Thames inshore survey data collected comprises of:
Distribution, size composition, and relative abundance of all fish,
cephalopod, and shellfish species encountered; Abundance-at-age data for
juvenile sole and plaice; Epibenthic bycatch taxa and shrimp catch volumes;
Surface water temperature and salinity at each trawl station; Marine litter
data and environmental samples (eDNA, water biogeochemistry).
Consistent use of a light 2-m beam trawl, with stations and methods aligned to
historic Young Fish Survey (YFS) protocols to ensure comparability of data
across years. Sampling inshore locations for small and young fish, focusing on
key commercial species such as juvenile sole and plaice, but also recording
other fish, cephalopods, shellfish, and epibenthic bycatch taxa. Additional
opportunistic marine oceanographic and environmental data collection using
surface water samples and conductivity temperature and depth profiles from a
SAIV sensor (CTD) and concerto RBR.
