Monitoring methods for assessing inshore fish communities. Natural England Commissioned Report NECR269

Franco, Anita; Nunn, Andy; Smyth, Katie; Hanfling, Bernd; Mazik, Krysia

Abstract

Executive Summary

This report provides a review of the monitoring techniques that can be used to assess inshore fish communities. This is the first part of a study aimed at developing a regional pilot monitoring programme for inshore fish communities in the southwest regional sea area (SW) of England. This study addresses the current knowledge gap existing on the biodiversity, variability and condition of inshore fish communities around England.
The method review here provides the knowledge basis for the selection of those techniques that are potentially viable for use in the inshore areas of the SW of England (see Natural England Commissioned Report: NER270, (Franco et al., 2020b). and for the final design of a holistic, integrated monitoring pilot programme aimed at characterising the inshore fish communities of the SW regional sea area (see Natural England Commissioned Report NECR271, (Franco et al., 2020c).
The review covers methods broadly distinguished into ‘traditional’ sampling (nets and traps), observation techniques (including visual detection, acoustic detection and others), and DNA based methods. Detailed information is provided for each technique, including information on the targeted fish (e.g. ecological groups, life stages), operational constraints that may limit the applicability of the method or its efficiency (e.g. habitat characteristics), logistic requirements or restrictions, also including licencing aspects. Example of best practice and standardisation of the approaches are given.
In addition to the commentary in this report, a summary of the key characteristics of each method and the main data and metrics that can be obtained from them are also provided as an attached Excel spreadsheet (‘Fish method review table’). Note: this is available on request from Natural England.

Citation

Franco, A., Nunn, A., Smyth, K., Hanfling, B., & Mazik, K. (2020). Monitoring methods for assessing inshore fish communities. Natural England Commissioned Report NECR269. Natural England

• Report Type: Technical Report
• Online Publication Date: Feb 10, 2020
• Publication Date: Feb 10, 2020
• Deposit Date: Aug 28, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 26, 2024
• Publisher: Natural England
• Pages: 90
• ISBN: ISBN 978-1-78354-594-0
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4792281
• Publisher URL: https://publications.naturalengland.org.uk/publication/4755646568464384