HUMB 1/04: 2004 Young Fish Survey of UK Coasts for Sole and Plaice

A 2004 fisheries survey conducted by the Centre for Environment, Fisheries & Aquaculture Science (Cefas) as part of the International Young Fish Survey. The survey took place from August 23 to September 3, 2004, covering 83 stations around the British Isles, primarily the South and East coasts. It collected station, catch, length, and biological data for 68 species, with a focus on evaluating the recruitment of Sole and Plaice.

Use Cases

• Modeling recruitment trends for Sole and Plaice based on the survey's biological data.
• Analyzing small fish abundance and species composition across 83 sampling stations.
• Studying the spatial distribution of young fish in UK coastal waters during late summer.
• Comparing catch data from beam trawl surveys with other fisheries monitoring methods.

Strengths

• Survey operations were conducted on 83 distinct stations, providing spatial coverage.
• Data includes 68 different species caught, indicating biodiversity sampling.
• Specific temporal bounds are provided: survey occurred from 23/08/2004 to 03/09/2004.

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.
• Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.

Provenance

Source

Centre for Environment, Fisheries & Aquaculture Science (Cefas), via the Government Digital Service.

Collection Method

Beam trawl survey using a 2m shrimp net with fryma liner and 3 chains.

Time Range

2004-08-23 to 2004-09-03

Freshness

Data is from a single survey in 2004; it is a historical snapshot.

Geography

British Isles, predominantly the South and East coasts.