Medits 1999: Technical and Biological Report for the Region M3 (Italian coasts - South Tyrrhenian Sea and Strait of Sicily)

The 1999 Medits (hereby MED'99) survey in the M3 region was carried out from 3rd May to 10th June using the professional stern trawler "Sant'Anna". The first sub region covered was the northern side of the M3 study region (M3a), i.e., the grounds of Central and Southern Tyrrhenian Sea facing Campania (Volturno river) and Calabria (Capo Suvero) regions, respectively. This sub region has been surveyed, from 3rd May to 18th May, by the scientific staff of the "COISPA - Tecnologia and Ricerca" of Bari. The second sub region covered was the central part of M3 study region (M3b), i.e., the grounds of Southern Tyrrhenian Sea off Calabria (Capo Suvero) and the Northern coasts of Sicily (Capo S. Vito). This sub region has been surveyed, from 19th May to 25th May, by the scientific staff of the "Istituto Talassografico - CNR" of Messina. The third M3 sub region, the region known as the Strait of Sicily (M3c), has been surveyed, from 26th May to 10th June, by the scientific staff of the "Istituto di ricerche sulle Risorse Marine e l'Ambiente, IRMA-CNR" (formerly ITPP-CNR) of Mazara. The MED'99 ended on June 10th. An overall of 140 hauls were performed in the M3 region; in particular, 57, 27 and 56 hauls were realised in the first (M3a), second (M3b) and third (M3c) sub region, respectively. In the M3b region, it was not possible to complete the total number of 28 hauls, given to the breakage of the gear. Some damaged parts were substituted or repaired onboard during the survey. In all hauls (with the exception of few tows for hardware problems) a miniature data logger (MINILOG-TD), recording both temperature and depth, was mounted on the head rope of the gear. It was not possible monitoring directly the gear performance (a SCANMAR equipment was not available), but haul duration was recorded according to average effective time on bottom and the horizontal opening of the gear in each haul was estimated on the base of the formula derived from previous trials carried on by IRPEM-CNR technicians using SCANMAR equipment. Both haul registration and processing of biological samples were accurately performed according to MEDITS protocol. On the base of the experience gathered in more than 15 years of bottom trawl surveys, as in the previous years, the gear operative validity was confirmed, at depth within 200 m whereas some doubts still remain for the deeper waters where relatively scarce catches of crustaceans were observed.