North Sea Groundfish Survey: Annual Fish Stock and Environmental Data

Annual surveys conducted at 75 core trawl stations in the North Sea to estimate fish distribution and stock composition. The data, collected using research vessels and GOV trawls, includes station, catch, length, and biological data for selected species, alongside benthic catches, water temperature, salinity, and litter data. These ongoing surveys support EU data regulations and are part of the International Bottom Trawl Survey.

Use Cases

• Modeling fish stock composition and distribution based on annual catch and length data.
• Analyzing marine ecosystem health by correlating biological data with environmental variables like temperature and salinity.
• Monitoring benthic biodiversity trends using recorded benthic catch data.
• Assessing marine litter pollution levels based on collected litter data.

Strengths

• Data is collected annually at 75 standardized trawl stations, providing consistent time-series data.
• Includes multiple data types: catch, length, biological, benthic, and environmental (temperature, salinity, litter).
• Surveys are conducted as part of an international program (International Bottom Trawl Survey), suggesting standardized methodology.

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

Government Digital Service

Collection Method

Data collected using research vessels and GOV trawls at standardized stations.

Time Range

Ongoing annual surveys.

Freshness

Annual collection; specific last update date is unknown.

Geography

North Sea.