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 2024
| COUNTRY | VESSEL NAME | LOCATION | CRUISE OBJECTIVES | FROM (DATE) | TO (DATE) | IRISH OBSERVER |
| France | Thalassa | Celtic Sea | International Bottom Trawl Survey | Nov 9th | Dec 6th |
Observer confirmed |
| UK (NI) | Constant Friend | UK, Republic of Ireland & Northern Ireland sea border. | Experimental Winter Squid Fishery | Oct 1st | Feb 28th | N/A |
| UK | Scotia | Scottish and Irish west coast | Demersal trawling survey to assess pre-recruit year class strengths of cod, haddock, whiting, Norway pout, mackerel and herring | Nov 5th | Nov 24th | N/A |
| FOREIGN MARINE SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH SURVEYS 2025 | ||||||
| UK | Scotia | ICES management area 6A | Bottom trawl survey targeting commercial gadoid as and other commercial species within ICES Subarea 6a | Feb 13th | Mar 7th | Observer confirmed |
| UK | Cefas Endeavour | Celtic Sea, Bristol Channel and western Channel | This survey targets sole and plaice in the entire western Channel and the Celtic Sea areas and currently provides survey indices datasets for both species in the western Channel | Feb 17th | April 10th | Observer confirmed |
| Netherlands | Tridens | Western Approaches and West of Ireland | Blue Whiting Survey. Estimate the spawning stock abundance of Blue Whiting using acoustic methods. | Mar 10th | Apr 4th | Observer confirmed |
| Spain | VIZCONDE DE EZA | South of Ireland, South Porcupine Bank and Porcupine Seabigh | Acoustic abundance estimates and distribution patterns of Blue Whiting | Mar 18th | Apr 1st | One berth available for an Observer |
| Spain | B/O Ramon Margalef | UK Irish EEZ, Irish EEZ | Triennial Mackerel and Horse Mackerel Egg Surveys | Mar 19th | Mar 28th | One berth available for an Observer |
| Norway | TBC | Atlantic Ocean northwest of Ireland | Acoustic assessment of the blue whiting spawning stock | Mar 19th | Apr 3rd | One berth available for an Observer |
| Denmark | Jákup Sverri | South of the Faroes, south west of the Hebrides | Assess the spawning stock of blue whiting in April as part of the joint international blue whiting survey (IBWSS) on the spawning grounds west of the British Isles, the Porcupine Bank and the Rockall Bank. | Mar 27th | Apr 9th | One berth available for an Observer |
| Germany | Walther Herwig III | West Ireland and Porcupine Bank, the Celtic Sea, Northern part of the Bay of Biscay | Mackerel and Horse Mackerel Egg Survey | Mar 27th | April 27th | One berth available for an Observer |
| Germany | MARIA S. MERIAN | Irish EEZ | Along and across slope transport of organic matter and sediment off western Ireland - LONTRA | Apr 26th | May 4th | Observer confirmed |
| Netherlands | Tridens | North Atlantic Ocean, Celtic Sea and Bay of Biscay. | Mackerel and Horse mackerel egg survey May 2025 | May 5th | May 23rd | One berth available for an Observer |
| Netherlands | Tridens | North Atlantic Ocean, Celtic Sea and Bay of Biscay. | Mackerel and Horse mackerel egg survey June 2025 | June 2nd | June 20th | One berth available for an Observer |