1985-1998: only sampling in Southeastern North Sea (4-8 E, 51.5-56 N). Since 1998 full coverage

Fish morphology, age and physiology; Fish taxonomy-related abundance per unit area of the bed; Salinity of the water column; Temperature of the water column; Zoobenthos taxonomy-related counts; Raw temperature and/or salinity instrument output; Fish taxonomy-related counts; Fish biomass in water bodies

Balances and scales; rulers; CTD; beam trawls

The primary aim of the Beam Trawl Survey (BTS) is to get fisheries independent stock indices and estimates of the age-structure of North Sea flatfish species of commercial interest. The BTS indices are used by the ICES Working Group on the Assessment of Demersal Stocks in the North Sea and Skagerrak (WGNSSK) for stock assessments and recruitment estimation. Both are important data sources for the catch predictions and hence for management advice. All species are sorted from the catch, fish are measured and counted, other species are counted and weighed. For species of commercial interest biological information is collected following a stratification. The BTS thus also contributes valuable information concerning the state of the North Sea ecosystem, and used for the North Sea ecosystem assessment. The survey is part of the EU Data Collection Framework and internationally coordinated by the ICES working group on beam trawl surveys (WGBEAM).

Http://doi.org/10.17895/ices.pub.5353 (2019) Manual for the Offshore Beam Trawl Surveys, SISP 14, ICES

Wageningen Marine Research, IJmuiden
Haringkade 1
IJmuiden

1976 CP
Netherlands