Finding out just how endangered and robust the marine creatures are is the aim of a new £60,000 research project led by Daniel Davies, Conservation and Research assistant for Sussex Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority and University of 映客直播 graduate.
, Senior Lecturer in Marine Biology, is leading the University of 映客直播 team responsible for the ‘Research into egg quality and hatching rate’ part of the study. The project has secured funding from the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund and will focus on cuttlefish catches off Hastings.
Dr Ciocan, whose research focuses on aquatic environmental stresses and contaminants, said: “Mature cuttlefish or ‘Sepia officinalis’ are targeted by artisanal fisheries off the Sussex coast. The lack of control measures on trawler catches and an increase in the market value has led to an alarming exploitation of this marine resource.”
The overall project ‘Supporting sustainable Sepia stock in Hastings’ will assess the survival rate and egg quality under natural and laboratory conditions. It will estimate the survival rate of eggs removed from egg receptors and returned to the sea and will use biochemical analysis to infer information on the size, age, and brood condition of maternal cuttlefish. This will suggest the impact this may have on the fitness of any ensuing offspring.