Cefas English Channel Beam Trawl Survey: Station and Catch Data

Cefas conducted annual beam trawl surveys in the Southern North Sea and Eastern English Channel, recording data from 63 to 220 different species per cruise. The dataset includes station, catch, length, and biological data for selected species, collected using a standardized 4m steel commercial beam trawl. Additional aims encompass the collection of benthic, litter, water temperature, salinity, and acoustic data.

Use Cases

• Assessing fish stock health and population dynamics based on catch and length data.
• Monitoring changes in marine biodiversity over time using species count data from repeated surveys.
• Studying benthic community composition and environmental parameters from grab sample and CTD data.
• Analyzing the spatial distribution of marine litter across surveyed stations.
• Supporting ICES research programs and EU fisheries management regulations with standardized survey data.

Strengths

• Standardized methodology using a 4m beam trawl across multiple annual surveys ensures data comparability.
• Surveys cover a wide range of species, with one cruise recording 220 different species.
• Collects multi-faceted data including biological, environmental (temperature, salinity), and benthic samples.

Limitations

• Critical metadata such as column names, row counts, and license information are consistently missing across all platform entries.
• The dataset's freshness is unclear as the 'last updated' dates are future-dated (e.g., 2026-06-11), suggesting potential metadata errors.
• Specific data formats and the exact structure of the tabular data are unknown.

Provenance

Source

Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas)

Collection Method

Data collected via research vessel surveys using a 4m beam trawl, with additional equipment like CTD profilers and grab samplers.

Time Range

1989-08-17 to 1999-08-05

Freshness

Most recent update listed is 2026-06-11, which appears to be an error or placeholder date.

Geography

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