Tamar Estuary Smelt and Shad Fish Surveys from 2015 to 2016

Beam and otter trawl fish surveys conducted in the River Tamar, southwest England, between August 2015 and March 2016. The data records total length and representative weights for targeted smelt and shad species, as well as other fishes. This work was part of contract EC18234 involving Natural England, the Marine Biological Association, and the Environment Agency.

Use Cases

• Analyzing population dynamics of smelt and shad based on survey catches and measurements.
• Studying estuarine fish community composition based on recorded species.
• Modeling fish growth and condition based on length and weight data.
• Assessing the impact of environmental factors on fish populations in the Tamar Estuary.

Strengths

• Data collection is tied to a specific contract (EC18234) involving recognized environmental organizations.
• Surveys were conducted over a defined period from 2015-08-06 to 2016-03-14.
• The geographic scope is clearly defined as the River Tamar between Morwellham Quay and West Mud.

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

Marine Biological Association of the UK (MBA) and Environment Agency (EA), under contract EC18234 with Natural England.

Collection Method

Beam and otter trawl surveys.

Time Range

2015-08 to 2016-03

Freshness

Data collection ended in March 2016; the dataset is a historical snapshot.

Geography

River Tamar estuary, southwest England, between Morwellham Quay and West Mud.