Nansen has set sail - Practical acoustics and trawl surveys on leg one of the Northwest Africa voyage
- Easter Wairimu (on left) follows instructions on how to measure fish lengths using an electronic measuring board together with other participants
The Northwest Africa scientific cruises for acoustics and trawl surveys by R/V Dr. Fridtjof Nansen set sail on 21 October 2015. The first leg covers four zones of Casamance, Gambie, Petite Cote and Nord off the coasts of Senegal and Gambia.
Three Durban graduates: Kameral Ba (Senegal), Esther Wairimu and Cosmas Munga (Kenya) are currently onboard with other scientists. Kamerel, Esther and Cosmas successfully accomplished the trawling and acoustic surveys training course in Durban, South Africa organized by the FAO EAF-Nansen Project.
All are excited onboard and actively participating in the ongoing scientific research surveys.
What have we experienced so far?
The cruise survey plan – Acoustics and trawl stations are conducted perpendicular to the shoreline, and are separated 10 nautical miles from each other covering the four survey blocks from Casamance in the south towards Port Luis in the Nord Zone. So far a total of four stations have been covered for pelagic trawl surveys.
- Cosmas Munga and Kamerel Ba keenly following instructions from the Cruise Leader alongside other participants
- Data punching in the Nansis Software
Objectives of the scientific survey
- To assess the abundance and distribution of commercial key pelagic fish species: Sardinella maderensis, Sardinella aurita, Trachurus trecae, Decapterus rhombus, and Scomber japonicus.
- To conduct biological measurements of these key pelagic fish species (mostly total length, individual weight, gonad maturity, otolith collection for Sardinella aurita)
- To measure environmental variables using a conductivity, temperature, and depth (CTD) device.
The results of this survey will provide useful information for the management of these key fishery species.
- Participants following sampling instructions from the Cruise Leader
- Deck sampling of catch in progress
We’ll be writing more from onboard about our work on this leg of the survey trip. If you have any questions for our scientists, feel free to submit them.
In the meantime, take a look at this map below to better understand the area we will be covering during the four legs of our Northwest Africa survey voyage.
