Fisheries Resource Maps
View and download sea fisheries species data of the Irish Groundfish Survey and Biological Sampling Survey.
Irish Groundfish Survey
The Irish Groundfish Survey (IGFS) is an annual six-week demersal trawl survey that takes place in the shelf waters around Ireland each winter. It is part of a Europe-wide survey effort coordinated by International Bottom Trawl Survey (IBTS). The core objective of these surveys is to provide an independent estimate of abundance for commercially exploited fish stocks, in particular their reproductive success for that year.
The sampling trawl uses a very small 20mm mesh in the cod end to retain juvenile fish spawned that spring which will then form the basis of the fishery in years to come. Sampling efficiency is highly controlled on these surveys. However, like all trawl sampling it is never 100% so the data collected is taken as indicative of relative change year on year rather than absolute abundance at any given location or point in time.
View and download Irish Groundfish Survey
Biological Sampling Survey
The Biological Sampling Survey was an annual demersal trawl survey. The first survey took place in 2004 and the last survey took place in 2009. In order to assess the state of a fish stock, fisheries scientists need to know more than just the size of the stock. It is important to know how many fish are reproducing and how fast they grow and reach maturity in order to know how resilient a stock is to fishing exploitation.