CEND 14/08: English Channel Beam Trawl Survey Data

Cefas conducted the English Channel Beam Trawl Survey (VIId and IVc) in Qtr 3 (FSS: BTS7D) aboard the CEFAS Endeavour. The dataset contains station, catch, length, and biological data for all species, plus benthic, litter, water temperature, salinity, and acoustic data from the Southern North Sea and Eastern English Channel. Survey operations covered 127 stations in 2008 and 137 stations in 2009, catching 203 and 191 different species respectively.

Use Cases

• Assessing fish stock health and species composition based on catch and length data.
• Monitoring benthic community impacts from trawling activities using collected benthic data.
• Analyzing spatial-temporal patterns of marine litter using station-based litter records.
• Studying oceanographic conditions via water temperature and salinity measurements.
• Supporting fisheries management policy with data collected under EU regulations.

Strengths

• High taxonomic resolution with 203 species recorded in the 2008 survey.
• Multi-faceted data collection includes biological, environmental, and acoustic measurements.
• Standardized methodology using a 4m beam trawl across two annual surveys.

Limitations

• Column names and specific data structure are not provided in the metadata.
• Conflicting survey dates reported: one source states 18/07/2008-01/08/2008, another states 17/07/2009-31/07/2009.
• Key metadata such as row count, license, and author are consistently listed as unknown or null.

Provenance

Source

Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas)

Collection Method

Standardized beam trawl survey from the research vessel CEFAS Endeavour.

Time Range

July 2008 to July 2009

Freshness

2026-06-11 08:11:50.277501

Geography

Southern North Sea and Eastern English Channel (ICES areas VIId and IVc)