DOI: 10.14466/CefasDataHub.195

Description

Between 2021 and 2025 Cefas conducted a pilot study to investigate which common whelk (Buccinum undatum) metrics may be informative to collect for English waters stock delineation purposes, and at what spatial resolution. These metrics primarily include shell length distributions and associated sampling metrics (haul coordinates, gear type, pot soak times). Select samples were sent to Bangor University for dissections, providing further biometrics including; shell dimensions (length, width, aperture), weights (whole animal, gonad, foot), sex, maturity, estimated ages. Mark-Recapture Surveys were conducted in 2022 and 2024 in The Wash where tag numbers, positional/temporal data for release/recapture, and environmental parameters (sea depth and temperature) were recorded alongside shell length distributions.

These data were obtained via both a fisheries-dependent pilot sampling programme and several fisheries-independent surveys.

Samples obtained via the fisheries-dependent monitoring programme do not cover the full extent of the fishing ground, as initial high engagement was not sustained for the duration of the project. Samples obtained via the fisheries-independent surveys only provide a snapshot of the fishery, so should be considered as complementary to the fishery-dependent sampling. The Mark-Recapture surveys encountered low recapture rates and so the original aim to calculate growth rates for sampled sites could not be realised.

Contributors

Voak, Bella / Lawler, Andrew / McIntyre, Rosslyn

Subject

Shellfish / Mollusc / Sample / Shellfish morphology, age and physiology

Start Date

01/04/2021

End Date

31/03/2025

Year Published

2026

Version

1

Citation

Voak, Lawler and McIntyre. (2026). Whelk metrics data from The Wash between 2021 and 2025. V1. doi: https://doi.org/10.14466/CefasDataHub.195

Rights List

Open Government Licence

DOI

10.14466/CefasDataHub.195