OSPAR Sensitive Fish Species Occurrences in Northeast Atlantic Trawl Surveys

1983-2020 data records occurrences of sensitive and rare fish species captured during scientific groundfish trawl surveys in the Northeast Atlantic Ocean and marginal seas. The dataset is built from a curated list of species identified from international conservation lists, IUCN Red List categories, and academic work, filtered for presence in the OSPAR area. Observations are divided by region, including the Bay of Biscay, Celtic Seas, Greater North Sea, Norwegian Sea, and parts of Macaronesia.

Use Cases

• Assessing regional biodiversity trends based on species presence/absence records from trawl surveys.
• Monitoring conservation status of sensitive species identified from IUCN Red List and international agreements.
• Informing marine spatial planning and protected area management using regionally divided occurrence data.
• Studying the distribution of rare fish species relative to OSPAR regional boundaries.

Strengths

• Covers a long-term time series from 1983 to 2020.
• Focuses on a curated list of sensitive species derived from multiple authoritative conservation sources.
• Provides regional breakdowns across five key marine areas in the Northeast Atlantic.

Limitations

• Key metadata such as column names, row count, file format, and license are unspecified across all sources.
• The dataset's completeness is unclear, as species at the edge of an OSPAR region were excluded from assessment within that region.
• The last update date is inconsistently reported, with one source showing 2026-06-11 and another showing null.

Provenance

Source

Government Digital Service (via OSPAR Convention)

Collection Method

Data collected from scientific groundfish (otter and beam trawl) surveys.

Time Range

1983-2020

Freshness

2026-06-11 08:10:58.272525

Geography

Northeast Atlantic Ocean and marginal seas, specifically the Bay of Biscay and Iberian Coast, Celtic Seas, Greater North Sea, Norwegian Sea, and parts of Macaronesia.