Foreign Vessel Surveys
A number of Foreign Marine Scientific Research (FMSR) programs 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 the surveys as the Irish Observer onboard, please see details of our Foreign Vessel Observer Scheme to check that you qualify and how to apply.
FOREIGN MARINE SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH SURVEYS 2026
| COUNTRY | VESSEL NAME | LOCATION | CRUISE OBJECTIVES | FROM (DATE) | TO (DATE) | IRISH OBSERVER |
| UK | CORYSTES | Western Irish Sea | To maintain the AFBI oceanographic mooring in the western Irish Sea | 7th Jan | 13th Jan | Survey Complete |
| UK | CORYSTES | Western Irish Sea | To maintain the AFBI oceanographic mooring in the western Irish Sea | 16th Feb | 23rd Feb | Survey Complete |
| UK | Scotia | ICES management area 6A | Bottom Trawl Survey targeting commercial gadoids and other demersal species within ICES Subarea 6A | 16th Feb | 10th Mar | Survey Complete |
| UK | Endeavour | Celtic Sea, Bristol Channel and western Channel | This is a ground-fish survey using two 4m beam trawls operating as part of the internationally-coordinated Working Group on Beam Trawl Surveys (WGBEAM) for southern and western waters. | Feb 23rd | Mar 27th | Survey Complete |
| UK | CORYSTES | Irish Sea and St George’s Channel | Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute Irish Sea and St George’s Channel Quarter 1 March 2026 Ground-fish Survey | 4th Mar | 28th Mar | Survey Complete |
| Netherlands | Tridens | Western Approaches and West Ireland | International Blue Whiting Survey | 16th Mar | 10th Apr | Survey Complete |
| Norway | M/V Vendla | Atlantic Ocean West of Ireland | Blue whiting spawning stock Survey | 16th Mar | 1st April | Survey Complete |
| Spain | Vizconde de Eza | Atlantic Ocean West of Ireland | International Blue Whiting Survey 0326 | 16th Mar | 2nd April | Survey Complete |
| UK | CORYSTES | Western Irish Sea | CO1526 – AFBI (RV Corystes) Oceanography Cruise | 6th April | 13th April | Survey Complete |
| UK | MRV Scotia | ICES management areas 4a, 6a and 6b. | Scottish / Irish Anglerfish Megrim Industry Science Survey (SIAMISS) | 14th April | 4th May | Survey Complete |
| UK | RRS Discovery | NE Atlantic, west of the UK and Ireland in the High Seas. | RRS Discovery Cruise 210 – Multidecadal Change at the Porcupine Abyssal Plain Sustained Observatory | 2nd May | 22nd May | Observer confirmed |
| UK | CORYSTES | Western Irish Sea | CO1926 – AFBI (RV Corystes) Oceanography Cruise | 10th May | 16th May | One berth available for an Observer |
| UK | CORYSTES | Irish Sea and North Channel | NIMIK Survey 2026 | 20th May | 10th June | Observer confirmed |
| UK | RRS Discovery | North Atlantic Ocean | Service the Brittany ODAS Buoy at the deployed site | 25th May | 2nd June | One berth available for an Observer |
| UK | RR James Cook | Southern Irish Sea | A MISSING LINK between continental shelves and the deep sea: Addressing the overlooked role of land-detached submarine canyons | 21st June | 7th Aug | Observer confirmed |
| UK | CORYSTES | Western Irish Sea | CO2826 – AFBI (RV Corystes) Oceanography Cruise | 14th July | 25th July | Observer confirmed |
| UK | CORYSTES | Western Irish Sea | CO3026 - Agriculture Food and Biosciences Institute UWTV survey to determine Nephrops abundance in FU 15 | 28th July | 10th August | There is no berth available on this survey |
| UK | CORYSTES | Irish Sea | CO3126 - Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute Irish Sea Nephrops Assessment Trawl Survey | 19th Aug | 23rd Aug | Observer confirmed |
| UK | CORYSTES | Western Irish Sea | CO3426 - AFBI (RV Corystes) Oceanography Cruise | 26th Aug | 30th Aug | One berth available for an Observer |
| UK | CORYSTES | Irish Sea and St George’s Channel | CO3526 - Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute Irish Sea pelagic acoustic Survey 2026 | 1st Sept | 24th Sept | One berth available for an Observer |
| UK | Endeavour | Irish Sea and Celtic Sea | Irish Sea and Bristol Channel Beam trawl survey | 10th Sept | 29th Sept | One berth available for an Observer |
| UK | CORYSTES | Irish Sea and St George’s Channel | CO4126 - Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute Irish Sea & St George’s Channel Quarter 4 October 2026 Ground-fish Survey | 1st Oct | 20th Oct | One berth available for an Observer |
|
Norway
|
M/V Vendla | West of British Isles | Joint investigations on blue whiting in the area West of the British Isles | 16th Mar | 31st Mar | Observer Confirmed |
| Norway | Fiskebas | Western Irish Sea | Tagging Mackeral with RFID tags and biological sampling of mackerel | 10th Apr | 10th June | Survey Complete |
| UK | MV Audacious | Western Irish Sea | 2026 Scottish / Irish Anglerfish Megrim Industry Science Survey (SIAMISS) | 10th Apr | 8th May | Survey Complete |
| France | THALASSA | Western Irish Sea | French Bottom Trawl Surveys in Bay of Biscay and Celtic Sea | 13th Oct | 19th Dec | |
| UK | CORYSTES | Western Irish Sea | Undertake sampling with the CTD Rosette to maintain the continuous oceanographic dataset in the western Irish Sea | 13th Nov | 17th Nov | One berth available for an Observer |
| UK | CORYSTES | Western Irish Sea | AFBI (RV Corystes) Oceanography Cruise - Maintenance of an oceanographic mooring in the western Irish Sea | 26th Sep | 30th Sep | One berth available for an Observer |
| Spain | Vizconde de Eza | Western British Isles | IBWSS 0326 | 17th Mar | 30th Mar | Survey Complete |
| France | L'ATALANTE | Western British Isles | REDECOR 2026 (Leg 1) – Restoration of Deep-Coral Reefs | 30th July | 16th Aug | One berth available for an Observer |
| UK | MRV Scotia | Western British Isles | 1126S – Quarter 3 Rockall Haddock Survey 2026 | 9th Sept | 20th Sept | One berth available for an Observer |
| Spain | Vizconde de Eza | Porcupine Bank | Bottom Trawl Survey on the Porcupine Bank (SP-PORC-Q3) | 11th Sept | 18th Oct | One berth available for an Observer |
| UK | Cefas Endeavour | Celtic Sea, Bristol Channel and western Channel | Beam Trawl Survey (Q1SWBeam) | 10th Feb | 10th Apr | One berth available for an Observer |
| UK | MRV Scotia | Western British Isles | 2026 West Coast Q4 Demersal Trawl Survey, 1426S (SCOWCGFS-Q4) | 10th Nov | 29th Nov | One berth available for an Observer |