14 commercially important fish species' spawning and nursery grounds mapped for British waters. The data was prepared for a 1998 report by fisheries laboratories and industry associations. It describes sensitivities under five headings including spawning areas, nursery areas, and fishing effort.
Use Cases
- Identify critical habitats for marine conservation based on mapped spawning and nursery areas.
- Assess potential impacts of seismic surveys on fisheries based on monthly restriction areas.
- Analyze the economic importance of fishing grounds based on relative value maps.
- Model fishing pressure distribution based on fishing effort maps.
Strengths
- Focuses on 14 commercially important species including cod, haddock, and plaice.
- Covers five distinct sensitivity categories including spawning, nursery, and economic value.
- Created through a collaborative project involving national fisheries laboratories and industry associations.
Limitations
- Data is from 1998; ecological and fishery conditions may have changed significantly.
- Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
- Row count and file formats are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
Provenance
- Source
- Report 'Coull, K.A., Johnstone, R., and S.I. Rogers. 1998. Fisheries Sensitivity Maps in British Waters'.
- Collection Method
- Collaborative project between national fisheries laboratories (Cefas, Fisheries Research Services Aberdeen), UKOOA, SFF, and NFFO.
- Time Range
- 1998
- Geography
- British Waters