Pectinid stock assessment surveys are recurrent surveys requested by fisheries managers (administration and professional organizations). They contribute here to the management of the main King scallop fishery of the Bay of Seine. The data collected is also used to feed other research topics than simple stock management.

For many years, following its institutional missions Ifremer participates in the monitoring of the King scallop resource of the Bay of Seine. This cruise contributes to feeding a chronological series of nearly 40 years of recurring surveys. Obtained results could give to the industry (Regional Fishermen committee of Normandy) and the French fisheries administration an exhaustive picture of the state of the resource before the start of the fishing season and serve as a reference to professional regulation, enforced by the Administration.

The main objective of the survey is to collect data for estimating indices of abundance by age class, growth parameters, geographic distribution and estimation of exploitable biomass in the Bay of Seine. The applied methodology is the same for all Ifremer's King scallop surveys.

Since the beginning of the 90's, the survey takes place in July. This period is to experience the best compromise between a sufficient growth of the shells of group 1, faster in bay of Seine than bay of St-Brieuc and allowing their capture by dredges, and the development of expertise allowing managers to take the best suited measures to the reality perceived through the results of the survey. With the fishing season starting on October 1st, the scientific results of the survey must reach the Fisheries Administration in early September, which required an early survey in July.