Title

Oceanographic cruise - MEDITS (MEDIterranean Trawl Survey)

Date (Publication)

2022-02-08

Citation identifier

FR-DCSMM-PDS-MEDITS

Presentation form

Digital profile

Abstract

The MEDITS campaign is a historic series of fishing campaigns, initiated in 1994 in the French Mediterranean (East-Corsica and Gulf of Lion). The geographical coverage of the programme includes all the trawlable facades of the 12 states contributing to this campaign in the Mediterranean (Spain, Italy, France, Greece, Cyprus, Malta, Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro and Albania) and since 2009 in the Black Sea (Romania and Bulgaria). The objective of this campaign is to assess demersal stocks (fish, crustaceans and cephalopods) by bottom trawling in the Gulf of Lion and eastern Corsica. Samples of environmental parameters are taken for the DCF (temperature, salinity, depth) and the DCSMM (analysis of gelatinous material, sampling of macro-waste of anthropic origin). The Pocket Ferry Box is also used and allows the continuous acquisition of physico-chemical parameters such as temperature, salinity, pH, turbidity, oxygen, and biological parameters such as the concentration of chlorophyll-a of the phytoplankton spectral classes (via its AOA1 module). The MEDITS fisheries campaign initially launched for stock management purposes has evolved into an ecosystem campaign since 2015 with the collection of environmental parameters for the MSFD.

The data from each campaign are used to provide all types of indicators required by fisheries managers, namely for international (direct and indirect stock assessments) and national expertise, as well as for research purposes.

The system has also been collecting data on anthropogenic marine litter (indicator 10.1.2 of the MSFD) since the start of the programme (1994).

Credit

IFREMER

Status

On going

Point of contact

Organisation name	Individual name	Electronic mail address	Role
IFREMER	IFREMER SIH	harmonie@ifremer.fr	Author
IFREMER	IFREMER SIH	harmonie@ifremer.fr	Publisher

Maintenance and update frequency

Annually

Theme

• Fish, crustaceans and cephalopods

• Marine waste

• Demersal species

• Bottom trawling

DCSMM : Méthodes de recueil des données

• Observation par point
• Interprétation de cartographies
• Piégeage, capture
• Observation directe

Thèmes Sextant

• /Human Activities/Oceanographical Cruises

Sous-regions marines

• /Metropolitan France/Western Mediterranean

SIH - Façade maritime

• Méditerranée

SIH - Types de jeu de données

• /Observed Data/Campaigns

Cadre Réglementaire - SIMM

• Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD)

Thématiques - SIMM

• /Environmental Status/Pollution
• /Uses and Human Activities/Fisheries and aquaculture

Access constraints

Restricted

Language

Français

Character set

UTF8

Topic category

• Biota

Supplemental Information

Financers :

IFREMER

Europe

Direction Générale des Affaires Maritimes, de la Pêche et de l'Aquaculture (DGAMPA)

Distribution format

Name	Version

OnLine resource

Protocol	Linkage	Name
OGC:WMS	https://sextant.ifremer.fr/services/wms/sismer	Campagnes_MEDITS
WWW:LINK	http://dx.doi.org/10.18142/7	Catalogue of cruises : MEDITS
WWW:LINK	https://sih.ifremer.fr/prive/Acces-aux-donnees/Extractions/Campagnes/Donnees-Campagnes-halieutiques	Access to SIH fisheries cruises data
WWW:LINK	https://www.seanoe.org/data/00879/99052/	Accès aux données Medits sur Seanoe

Hierarchy level

Dataset

Statement

The fishing gear used is a trawl net with a cod-end mesh size of 20 mm.

This campaign is carried out on depths of 10 to 800 metres.

The capacity of the MEDITS trawl to sample coastal species is limited (e.g. sea bream, sea bass, sole, acarnate paddlefish, etc.), and this trawl is less well suited to the deepest lines, often in very uneven areas.

For the collection of data on anthropogenic waste: analysis of data by category, mapping and trends according to a protocol harmonised at European level, which is described, as well as for biological observations, in a document ("Instruction manual", 2012 edition, https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00117/22783/archimer) which can only be modified by the international WG.

• Sample plan(s) :

Spatial, Stratified

Five depth strata were defined for all sectors: 10-50 m, 50-100 m, 100-200 m, 200-500 m and 500-800 m. Stations are distributed proportionally to the surface of the strata, with stations randomly selected within each stratum. Over the years, the number of stations in each of the two zones has varied according to technical, meteorological and other factors. Some strata were partially abandoned in Corsica because of problems related to the substrate: too high loads of algae, sea urchins or stones that caused serious damage to the trawl (coastal strata; 13101 and 13105) and also because of the presence of Posidonia meadows.

• Precision of data type :

- For fauna :

Class Actinopterygii; Class Elasmobranchii (sharks and rays); Subphylum Crustacea; Phylum Mollusca

- For litter :

Inventory of different types of waste (plastics, glass, metal, plastic bottles, leather and fabrics, fishing gear, miscellaneous)

• Parameter(s) observed or measured :

The number of stations is 88: 23 in Corsica and 65 in the Gulf of Lion. The campaign starts with the East-Corsica part and ends with the Gulf of Lion in order to carry out the lines of each zone at the same period from one year to another.

From 1994 to 2011 inclusive, biomass and number of individuals of all species and for 38 of these species, determination of sex, stage of sexual maturity and measurements by sex and stage.

From 2012 onwards, biomass and number of individuals of all listed species At each station the following actions are carried out:

- for 43 priority 1 species: 32 selachians, 5 bony fish, 4 crustaceans, 2 cephalopods, measurements, individual weighing, sexing and sampling of calcified parts for the 5 bony fish

- for 41 priority 2 species: 34 bony fish, 5 cephalopods and 3 crustaceans, measurements and weighings are carried out

- for all other species: weighing and counting, analysis of macro-benthos and gelatinous material

- analysis of macro-waste (weight and number per category)

- hydrological stations CTD and WP2 (8 stations East-Corsica, 1 station/strate)

- continuous use of the Pocket Ferry BOX since 2016

• Resolution of parameter(s) :

- For fauna :

Stratified sampling with random distribution of samples in numbers proportional to the area of each stratum. Identical positions each year.

- For litter :

Density per hectare

• Format(s):

Available data exist in the format: csv

Metadata

File identifier

a5d075c0-29a1-43ab-a810-18a07c04f5d3

Metadata language

Français

Other language

Language	Character encoding
English

Character set

UTF8

Parent identifier

Campagnes océanographiques - Observations pour la surveillance halieutique

99e16a35-8090-4897-aa2b-c5c0951aabea

Hierarchy level

Dataset

Date stamp

2025-04-17T09:17:48.53113Z

Metadata standard name

ISO 19115:2003/19139 - SEXTANT

Metadata standard version

1.0

Metadata author

Organisation name	Individual name	Electronic mail address	Role
IFREMER SIH		harmonie@ifremer.fr	Local service desk