CEFAS42826f5c-e0ef-4938-a5bc-80736b07d993 English dataset Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Lowestoft Laboratory (CEFAS) Cefas Lowestoft Laboratory Pakefield Road Lowestoft Suffolk NR33 0HT UK data.manager@cefas.co.uk pointOfContact 2026-02-26T02:51:03 EPSG Geodetic Parameter Registry 2022-01-07 revision WGS 84 Western Channel sole and plaice beam trawl survey 2024 FSP Western Channel sole and plaice 2025-08-21 publication 2026-02-26 revision 2025-07-31 creation CEFAS22283 https://data.cefas.co.uk The main aim of the Western Channel sole and plaice survey is to show trends in the distribution, abundance and age composition of sole (*Solea solea*) and plaice (*Pleuronectes platessa*), and to provide some information on bycatch species in the Western English Channel (ICES Division 7e). At each station sampled, shot and haul, positional, depth and times information were recorded, and for all species of fish and shellfish length distribution data were taken. Otoliths were collected from sole and plaice to provide individual age at length information. Up until 2020 the survey time-series (2003 onwards) was funded as part the Fisheries Science Partnership (FSP) programme. Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Lowestoft Laboratory (CEFAS) Cefas Lowestoft Laboratory Pakefield Road Lowestoft Suffolk NR33 0HT UK data.manager@cefas.co.uk originator Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Lowestoft Laboratory (CEFAS) Cefas Lowestoft Laboratory Pakefield Road Lowestoft Suffolk NR33 0HT UK data.manager@cefas.co.uk custodian Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Lowestoft Laboratory (CEFAS) Cefas Lowestoft Laboratory Pakefield Road Lowestoft Suffolk NR33 0HT UK data.manager@cefas.co.uk distributor Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Lowestoft Laboratory (CEFAS) data.manager@cefas.co.uk owner Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) defra.helpline@defra.gov.uk owner notPlanned Fish Biota abundance, biomass and diversity SeaDataNet P03 parameter discovery vocabulary 2011-03-25 revision Species distribution GEMET - INSPIRE themes, version 1.0 2008-06-01 publication Unknown SeaVoX Vertical Co-ordinate Coverages 2010-05-18 revision Marine Environmental Data and Information Network MEDIN metadata record availability 2012-01-11 publication data.gov.uk MEDIN metadata record availability 2012-01-11 publication otherRestrictions noLimitations otherRestrictions Publicly available data licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0 ( `https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/`_ ) – Please note the applicable attribution statement is as follows: ‘includes Crown copyright, Cefas 2025' .. _`https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/`: https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/ English biota -8.00 -2.00 49.00 50.75 2024-08-18 2024-09-19 Binary Unknown https://data.cefas.co.uk/view/22283 Cefas Data Portal download The Cefas Data Portal contains metadata records and data sets available to download and connect to in support of our commitment to open science. Data is available in the following formats: Binary download. dataset INSPIRE Data Specification on Species Distribution – Technical Guidelines 2013-12-10 publication false See the referenced specification Commission Regulation (EU) No 1089/2010 of 23 November 2010 implementing Directive 2007/2/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards interoperability of spatial data sets and services 2010-12-08 publication true See the referenced specification The primary aim is to investigate the abundance, size and age composition of sole,* Solea solea*, and plaice, *Pleuronectes platessa*, in the Western English Channel (ICES Division VIIe). Additional data are collected on other commercial species such as cod (*Gadus morhua*), lemon sole (*Microstomus kitt*), megrim (*Lepidorhombus whiffiagonis*), and monkfish (*Lophius piscatorius*). Both the Eastern and Western surveys of the study area are carried out by one commercial beam trawler during late summer and early autumn. In all, there are 90 target stations equally spread over the western and eastern surveys that have been sampled consistently over all years, from 2003 onwards. Historically, there were more stations but not all were sampled every year and the survey design was thus simplified to cover only the 90 core stations, maintaining the survey for the long term. At each station the catch for the port and starboard gears were combined, which was subsequently split into the retained and discarded component prior to sampling. Fish and shellfish were identified to either species or if not the highest possible taxa, and were measured in accordance with Cefas’ standard practices. When necessary catches by species were a subsampled prior to measuring. Species of Cephalopod were measured, except for Octopii, which were counted. Biological samples for sole and plaice were collected for age determination purposes. MEDIN 3.1.1