This report is a contribution to the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA4) conducted by the Department of Trade and Industry (now Department of Energy and Climate Change). It concerns fish and fisheries of the SEA4 area which covers the area to the west of Shetland and Orkney and most of the UK sector of the Faroe Shetland Channel. Fisheries are very important in the SEA4 area, the mixed demersal fishery for cod, haddock and whiting, the pelagic fisheries for herring and mackerel, and the industrial fishery for sandeel, being the most important. However, there are serious concerns about many fish stocks. This report discusses fish biology, the many different fisheries, trends in fish landings, management efforts to control fishing and achieve sustainable fish stocks, and the interaction between fishing and the oil and gas industry. Relevant aspects of the biology of 28 species or species groups are described. Brief descriptions of the fishery for each species are given, including the method of fishing and long term trends in landings. Statistical information on fish landings available from the International Council for the Exploration of the SEA (ICES) and data for Scottish vessels supplied by Fisheries Research Services are presented. Problems of misreporting and under-reporting are discussed.

The impact of the physical environment on the foraging energetics of shearwaters and the consequences for breeding success (SHEAR) project from 2022 to 2025 to study manx shearwater (Puffinus puffinus) breeding on two colonies (Bardsey Island and the Calf of Man) within the Irish Sea, to understand the impacts of future climate change. The data collected includes manx shearwater tracking data to study foraging movements. TechnoSmart AxyTrek tags were used to record location (latitude/longitude), tri-axial acceleration, and pressure, which has been converted to depth (in metres). Data were generated by converting files downloaded from the loggers using the tag manufacturer's software. Prey field data were also collectedusing an echosounder. The data collected from this project were funded by the NERC Discovery Science grant NE/W001217/1, awarded to principal investigator Dr Line Cordes at Bangor University.

The data set comprises hydrographic and biogeochemical and biological measurements including temperature, salinity, currents, chlorophyll, dissolved organic and inorganic carbon and nitrogen, suspended matter concentrations, nutrients, plankton and fish. The results of primary production experiments are also included. The data were collected from the Bristol Channel, Severn Estuary, Celtic Sea and Plymouth Sound between 1971 and 1983. Measurements were taken over a series of more than 100 cruises, many with more than 50 stations. The most intensive sampling took place before 1975. The original data were collated and stored at Institute for Marine Environmental Research (IMER), which became Plymouth Marine Laboratory in 1988. As this is a large and important data set, which was previously held in an inaccessible format, it was selected for long-term archival at BODC as part of the NERC SEEDCORN programme. The data have been extracted, loaded into a relational database and are available on CD-ROM.

The dataset comprises physical, biogeochemical and biological oceanographic, surface meteorological and benthic measurements. Hydrographic profiles including temperature, salinity, fluorescence, transmissance and suspended sediment concentration were collected at numerous stations, while surface hydrographic (fluorescence, transmissance, sea surface temperature, salinity) and meteorological (irradiance, air temperature, humidity, wind speed/direction) data were collected across the survey areas. Sediment, pore water and water column samples were also collected for biogeochemical analysis, as were biological samples for the purposes of species classification and abundance analyses. The data were collected across the Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea and Pakistan margin areas between March and October 2003. Data collection was undertaken by the RRS Charles Darwin during four cruises: CD145 (12 March 2003 to 9 April 2003), CD146 (12 April 2003 to 30 May 2003), CD150 (22 August 2003 to 15 September 2003) and CD151 (17 September 2003 to 20 October 2003). Conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) profilers with auxiliary sensors, benthic samplers and nets were deployed from the ship, while underway sensors provided continuous surface ocean, meteorological and bathymetric data. The study was designed to investigate an oxygen-minimum zone (OMZ) in the northern Arabian Sea. Chief Investigators include Gregory L Cowie (University of Edinburgh School of GeoSciences) and Brian J Bett (Southampton Oceanography Centre), while other institutions including the Dunstaffnage Marine Laboratory, University of Liverpool and Netherlands Institute of Ecology were also involved in the research. Data management is being undertaken by BODC. Some of the data are still undergoing processing at BODC and further data are expected from originators in the future.

This dataset consists of a variety of hydrographic, biogeochemical and meteorological data. Hydrographic profiles, towed and underway measurements and point sources provided information on free-fall turbulence data, current velocities and acoustic backscatter, water column structure including temperature and salinity, the underwater light field, fluorescence and dissolved oxygen. A comprehensive biogeochemical water sampling programme provided details on nutrients, primary productivity, dissolved organic matter and phytoplankton pigments. Biological samples such as zooplankton were obtained from the water column using nets, and from the sea-bed using grabs. Bathymetry and meteorological parameters were measured across the study area. A dye release experiment was also carried out. Data collection was undertaken in the Celtic Sea. The data were collected during the period 02 - 27 July 2008 during RRS James Cook cruise JC025. Measurements were taken using a variety of instrumentation, including conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) profilers with attached auxiliary sensors, bathymetric echosounders, water bottle samplers, nets, acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCPs), remote access water samplers, towed undulators, free-fall turbulence profilers, temperature loggers, fluorometers, grabs and ship flow-through and meteorological packages. The data have been collected as part of the United Kingdom (UK) Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Oceans 2025 programme (Work Package 3.2) to provide information on vertical mixing processes at the thermocline. This will help improve modelling of these processes and is an expansion of work carried out during a previous National Oceanography Centre Liverpool (NOCL) project ‘Physical-Biological Control of New Production within the Seasonal Thermocline’. The cruise was undertaken jointly by NOCL, the Scottish Association for Marine Sciences (SAMS), the University of Aberdeen, the University of Strathclyde, Napier University and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC). The Principal Scientist during the research cruise was Professor Jonathan Sharples of NOCL, who is also the Principal Investigator of Work Package 3.2. CTD data, towed undulator data, temperature logger data, nutrient data, ADCP data, dye tracking data, zooplankton data, primary productivity data and ship underway monitoring system data from this cruise are held at the British Oceanographic Data Centre. Other data have not yet been supplied.