Cefas Western English Channel Groundfish Survey for Sole and Plaice, 2003

A fisheries-independent survey conducted by the Centre for Environment, Fisheries & Aquaculture Science (Cefas) in October 2003. The survey aimed to provide abundance indices for sole and plaice stocks, sampling 58 trawl stations in the Western English Channel. It recorded catches of 58 different species using standardized commercial beam trawls.

Use Cases

• Tuning ICES stock assessments based on fisheries-independent abundance indices mentioned in the description.
• Estimating recruitment rates for sole and plaice based on the survey's catch data.
• Analyzing species composition and biodiversity from the 58 species caught during the survey.
• Studying the spatial distribution of groundfish across the 58 sampled trawl stations in the Western English Channel.

Strengths

• Survey operations were conducted on 58 standardized stations, providing structured spatial coverage.
• The survey recorded 58 different species, offering a multi-species perspective.
• Data was collected by Cefas staff on chartered commercial vessels, suggesting professional execution.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for large-scale modeling.
• Freshness is unverified as the last update date is unknown.

Provenance

Source

Centre for Environment, Fisheries & Aquaculture Science (Cefas)

Collection Method

Survey undertaken on chartered commercial fishing vessels using 4m beam trawls.

Time Range

Survey conducted between 10/10/2003 and 19/10/2003.

Freshness

Data is from a single survey in 2003; update frequency is described as annual for the broader series.

Geography

Western English Channel, specifically English waters on the main sole grounds.