English Channel Beam Trawl Survey: Station and Species Catch Data

Cefas collected station, catch, length, and biological data from 4-meter beam trawl surveys in the Southern North Sea and Eastern English Channel. The 1996 survey recorded 135 different species across 115 stations, while earlier surveys in 1992 and 1994 caught 67 and 78 species respectively. These surveys also aimed to gather benthic, litter, water temperature, salinity, and acoustic data in support of EU regulations and ICES research.

Use Cases

• Analyzing species composition and abundance based on station-specific catch data.
• Monitoring changes in fish populations over time using the annual survey time series.
• Assessing benthic community health alongside trawl catch data.
• Correlating environmental parameters like water temperature and salinity with species presence.
• Supporting stock assessments and fisheries management decisions for ICES.

Strengths

• Surveys provide detailed station-level data, with operations conducted on up to 115 stations.
• High species diversity recorded, with the 1996 survey documenting 135 different species.
• Data collection follows a standardized protocol using a 4m beam trawl and, in some years, benthic grabs.

Limitations

• Column names and specific data structure are unknown, limiting immediate usability.
• Key metadata such as row count, file size, license, and author are missing from all sources.
• Survey details (station count, species count) vary between years, requiring careful temporal analysis.

Provenance

Source

Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas)

Collection Method

Research vessel surveys using a 4-meter steel commercial beam trawl and, in 1994, a 0.2 sq. m Day Grab for benthic sampling.

Time Range

1992-08-30 to 1996-08-15

Freshness

Last updated metadata on 2026-06-11, though the underlying survey data is from the 1990s.

Geography

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