Dec | TBC |