Miljöanalys / Öppna miljödata / Databeskrivning:

BIAS – Baltic International Acoustic Survey

March 2025

Metadata

Publisher
Ices Data Centre
Funding agency
Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management
Keywords
Atlantic herring, European sprat, Echo Sounder, trawl, Baltic Sea, fish stocks, index, ICES, Svea, hydroacoustics, biological sampling, Sprattus sprattus, Clupea harengus
Data citation

ICES Acoustic data portal, [date accessed]. ICES, Copenhagen, Denmark. https://acoustic.ices.dk

File format
csv
Language
English
Frequency of update
Annually
Subject area
  • Biology
Habitat type
  • Coast and sea
Species group
  • Fish
Swedish environmental objectives
  • Ett rikt växt - och djurliv
  • A balanced marine environment, flourishing coastal areas and archipelagos

Department of Aquatic Resources (SLU Aqua)

Contact

Niklas Larson

Internationally coordinated hydroacoustic expeditions in the framework of the Baltic International Acoustic Survey (BIAS), an International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) survey programme, are carried out annually. The main purpose of the survey is to show the changes in fish stocks (indices) and geographical distribution of fish (mainly herring and sprat).

The expedition is conducted in October. The survey is an international collaboration between several Baltic Sea countries. Since 2019, the Swedish expeditions have been carried out with SLU's research vessel R/V Svea. Sampling is done with echo sounder, and pelagic trawls, all fish species in the catch are measured in length and biological samples, including age, are taken on the target species, herring and sprat.

The Baltic Sea countries meet in the Baltic International Fish Survey Working Group (WGBIFS) and the results from each country are compiled in a common database. WGBIFS also develops common guidelines and manuals. The results form the basis for the WGBFAS estimate of the total stocks of herring and sprat in the Baltic Sea.

Download data

Data are available from ICES's web : Acoustic trawl surveys.

Go to data source