CEFASc7a92bc0-df57-45c4-836a-341f7ee341d6 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 2019-10-29T10:09:34 EPSG Geodetic Parameter Registry 2022-01-07 revision WGS 84 Western Channel Sprat Stock Assessment 2011/12 - Fisheries Science Partnership FSP Western Channel Sprats Stock Assessment 2017-01-20 publication 2019-10-29 revision 2016-12-16 creation CEFAS18300 https://data.cefas.co.uk To assess the western Channel sprat population, given the importance of the fishery to the local community and its likely sustainable nature, by surveying the relevant area to provide an estimate of the stock size at the time of the fishery. 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 Water column 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 Adherance to the Cefas Data access policy required. Terms and conditions of OGL – Open Government Licence apply. `http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/`_ .. _`http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/`: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/ English biota -6.50 -1.00 49.00 51.50 2011-10-14 2011-10-20 Binary Unknown https://data.cefas.co.uk/view/18300 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 In communication with a representative of the local sprat fishery, it was decided to conduct the survey at the start of the sprat fishing season, which runs between October and February. In all,12 perpendicular transects with inter‐transect distance of 10 nautical miles were designed in attempt to cover the ICES rectangles where most of the annual sprat catches in the past decade(Roel et al., 2011) have been made. Discussions with the skipper of the fishing vessel chartered for the work revealed, however, that during October, the distribution of sprat and its fishery was concentrated in Lyme Bay, the central portion of the selected area. Hence, five of the original transects were dropped (1–4 and 12), leaving five transects that covered the expected core distribution (6–10), along with one transect on either side (5 and 11). One of the local sprat fishing vessels was chartered for the survey: the 11.98 m FV Mary Anne. Although the size of the fishing vessel restricted the range and vessel speed to some extent, it was imperative to the programme that the survey be conducted using a local fishing vessel experienced in fishing for the target species, i.e. sprat. Also, the aim of the project was to quantify the sprat population targeted by the inshore fishery, and we were confident that the vessel could cover the area of interest adequately. The survey took place between 14 and 20 October 2011. Acoustic surveying took place during daylight, because sprat is known to disperse into loose aggregations at night (Plirú et al., 2011), so could be more difficult to detect acoustically then. Where possible, the transects were to be completed from east to west because anecdotal information suggested that the sprat moved in from the west. Surveying the transects in the opposite direction, therefore, would have raised the possibility of sampling the same sprat on adjacent transects. Fisheries Acoustic Data Scientific quality acoustic data were collected using a portable EK60 Simrad echosounder operating at 120 kHz, connected to a Furuno GPS. Ping rate was set to 0.4 s–1 and pulse duration to 0.256 μs, to collect high‐resolution data. The transducer was attached to an over‐the‐side mount on the port side of the vessel. The mount consisted of a vertically orientated aluminium pole that, when deployed, protruded 2 m below the surface, so that the transducer remained clear of the bubbles formed by the hull during steaming. After initial trials, a 5‐inch fin was attached to the aft side of the pole to prevent vortices, caused by drag through the water, to cause the pole to vibrate during steaming. Prior to the survey (13 October), the echosounder was successfully calibrated outside Torquay harbour using a 23‐mm copper sphere following standard methods (Foote et al., 1987. MEDIN 3.1.1