DREAMER-2 Cruise, RV Sarmiento de Gamboa

• Main Authors: Saborido-Rey, Fran, Álvarez, Paula, CSIC - Unidad de Tecnología Marina (UTM)
• Format: Dataset
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2017
• Subjects: http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_2e39cd42; http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_3473; Expediciones; Merluza; Hake; Sarmiento; North East Atlantic
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10261/232063; https://doi.org/10.20351/29SG20170617

DREAMER-2 Cruise (29SG20170617) carried out on the Research Vessel Sarmiento de Gamboa in 2017 The European hake, Merluccius merluccius L., is one of the most important economical fisheries in the North-East Atlantic that also plays a key role in the marine ecosystem. After the implementation by the EU of various recovery plans for both stocks, the spawning biomass has recently recuperated, after more than two decades under the security limits. However, recruitment remains highly variable, and in the case of the Southern stock (SS) still decreasing. The overall objective of the project is to analyze the causes that determine hake recruitment with special attention to the demographic and environmental causes and focusing in particular in the seasonal differences in the spawning pattern (SS hake shows two spawning peaks, in late winter and late spring-summer), larval distribution, trophic dynamics of larvae, seasonal differences in recruitment and connectivity patterns between stocks. To achieve these objectives the project will carry out two research surveys, in March and June 2017 within the main hake spawning area, between Cape Finisterre and Eo estuary. The main goals of the surveys are to determine the distributional pattern of hake larvae and the factors determining the observed pattern (climatic, oceanographic and foraging) and collecting biological samples in several life stages: from larvae to young of the year recruits. March survey (DRE0317) was divided in two legs. The first one aimed to characterize environmental conditions and larval abundance along 18 transects orthogonal to the coast, covering the whole research area, and summing 114 fixed stations. Each transect was drawn every 8 nautical miles, while the stations within transect was separated every 4 nm. In each station it was performed an oblique Bongo (60 cm, 500 m mesh size), a vertical pairovet (60 and 150 m) and a CTD profile to estimate hake larval abundance, ichthyoplankton community, micro and mesozooplankton and oceanographic ...