Cefas North Sea Groundfish Survey 2002: Catch and Biological Data

The North Sea survey collected data from 117 stations between August 8 and September 8, 2002, aboard the RV Cirolana. It was undertaken by the Centre for Environment, Fisheries & Aquaculture Science (Cefas) as part of the International Bottom Trawl Survey. The survey recorded 156 different species, aiming to provide distribution and stock composition estimates for fish species.

Use Cases

• Modeling fish species distribution and abundance based on trawl station data.
• Analyzing stock composition and biological parameters for selected species.
• Studying benthic ecosystem composition based on recorded benthic catches.
• Correlating environmental factors like water temperature and salinity with catch data.

Strengths

• Data collected from 117 specific stations, providing spatial granularity.
• Records 156 different species, indicating broad taxonomic coverage.
• Survey conducted over a defined one-month period in 2002, providing temporal specificity.
• Includes biological data for selected species and environmental measurements like temperature and salinity.

Limitations

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

Provenance

Source

Centre for Environment, Fisheries & Aquaculture Science (Cefas)

Collection Method

Data collected using research vessels and GOV trawls at core stations.

Time Range

08/08/2002 to 08/09/2002

Freshness

Data is from a specific survey in 2002; it is a historical snapshot.

Geography

North Sea