Seed Mussel Survey Report update for the Wicklow Area 25 to 30/07/2013

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1 Seed Mussel Survey Report update for the Wicklow Area 25 to 30/07/2013 Vessel: MV T Burke (BIM, Skipper John Murphy, Survey Officer Nicolas Chopin Equipment: 400 khz side scan sonar, 1 meter dredge. Area surveyed: From Six Miles Point to North Brittas Bay to the North Arklow Buoy to the India North Buoy Survey summary: No seed was found during the first survey (April/ May in Wicklow, only a few signs of possible settlements were observed around Seapark Point/ Ardmore Point. Due to the cold spring, there was the possibility for a later settlement of larvae so a repeat survey was recommended. The repeat survey was carried out at the end of July. No seed was found in the areas where some signs of seed were previously found. The side scan sonar was deployed between two formerly covered areas, but no possible seed features were observed. The data shows a lot of large stones outcrops which makes dredging difficult. An area between north Brittas Bay and the North Arklow Buoy was check but only stones were found. Finally, a large area north of Wicklow Head was checked but again no seed was found. Bottom type: the seabed around Wicklow has not shown any signs of improvement since last year, very little life was observed on the stones south of the Head. Fine sand is piling up behind the Horseshoe Bank. Nicolas Chopin Inshore Survey Officer BIM Aquaculture Technical Section Note for the map: TW stands for Tow Wicklow GW stands for Grab Wicklow In the legend dgd stands for dredge In the legend gb stands for grab

2 Updated Seed Survey Map for Wicklow Head Area - July 2013 TW60E TW62E TW27E TW27 TW63 TW63E TW60 TW62 TW61E TW26 TW77 TW35E TW61 TW75E TW76 TW76E TW75 TW34E TW35 TW34 TW59E TW59 TW58E TW58 TW79E TW25E TW79 TW78 TW78E TW74E TW33E TW74 TW33 TW32E TW25 TW32 TW57E TW24E TW24 TW57 TW73E TW31E TW73 TW31 TW30E TW28E TW28 TW30 TW29E TW23 TW11 TW17 TW1E TW18 TW37E TW53 TW1 TW56 TW36 TW36E GW2 TW55 TW40 TW13E TW13 TW12E TW12TW45 TW45E TW14 TW54 TW4 TW6 TW8E TW5 TW41 TW15 Legend TW43TW7 TW10E TW22 TW42 TW22E TW10 TW20 TW19 TW49E stones_shells_dgd other_species_dgd TW9E TW9 TW21E other_species_gb 1.4 TW48 TW48E TW69E TW70 TW64E TW64 TW69 TW21 TW50 TW50E GW1 TW71 signs_dgd empty_grabs TW38 TW47 TW49 TW38E sand_dgd 0.7 empty_dgd 0.35 Side_scan_tracks 0 TW46 TW46E TW72 TW40E TW37 TW2 TW3ETW3 TW29 TW66 TW52 TW52E TW65E TW65 TW51E TW51 TW67E TW68E TW67 TW Nautical Miles 2.8 Nicolas Chopin - BIM Aqua. tech. Section - 02/08/2013

3 Seed Mussel Survey Report for the Wicklow Area 23/04/2013 to 16/05/2013 Vessel: MV T Burke (BIM, Skipper John Murphy, Survey Officer Nicolas Chopin, Ben Dallaghan. Equipment: 400 khz side scan sonar, 1 meter dredge, 0.1m2 Day grab. Area surveyed: from Five Miles Point (North to Ballynacarrig/ Jack s Hole (South on the coast and the North end of the Arklow Bank (South to the edge the India Bank Channel (North on the seaward side. Survey summary: The seed mussel areas found on rough ground last year were checked for over wintered seed. Only few clumps with a lot of starfish and mortality were found in those areas. The side scan sonar was deployed in five locations (see map, south of Wicklow the ground is still very rough and hard, a lot of large boulders were observed and no seed mussel settlement features were found. Few interesting features were investigated but no signs of seed were found (see Targets marks on map. The dredge was deployed many times but nothing was found but stones and old shells. The grab was deployed twice but only caught two stones. Due to the hardness of the ground and weather /tide conditions, the grab has not been used further. Due to very bad water visibility the underwater camera was not deployed. Bottom type: The seabed is still very rough with a lot of boulders and stones south of Wicklow Head. The ground is a bit smoother to the North (along side the channel, mainly small stones, gravel and coarse sand. Recommendations: Although nothing has been found around Wicklow yet, the season is still at an early stage. The seabed, south of the head, is still slowly recovering from the 2010/2011 winter storms. Nicolas Chopin Inshore Survey Officer BIM Aquaculture Technical Section Notes for the map: TW stands for Tow Wicklow GW stands for Grab Blackwater dgd stands for dredge in the map legend gb stands for grab in the map legend

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5 Seed Survey Map for Wicklow Head Area - April/ May 2013 TW27E TW27 TW35E TW35 TW26E TW26 TW34E TW33E TW34 TW33 TW25E TW25 TW32E TW32 TW31E TW31 TW24E TW24 TW30E TW30 TW28E TW28 TW29E TW29 TW18E TW18 TW23 TW11E TW17E TW11TW17 TW37 TW37E TW1E TW36ETW36 TW1 TW2 TW2E TW3ETW3 Legend other_species_gb empty_grabs TW6E TW8E TW6 TW5 TW5E GW2 TW13E TW12E TW13 TW12 TW15 TW8 TW7E TW7 TW22E TW10 stones_shells_dgd TW22 TW20E TW20 TW38 TW38E GW1 sand_dgd empty_dgd TW9E TW9 TW19 Side_scan_tracks 1 TW14E TW14 other_species_dgd 0.5 signs_dgd Nautical Miles 4 Nicolas Chopin - BIM Aqua. tech. Section - 27/05/2013