Since 2008, the Coastal Chemical Contamination Observation Network (ROCCH) has taken over from RNO (French National Observation Network for Quality in Marine Environments), which had existed since 1974. ROCCH aims to meet national, community and international obligations relating to monitoring chemicals in marine environments. It is therefore more of a control network than a heritage network as RNO once was. The backbone of ROCCH is to apply the European Water Framework Directive (WFD) and to meet the obligations set out in OSPAR Conventions and in Barcelona. As the WFD insisted on decentralization, ROCCH has gone from having just one project leader (the Ministry for the Environment) to having many decision-makers (water agencies, DIREN etc.). Chemical analyses are no longer conducted by Ifremer alone, but are attributed to other partners following calls for tender. ROCC also includes the monitoring of chemicals in shellfish production areas for the Food safety agency (DGAL) and the Ministry for Agriculture and Fisheries. Monitoring focuses on the three regulated metals: mercury, lead and cadmium in the given areas. Monitoring of these chemical contaminants is conducted in the three marine matrices: water, biota and sediment. Testing also includes imposex, the biological effect of tributyltin (TBT), as required by the OSPAR convention.

Spatial distribution for nutrients data (silicate, nitrate, nitrite, ammonium and phosphate) for all maritime regions in the English Channel and North Sea, the Celtic Seas and the Bay of Biscay. The temporal extent of the data is from 1930 to 2010, most being between 1974 and 2007 with a peak in 1999.

3D seasonal temperature range (in ° C) obtained by objective analysis (interpolation) of the raw data in situ, at a depth of 5m. Within the Bay of Biscay Challenge and the programme of the Operational Coastal Oceanographic Centre Prévimer, the services of SISMER DYNECO-PHYSED of IFREMER have built a joint hydrological database of the Bay of Biscay, from CTD measurements, Bouteilles, XBT / MBT and Profileurs from multiple global data centres to achieve a climatological atlas of the region for temperature and salinity.

The chemical status of a coastal water body (coastal water or transition water) is determined by the most declassing of the defined states for heavy metals, pesticides, industrial pollutants and other pollutants taken into account by the WFD . The assessment is done once per management plan (once every six years). The most recent assessment of the state of the chemical state is presented in the DCE Loire-Bretagne atlas. Earlier reports are available in annual archives.

The objective of the PELGAS cruise is to monitor distribution and abundance of pelagic species fished in the Bay of Biscay, using two direct evaluation methods: acoustics and spawning estimates. The cruise was conducted in coordination with France, Spain and Portugal, in the framework of the European council regulations (EC No 1543/2000 of 29 June 2000 and No 1639/2001 of 25 July 2001).

The associated data highlights the sampling programme for the data acquisition campaign of Observation on the Aerial Platform for the SAMM1and SAMM2 campaigns (Aerial Marine Megafauna Monitoring) conducted by the PELAGIS observatory (UMS 3462 ULR/CNRS). The sampling plan is composed of preestablished sampling strata and transects. These were drawn up according to the specific characteristic of the study area “Mainland France”, or FrM. Description of fields and values of allocation tables: : ( - field name, meaning: value, description of values) region char 5 Study area region_lbl char 50 labelled study area idCampagne (survey) char 15 Name of the campaign programme char 20 Programme name sector char 10 Sampling sector short ID strate char 5 Sampling strata short ID strate_lbl char 15 Labelled sampling strata areaKM double Strata surface area transect_name char 10 transect sampling length_km double Transect length start_x double Coordinates of the start of transect x in decimal degree start_y double Coordinates of the start of transect y in decimal degree end_x double Coordinates of the end of transect x in decimal degree end_y double Coordinates of the end of transect y in decimal degree

Validated and aggregated data from current profilers measured continuously by hull-mounted ADCPs (Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler).

The spatial resolution from satellite climatology provides a more detailed description of spatio-temporal variations of surface temperature in the northern part of the western basin. Climatology exists for the surface temperature based on satellite infrared measurements which provides a spatial resolution on the order of kilometres.

To draw up an inventory of the "Western Channel" ecosystem by collecting complete data covering a maximum of compartments of this system (hydrology, planktonic compartments including fish eggs and larvae, benthic invertebrates, pelagic, demersal and benthic fish and cephalopods, birds and marine mammals). To determine the impact of climate change in the Channel on the composition of benthic invertebrate assemblages, the integrator group of these changes, through sampling of particular stations for which historical data exist. Carry out an intercalibration with the N/O Gwen Drez so that the CGFS (Channel Ground Fish Survey) data set can be continued on another vessel in the coming years.