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Zooplankton and ichthyoplankton abundance and distribution in the North Atlantic collected by the Ecosystem Monitoring (EcoMon) Project from 1977-02-13 to 2023-11-15 (NCEI Accession 0187513)

Published by NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce | Metadata Last Checked: January 29, 2026 | Last Modified: 2025-06-11T00:00:00.000+00:00
This dataset contains zooplankton and ichthyoplankton distribution and abundance, sea surface and bottom water temperatures and salinities collected during the shelf-wide fisheries surveys for the Ecosystem Monitoring Program (EcoMon) from 1977-02-13 to 2023-11-15. The surveys are conducted 6-7 times per year over the continental shelf from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina to Cape Sable, Nova Scotia, using NOAA research ships or charter vessels. The Cape Hatteras to Cape Sable area is divided into four regions, and 30 randomly selected stations are targeted for sampling from each region. Along with the data collected from each cruise, this archival package also contains the GIS shapefiles that comprise the strata used to randomly select plankton stations in the EcoMon study area. These strata comprise 4 regions: Mid-Atlantic Bight, Southern New England, Georges Bank, and Gulf of Maine and will help the user better understand the sampling methodology. The EcoMon investigation monitors the fishery-relevant components of the Northeast Shelf ecosystem, to characterize the baseline conditions and to determine the effects of biological and physical processes on the recruitment of Northeast shelf fishes. Data from this program have supported numerous analyses documenting the seasonal and interannual variability in the distribution and abundance of the dominant zooplankton taxa on the northeast continental shelf.

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0187513 BIOMASS - PLANKTON FISHERY SURVEY SALINITY - BOTTOM WATER SALINITY - SURFACE WATER SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURE SPECIES - PERCENT OCCURRENCE species abundance SPECIES COUNT PER SAMPLE SPECIES IDENTIFICATION SPECIES IDENTIFICATION - COUNT ZOOPLANKTON ZOOPLANKTON ABUNDANCE ZOOPLANKTON BIOMASS ZOOPLANKTON IDENTITIES ZOOPLANKTON SPECIES IDENTITIES ZOOPLANKTON SPECIES NUMBER PER SAMPLE net net - plankton net net - zooplankton net biological in situ survey - biological tows - oblique tows tows - plankton tows ADMIRAL ARCISZEWSKI ALIOT ARGO MAINE ARGUS BELOGORSK EVRIKA Goerlitz GYRE Isabel S. Katahdin MT. MITCHELL NOAA Ship Albatross IV NOAA Ship Delaware II NOAA Ship George B. Kelez NOAA Ship Gordon Gunter NOAA Ship Henry B. Bigelow NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer NOAA Ship Pisces Nobska NOGLIKI Nordic Pride USNS Adventurous YUBILEYNYY NOAA Northeast Fisheries Science Center NOAA Northeast Fisheries Science Center Bay of Fundy East Coast - US/Canada North Atlantic Ocean Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary oceanography DOC/NOAA/NMFS/NEFSC > Northeast Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce EcoMon EARTH SCIENCE > AGRICULTURE > AGRICULTURAL AQUATIC SCIENCES > FISHERIES EARTH SCIENCE > BIOSPHERE > ECOSYSTEMS > AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS > PLANKTON > ZOOPLANKTON EARTH SCIENCE > CLIMATE INDICATORS > ATMOSPHERIC/OCEAN INDICATORS > SURFACE SALINITY EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > OCEAN TEMPERATURE > SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURE EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > SALINITY/DENSITY > SALINITY Ichthyoplankton Oceanography Plankton Zooplankton baseline conditions remote sensing shelf-wide NETS > NETS PLANKTON NETS Ships ADMIRAL ARCISZEWSKI (call sign: SQHZ, ICES code: 67AA) ALBATROSS IV (call sign: WMVF, ICES code: 31A4, 1963-2008) ALIOT (ICES code: CUAL) ARGO MAINE (ICES code: 33AM) ARGUS (ICES code: 90A3) Adventurous (ICES code: 32QQ, 1988-1992) BELOGORSK (ICES code: 90BK) DELAWARE II (ICES code: 316G) EVRIKA (call sign: EWVO, ICES code: 90EV) G. B. KELEZ (ICES code: 31KE) GORDON GUNTER (call sign: WTEO, ICES code: 33GG, 1998-) GYRE (ICES code: 32GY) Goerlitz (call sign: DHXV, ICES code: 3149, 1961-1981) HENRY B. BIGELOW (call sign: WTDF, ICES code: 33HH, 2005-) Isabel S. (ICES code: 327N) Katahdin (call sign: WUY7620, ICES code: 33H0) Mt. Mitchell (call sign: WDA9674, ICES code: 33MI, 2003-) NOGLIKI (ICES code: 90NG) Nobska (call sign: WDB9532, ICES code: 33RE) Nordic Pride (ICES code: 32YE) OKEANOS EXPLORER (call sign: WTDH, ICES code: 334A, 2008-) PISCES (call sign: WTDL, ICES code: 334B, 2009-) YUBILEYNYI (ICES code: 90YU) ABLE JAY ADMIRAL ARCISCEWSKI ADVENTUROUS ALBATROSS IV ALIOT ARGO MAINE ARGUS BELOGORSK DELAWARE II ENDEAVOR EVRIKA GEORGE B KELEZ GOERLITZ GORDON GUNTER GYRE HENRY B BIGELOW ISABEL S KATAHDIN LADY HAMMOND MARION C II ; ALSO MORMAC CAPE (PRIOR TO 1990) MOUNT MITCHELL NOBSKA NOGLIKI NORDIC PRIDE OCEANOGRAPHER OKEANOS EXPLORER PELICAN III PISCES; ALSO OCEAN PRINCE (PRIOR TO 2008) WIECZNO YUBILEINIY OCEAN > ATLANTIC OCEAN > NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN OCEAN > ATLANTIC OCEAN > NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN > BAY OF FUNDY Carolina Capes (North Carolina) East Florida Georges Bank Georgia Gulf of Maine Mid-Atlantic Bight Nova Scotia South Carolina Southern New England

Complete Metadata
@type dcat:Dataset
accessLevel non-public
contactPoint 
                                            {
  "fn": "NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information",
  "@type": "vcard:Contact",
  "hasEmail": "mailto:ncei.info@noaa.gov"
}
describedByType application/octet-steam
description This dataset contains zooplankton and ichthyoplankton distribution and abundance, sea surface and bottom water temperatures and salinities collected during the shelf-wide fisheries surveys for the Ecosystem Monitoring Program (EcoMon) from 1977-02-13 to 2023-11-15. The surveys are conducted 6-7 times per year over the continental shelf from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina to Cape Sable, Nova Scotia, using NOAA research ships or charter vessels. The Cape Hatteras to Cape Sable area is divided into four regions, and 30 randomly selected stations are targeted for sampling from each region. Along with the data collected from each cruise, this archival package also contains the GIS shapefiles that comprise the strata used to randomly select plankton stations in the EcoMon study area. These strata comprise 4 regions: Mid-Atlantic Bight, Southern New England, Georges Bank, and Gulf of Maine and will help the user better understand the sampling methodology. The EcoMon investigation monitors the fishery-relevant components of the Northeast Shelf ecosystem, to characterize the baseline conditions and to determine the effects of biological and physical processes on the recruitment of Northeast shelf fishes. Data from this program have supported numerous analyses documenting the seasonal and interannual variability in the distribution and abundance of the dominant zooplankton taxa on the northeast continental shelf.
distribution 
                                            [
  {
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    "describedByType": "application/octet-steam"
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]
identifier gov.noaa.nodc:0187513
issued 2019-04-10T00:00:00.000+00:00
keyword 
                                            [
  "0187513",
  "BIOMASS - PLANKTON",
  "FISHERY SURVEY",
  "SALINITY - BOTTOM WATER",
  "SALINITY - SURFACE WATER",
  "SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURE",
  "SPECIES - PERCENT OCCURRENCE",
  "species abundance",
  "SPECIES COUNT PER SAMPLE",
  "SPECIES IDENTIFICATION",
  "SPECIES IDENTIFICATION - COUNT",
  "ZOOPLANKTON",
  "ZOOPLANKTON ABUNDANCE",
  "ZOOPLANKTON BIOMASS",
  "ZOOPLANKTON IDENTITIES",
  "ZOOPLANKTON SPECIES IDENTITIES",
  "ZOOPLANKTON SPECIES NUMBER PER SAMPLE",
  "net",
  "net - plankton net",
  "net - zooplankton net",
  "biological",
  "in situ",
  "survey - biological",
  "tows - oblique tows",
  "tows - plankton tows",
  "ADMIRAL ARCISZEWSKI",
  "ALIOT",
  "ARGO MAINE",
  "ARGUS",
  "BELOGORSK",
  "EVRIKA",
  "Goerlitz",
  "GYRE",
  "Isabel S.",
  "Katahdin",
  "MT. MITCHELL",
  "NOAA Ship Albatross IV",
  "NOAA Ship Delaware II",
  "NOAA Ship George B. Kelez",
  "NOAA Ship Gordon Gunter",
  "NOAA Ship Henry B. Bigelow",
  "NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer",
  "NOAA Ship Pisces",
  "Nobska",
  "NOGLIKI",
  "Nordic Pride",
  "USNS Adventurous",
  "YUBILEYNYY",
  "NOAA Northeast Fisheries Science Center",
  "NOAA Northeast Fisheries Science Center",
  "Bay of Fundy",
  "East Coast - US/Canada",
  "North Atlantic Ocean",
  "Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary",
  "oceanography",
  "DOC/NOAA/NMFS/NEFSC > Northeast Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce",
  "EcoMon",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > AGRICULTURE > AGRICULTURAL AQUATIC SCIENCES > FISHERIES",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > BIOSPHERE > ECOSYSTEMS > AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS > PLANKTON > ZOOPLANKTON",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > CLIMATE INDICATORS > ATMOSPHERIC/OCEAN INDICATORS > SURFACE SALINITY",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > OCEAN TEMPERATURE > SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURE",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > SALINITY/DENSITY > SALINITY",
  "Ichthyoplankton",
  "Oceanography",
  "Plankton",
  "Zooplankton",
  "baseline conditions",
  "remote sensing",
  "shelf-wide",
  "NETS > NETS",
  "PLANKTON NETS",
  "Ships",
  "ADMIRAL ARCISZEWSKI (call sign: SQHZ, ICES code: 67AA)",
  "ALBATROSS IV (call sign: WMVF, ICES code: 31A4, 1963-2008)",
  "ALIOT (ICES code: CUAL)",
  "ARGO MAINE (ICES code: 33AM)",
  "ARGUS (ICES code: 90A3)",
  "Adventurous (ICES code: 32QQ, 1988-1992)",
  "BELOGORSK (ICES code: 90BK)",
  "DELAWARE II (ICES code: 316G)",
  "EVRIKA (call sign: EWVO, ICES code: 90EV)",
  "G. B. KELEZ (ICES code: 31KE)",
  "GORDON GUNTER (call sign: WTEO, ICES code: 33GG, 1998-)",
  "GYRE (ICES code: 32GY)",
  "Goerlitz (call sign: DHXV, ICES code: 3149, 1961-1981)",
  "HENRY B. BIGELOW (call sign: WTDF, ICES code: 33HH, 2005-)",
  "Isabel S. (ICES code: 327N)",
  "Katahdin (call sign: WUY7620, ICES code: 33H0)",
  "Mt. Mitchell (call sign: WDA9674, ICES code: 33MI, 2003-)",
  "NOGLIKI (ICES code: 90NG)",
  "Nobska (call sign: WDB9532, ICES code: 33RE)",
  "Nordic Pride (ICES code: 32YE)",
  "OKEANOS EXPLORER (call sign: WTDH, ICES code: 334A, 2008-)",
  "PISCES (call sign: WTDL, ICES code: 334B, 2009-)",
  "YUBILEYNYI (ICES code: 90YU)",
  "ABLE JAY",
  "ADMIRAL ARCISCEWSKI",
  "ADVENTUROUS",
  "ALBATROSS IV",
  "ALIOT",
  "ARGO MAINE",
  "ARGUS",
  "BELOGORSK",
  "DELAWARE II",
  "ENDEAVOR",
  "EVRIKA",
  "GEORGE B KELEZ",
  "GOERLITZ",
  "GORDON GUNTER",
  "GYRE",
  "HENRY B BIGELOW",
  "ISABEL S",
  "KATAHDIN",
  "LADY HAMMOND",
  "MARION C II ; ALSO MORMAC CAPE (PRIOR TO 1990)",
  "MOUNT MITCHELL",
  "NOBSKA",
  "NOGLIKI",
  "NORDIC PRIDE",
  "OCEANOGRAPHER",
  "OKEANOS EXPLORER",
  "PELICAN III",
  "PISCES; ALSO OCEAN PRINCE (PRIOR TO 2008)",
  "WIECZNO",
  "YUBILEINIY",
  "OCEAN > ATLANTIC OCEAN > NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN",
  "OCEAN > ATLANTIC OCEAN > NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN > BAY OF FUNDY",
  "Carolina Capes (North Carolina)",
  "East Florida",
  "Georges Bank",
  "Georgia",
  "Gulf of Maine",
  "Mid-Atlantic Bight",
  "Nova Scotia",
  "South Carolina",
  "Southern New England"
]
landingPage https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/contact
language 
                                            []
license https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
modified 2025-06-11T00:00:00.000+00:00
publisher 
                                            {
  "name": "NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information",
  "@type": "org:Organization"
}
references 
                                            [
  "https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/new-england-mid-atlantic/ecosystems/monitoring-ecosystem-northeast",
  "https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/9285"
]
rights otherRestrictions
spatial -63.6,34.667,-75.97,44.77
temporal 1977-02-13T00:00:00+00:00/2023-11-15T00:00:00+00:00
title Zooplankton and ichthyoplankton abundance and distribution in the North Atlantic collected by the Ecosystem Monitoring (EcoMon) Project from 1977-02-13 to 2023-11-15 (NCEI Accession 0187513)

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