North Atlantic Fishery and Plankton Survey Data from 1980-1984

Four years of data from January 1980 to March 1984 were collected by the Marine Resources Research Institute as part of a Living Marine Resources Study. The dataset contains fishery survey, benthic organism, and zooplankton observations from the North Atlantic Ocean, submitted by the South Carolina State Wildlife and Marine Resources Department. Data has been processed into standard NODC formats for oceanographic station, fish/shellfish survey, zooplankton, and benthic organism records.

Use Cases

• Analyze zooplankton abundance and distribution by species using reported concentration, life history codes, and counts of adults, juveniles, eggs, and larvae.
• Model fish population density from catch statistics like weight, volume, and number of fish per unit volume recorded for total hauls and individual species.
• Correlate environmental conditions with species data using recorded surface/bottom temperature, salinity, current direction, and meteorological data from survey stations.
• Study benthic organism communities using data formatted to the NODC F132 standard for benthic sampling.
• Examine fishing effort and gear efficiency using reported gear type, fishing distance, duration, and number of hauls per survey.

Strengths

• Data spans over four years from 1980-01-16 to 1984-03-14, providing a multi-year temporal series.
• Integrates multiple data types (physical-chemical, fish/shellfish, zooplankton, benthic) processed into four standardized NODC formats.
• Includes interpolated data to standard depth levels for oceanographic station (SD2) records, enhancing comparability.

Limitations

• Sample size and total row count are unknown, limiting assessment of statistical power.
• Data is temporally stale, with the last update in March 1984, potentially limiting relevance for current ecosystem states.
• Specific column names and file formats are not provided, complicating initial data exploration.

Provenance

Source

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI Accession 8500245).

Collection Method

Collected using trawls, tows, multi-bottle Nansen casts, water samplers, and some CTD/STD recorders from platforms including the EASTWARD.

Time Range

1980-01-16 to 1984-03 14

Freshness

null

Geography

North Atlantic Ocean