Marine Scotland Science are the scientific co-ordinators in an EU funded research project called SURVIVAL. Our partners are the Institute of Marine Science, Norway; the Institute of Fisheries Research and The North Sea Museum, Denmark.
Project SURVIVAL aims to estimate mortality in gadoid fish escaping from towed fishing gears and to determine the impact on the management of those fisheries. It will further improve sampling technologies to obtain more accurate escape mortality estimates for cod, haddock and whiting. The effects of escaping at depth and at the surface (during haul-back) will be addressed. The influence upon survivability of seasonal variation in physical condition will also be assessed as well as the impact of high-intensity fishing operations (with the potential for repeat capture and escape). Finally, escape mortality estimates will be utilised in modified stock assessment models and the influence of any observed escape mortality upon the stock levels of that fishery will be predicted.