Data Management Plan (Deprecated)

This dataset includes records of coral and sponge catch identified in trawl hauls made during the West Coast Groundfish Bottom Trawl Survey (WCGBTS). The WCGBTS is conducted at water depths ranging from 55 - 1,280 meters off the U.S. West Coast, including the States of Washington, Oregon, and California. The WCGBTS is conducted annually by NOAA Fisheries' Northwest Fisheries Science Center. These catch records are included in NOAA's Deep-Sea Coral Research and Technology Program (DSCRTP) National Database for Deep-sea Corals and Sponges.

NOAA DSCRTP compiles a national database of the known locations of deep-sea corals and sponges in U.S. territorial waters and beyond. Demersal and benthic fish occurrences that were recorded along with coral and sponge surveys are also included. The database is comprehensive, standardized, quality controlled, and networked to outside resources. The database schema accommodates both linear (trawls, transects) and point (samples, observations) data. The structure of the database is tailored to occurrence records of all the azooxanthellate corals, a subset of all corals, and all sponge species. Records shallower than 50 m are generally excluded in order to focus on predominantly deep-water species the mandate of the DSCRTP. The intention is to limit the overlap with light-dependent (and mostly shallow-water) corals.

Extent of coral and sponge catch from the West Coast Groundfish Bottom Trawl Survey, 2001-2025

Lineage Statement:
Catch records of corals, sponges, and sea pens, along with relevant attributes were extracted from the FRAM Data Warehouse via a structured query language (SQL) script. Further processing occurred in the R programming language (v.3.4) to validate scientific names in the FRAM Data Warehouse with the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS).

Process Steps:

• 2026-03-06 00:00:00 - Data Type: Occurrence (measured); Units: count; Observation Type: catch record; Sampling Instrument: trawl; Sampling and Analyzing Method: Numerous methods were utilized.; Data Quality Information: Points were checked in GIS to ensure no records were on land or locations far outside of North America and United States Territories. Completeness of Fields: In general, each catch record includes as much information as possible from the source database. Taxonomic Fields: As part of the QA/QC process, records were checked individually to ensure consistent use of valid taxonomic names. Each taxon identified in the 'ScientificName' field was cross-checked with currently valid scientific names listed in the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS; http://www.marinespecies.org). If the taxon name in the original source was a valid name (e.g., Lophelia pertusa), this was recorded in the 'ScientificName' field and the WoRMS AplhaID for that taxon was recorded in the 'WormsID' field. The Taxon Rank was recorded and higher taxonomic classification names for that taxon were filled in according to WoRMS. In cases where the taxon name recorded in the original source was not a currently accepted name (e.g., Lophelia prolifera), the currently accepted valid name was recorded in the 'ScientificName' field and the taxon name from the original source was recorded in the 'VerbatimScientificName' field. Derived fields: For historical records, certain fields were derived from information in other fields. For example, the identification of the 'VernacularNameCategory' or 'VernacularName' for a valid 'ScientificName' was derived from a review of the literature for that or taxon.
• 2026-03-06 00:00:00 - Catch records of corals, sponges, and sea pens, along with relevant attributes were extracted from the FRAM Data Warehouse via a structured query language (SQL) script. (Citation: The Northwest Fisheries Science Center's West Coast Groundfish Bottom Trawl Survey: History, Design, and Description)