CTD data in the Flemish Cap area.

CTD data in a transect in the Flemish Cup area

CTD Data in the Flemish Cap area

CTD data in the Flemish Cap area

CTD data in the Flemish Cap area

CTD data in the Nafo area

From day 6 to day 21 of the month of October the B / O Vizconde de Eza made the first of a series of multidisciplinary campaigns aimed at improving knowledge of El Cachucho fishing ground, located on the Asturian marginal shelf within the Spanish EEZ. This fishing ground is characterized by being a very irregular zone, presenting slopes greater than 45 degrees in some areas. The study of benthic communities and demersal fish was supported by exhaustive studies of other disciplines in order to obtain information about their environment and existing trophic relationships. The results obtained, and analyzed separately, of each discipline are of great value due to the unique characteristics of the fishing ground, but the common effort of the participants to relate all the subjects adds to the campaign an incalculable value in the scientific field and unique knowledge for the management of the fishery in the current framework that advocates sustainable development. GOALS Due to the scarce bathymetric information in the fishing grounds, the first part of the campaign focused on obtaining an accurate bathymetry of the study area that served as the basis for the physical, chemical, geological and biological studies that the different participating teams carried out. then. WORK AREA Image of the work area comprising the upper part of the Le Danois bank and the area between this elevation and the Lastres canyon The bank's funds are difficult to access, due to their depth and relief, for most of the instruments that come into contact. This limits the area of ​​the study area. Mainly the works were oriented to the upper part of the bank Le Danois and to the area between this elevation and the Lastres

The oceanographic vessel Vizconde de Eza developed its first research campaign in Galicia as a result of the unfortunate accident and sinking of the Prestige oil tanker. In January of 2003, this project was undertaken to estimate the impact produced by the discharge of hydrocarbon on the demersal communities on the continental shelf of Galicia, in soft bottoms between 90 and 500 m, testing new acoustic methods for the detection of fuel the depths fixed. This multidisciplinary campaign took place over eight days on board the B / O Vizconde de Eza in the area of ​​the continental shelf between the Ría de Muros and La Coruña. The study of the main members of the bottom communities (infauna, epifauna, suprabenths and benthic and demersal macrofauna) was included, for which 20 sampling stations were established located in the three strata of the standardized trawl campaigns (70 - 120, 121 - 200 and 201 - 500 meters).

This campaign, financed entirely by the Spanish administration, is part of the agreement established between the SGPM and the IEORealization of research program in the fisheries as well as the research project funded by the General Secretariat of R & D of the Xunta de Galicia: Identification of commercial products from La Raya through DNA technology, developed in collaboration with the University of Vigo and the Technological Center of the Sea (CETMAR). Currently there is a moratorium on fishing for the commercial species of the Great Bank of Newfoundland, so the results of this campaign represent a valuable information for the Spanish administration. OBJECTIVES This campaign belongs to the series destined to obtain indices of abundance and to know the structure of the populations of commercial species in the area of ​​Regulation of the NAFO, and in particular in the divisions 3N and 3O. WORK AREA Mainly worked in the queue of the Great Bank of Newfoundland outside the Exclusive Economic Zone of Canada, in divisions 3O and 3N of the area of ​​regulation of NAFO.

Annually, the European Union develops two research campaigns in the area of ​​NAFO (North Atlantic Fisheries Organization), one in the 3NO division and another in the 3M and 3L (Flemish Cap Series). This campaign is part of a historical series in order to provide indices for the evaluation of the stock of halibut and other groundfish species in the area such as flounder, redfish, grenadier, cod or shrimp. The Flemish Cap bank is an isolated bank of the American coastal platform with an area greater than 10,000 square miles and is located outside of the Exclusive Economic Zone of Canada. The exploitation of the resources of this area is regulated by the international agreements of NAFO. GOALS Estimation of abundance and biomass indices of the target species, as well as the study and analysis of the demographic structure of their populations and the oceanographic conditions in the Bank.