Cefas CIRO 4/98: North Sea Groundfish and Benthic Species Survey, 1998

Cefas conducted the CIRO 4/98 survey as part of the North Sea Groundfish Survey in the third quarter of 1998. The survey, carried out on the vessel Cirolana between August 14 and September 14, 1998, completed operations at 200 stations and recorded 162 different species. Data collected includes station, catch, length, and biological information for fish, as well as benthic catches, water temperature, salinity, and litter data.

Use Cases

• Modeling fish stock composition and distribution based on catch and length data.
• Analyzing benthic community structure based on recorded benthic catches.
• Studying correlations between environmental factors like water temperature and salinity with species presence.
• Supporting international fisheries management and EU data regulations with standardized trawl survey data.

Strengths

• Survey operations were undertaken on 200 stations, providing a substantial spatial sample.
• Records data for 162 different species caught, indicating broad taxonomic coverage.
• Collects multiple data types including biological samples, environmental measurements (temperature, salinity), and litter data.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for specific ML tasks.
• Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.

Provenance

Source

Centre for Environment, Fisheries & Aquaculture Science (Cefas)

Collection Method

Data collected using research vessels and standardized trawls (GOV, Beam Trawl) and bottle casts.

Time Range

August 14, 1998 to September 14, 1998

Freshness

Data is from a single survey in 1998; it is a historical snapshot.

Geography

North Sea (specific stations not detailed)