DOI: 10.14466/CefasDataHub.165

Description

These datasets describe seafloor litter data collected from the sea floor around the UK between 2016 and 2022. One dataset is from the North Sea (collected from 2016 to 2020) and one dataset is from the Celtic Seas (collected from 2018 to 2022). The number of items and the weight in kilograms is reported for each litter category. The litter data was collected using the ICES Manual for Seafloor Litter Data Collection and Reporting from Demersal Trawl Samples which also specifies the specific litter categories used;

ICES (2022). ICES Manual for Seafloor Litter Data Collection and Reporting from Demersal Trawl Samples. ICES Techniques in Marine Environmental Science (TIMES). Report. https://doi.org/10.17895/ices.pub.21435771.v1

Data collected for this study came from ten surveys completed on board the Research Vessel Cefas Endeavour as part of the ICES International Bottom Trawl Surveys (IBTS) and the ICES Beam Trawl Surveys (BTS). The primary aims of the surveys are to conduct the long-term monitoring of demersal fish, to provide data on commercial species for stock assessments and to examine changes in fish distribution and relative abundance. However, these surveys are also relied upon for the long-term seafloor litter monitoring programme, where litter caught as bycatch in the net are recorded. A total of 984 hauls were included in the present analyses, with data from 416 hauls from the Greater North Seas and 568 hauls from the Celtic Seas. Cefas submit the seafloor litter monitoring data to the ICES Database on Trawl Surveys (DATRAS);

ICES Database on Trawl Surveys (DATRAS), ICES, Copenhagen, Denmark. https://datras.ices.dk

Contributors

Russell, Josie / Silburn, Briony / Randall, Peter / Scientific crew of the research vessel Cefas Endeavour

Subject

Litter abundance and type / Marine litter

Start Date

01/01/2016

End Date

01/01/2022

Year Published

2025

Version

1

Citation

Russell, Silburn & Randall et al. (2025). Seafloor litter data collected around the UK coast from 2016 to 2022. Cefas, UK. V1. doi: https://doi.org/10.14466/CefasDataHub.165

Rights List

Open Government Licence

DOI

10.14466/CefasDataHub.165