West Coast Vancouver Island Bottom Trawl Charter

A Contractor is needed to provide Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) with a trawling vessel, crew, and science staff to complete a bottom trawl survey off the west coast of Vancouver Island. The West Coast Vancouver Island Synoptic Bottom Trawl Survey supports fisheries research into the abundance, distribution, condition, and demographics of benthic and near benthic fish species. The survey is part of a long term time series and requires following established fishing and catch processing protocols. The Survey Vessel must meet the general requirements, licenses and certifications, basic vessel requirements, electronic equipment, accommodations, crew requirements, health and safety, and scientific activity requirements listed below. All survey operations will begin and end in Nanaimo, B.C. or in Port Hardy, B.C. at the discretion of DFO. The survey design calls for 208 sites to be assessed and a successful bottom trawl tow to be completed in as many as possible. The expectation is that approximately 171 successful tows will be achieved. The survey must be completed between May 3 and June 25, 2021. The actual start date of the survey will be mutually agreed upon by DFO and the contractor.