Data from 477 fishery-independent trawls conducted by the National Marine Fisheries Service Groundfish Survey Program between June and November in the years 1977, 1989, 1992, 1995, and 1997-2002. The dataset contains information on 59 fish species, filtered to those present in at least 5% of trawls, collected at depths ranging from 55 to 1200 meters.
Use Cases
- Analyze fish community composition based on species presence across 477 trawl samples.
- Model species distribution and abundance relative to depth gradients from 55 to 1200 meters.
- Study temporal changes in fish assemblages across survey years spanning 1977 to 2002.
- Calculate biodiversity indices and community similarity using the Bray-Curtis dissimilarity coefficient mentioned in the description.
Strengths
- 477 trawl samples provide a substantial observational basis for analysis.
- Data spans multiple survey years (1977, 1989, 1992, 1995, 1997-2002), enabling temporal studies.
- Focus on 59 fish species filtered for prevalence reduces noise from rare occurrences.
- Explicit depth range (55-1200 m) and standardized gear (7.6-m otter trawl) are documented.
Limitations
- Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
- Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for specific modeling tasks.
- Data may reflect temporal and geographic bias inherent to the NMFS survey program's sampling design.
Provenance
- Source
- NOAA_NCEI via NASA Earthdata
- Collection Method
- Fish benthic trawls completed by the National Marine Fisheries Service Groundfish Survey Program using a 7.6-m head-rope semi balloon otter trawl with 1.25 cm codend mesh.
- Time Range
- 1977, 1989, 1992, 1995, 1997-2002 (surveys conducted June-November each year)
- Geography
- Southern California waters