Phytoplankton Counts in Jersey Shellfish Waters, 2004-2019

Cell counts of potentially toxic phytoplankton from water samples collected in designated shellfish growing areas around Jersey. The data were collected by The States of Jersey using the Utermohl method with light microscopy. The temporal coverage spans from April 2004 to March 2019.

Use Cases

• Modeling harmful algal bloom dynamics based on phytoplankton count data.
• Assessing shellfish aquaculture safety risks based on toxic algae presence.
• Analyzing long-term trends in coastal water quality based on a 15-year time series.
• Correlating phytoplankton counts with environmental variables for ecological research.

Strengths

• Data collection spans a 15-year period from 2004 to 2019.
• Samples are from designated shellfish growing areas, providing context for food safety applications.
• Counts are derived from a standardized laboratory method (Utermohl with light microscopy).

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.

Provenance

Source

The States of Jersey, aggregated via Government Digital Service on eu_open_data.

Collection Method

Water samples analyzed using the Utermohl method with light microscopy.

Time Range

01/04/2004 - 31/03/2019

Freshness

Data covers up to March 2019; last update date is unknown.

Geography

Designated shellfish growing areas around the coast of Jersey.