Western English Channel Groundfish Survey: Sole and Plaice Abundance, 1984-2013

The Western English Channel Groundfish Survey (FSS: CARHELMAR) was conducted annually from 1984 to 2013 by Cefas staff on chartered commercial vessels. It aimed to provide fisheries-independent abundance indices for sole and plaice, sampling 58 trawl stations in English waters. Catches of commercial fish and shellfish were identified and measured, with biological sampling of sole and plaice for age, weight, and maturity.

Use Cases

• Estimating recruitment and stock abundance indices for sole and plaice based on the survey's stated purpose.
• Analyzing species composition and length distributions of commercial fish and shellfish in the Western English Channel.
• Studying changes in epi-benthos and non-commercial species over the survey period mentioned in the description.
• Tuning ICES stock assessments using the fisheries-independent data this survey was designed to provide.

Strengths

• Long-term time series covering 30 years from 1984 to 2013.
• Standardized annual sampling at 58 fixed trawl stations on known sole grounds.
• Includes biological sampling (age, weight, maturity) for key commercial species sole and plaice.

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

Government Digital Service (via eu_open_data platform).

Collection Method

Annual trawl surveys conducted by Cefas staff on chartered commercial fishing vessels.

Time Range

1984 to 2013

Freshness

Data collection concluded in 2013.

Geography

Western English Channel, specifically English waters.