26 
Part B - Technical instructions 
Baseline study 
Construction 
phase 
Operation phase 
Method 
(continued) 
• The sampling dates are to observe the same limited time frame each year. The 
sampling interval in the project and reference areas must not exceed 2 weeks. 
• The seasons are defined as follows: 
North Sea: Spring: 01.04.-15.05./Autumn: 15.09.-15.11. 
Baltic Sea: Spring: 01.04.-15.05./Autumn: 01.10.-30.11. 
• Fish sampling must take place only from dawn to sunset. 
• The treatment of catches should be documented and standardised (see process 
instruction p. 49). 
• The condition of the catching device must be documented. 
Moreover, the following information must be determined and documented: 
• Shooting and hauling positions, towing time, area covered. 
• Per fish species: weight, number, length distribution. 
• Brief, semi-quantitative description of invertebrate by-catch. 
• Hydrographic (T, Sal, 0 2 ) and meteorological data. 
Presenta 
tion of 
results 
Documentation of condition and modification per project and reference area 
(described in separate chapters) by illustration of: 
• Total number of individuals per area/number of individuals per species and area 
(species table). 
• Total biomass per area/biomass per species and area. 
• Dominance structure (related to number of individuals and biomass). 
• Diversity (e. g. Shannon-Wiener Index) and evenness (e. g. according to Pielou). 
• Average number of species per haul. 
• Length frequency distribution of dominant species. 
• Analytical statistics (univariate analyses, community analysis (cluster analysis, MDS 
plot)). 
• The catch (port/starboard) per haul should be documented both separately and 
combined. 
• The fish documented during the benthos (epifauna) survey (see table 1.2 and 1.4) 
should be included to illustrate the fish species spectrum.