VIS - Fish Monitoring by Volunteers in the Zeeschelde Estuary in Flanders, Belgium

Sampling event
Latest version published by Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO) on May 26, 2026 Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)
Publication date:
26 May 2026
License:
CC0 1.0

Download the latest version of this resource data as a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A) or the resource metadata as EML or RTF:

Data as a DwC-A file download 1,647 records in English (439 KB) - Update frequency: as needed
Metadata as an EML file download in English (8 KB)
Metadata as an RTF file download in English (6 KB)

Description

‘VIS - Fish Monitoring by Volunteers in the Zeeschelde Estuary in Flanders, Belgium’ is a sampling event dataset published by the Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO). The dataset contains over 25,000 occurrences sampled since 2005 from more than 10 different locations in the part of the river Scheldt and its tributaries, Rupel and Grote Nete, under tidal influence ("Zeeschelde Estuary"). The dataset includes over 65 fish species, as well as a number of non-target crustacean species, all sampled with paired fyke nets by volunteers. The data are retrieved from the Fish Information System (VIS), a database set up to monitor the status of fishes and their habitats in Flanders and are collected in support of the Water Framework Directive, the Habitat Directive, certain red lists, and biodiversity research. Additional information, such as measurements, absence information and abiotic data are available upon request.Length and weight measurement data of the individual fishes, absence information, as well as abiotic data of the sampling points (pH, temperature, etc.) are not included in the Darwin Core Archive and are available upon request.

Data Records

The data in this sampling event resource has been published as a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A), which is a standardized format for sharing biodiversity data as a set of one or more data tables. The core data table contains 1,647 records.

1 extension data tables also exist. An extension record supplies extra information about a core record. The number of records in each extension data table is illustrated below.

Event (core)
1647
Occurrence 
25262

This IPT archives the data and thus serves as the data repository. The data and resource metadata are available for download in the downloads section. The versions table lists other versions of the resource that have been made publicly available and allows tracking changes made to the resource over time.

Versions

The table below shows only published versions of the resource that are publicly accessible.

Rights

Researchers should respect the following rights statement:

The publisher and rights holder of this work is Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO). To the extent possible under law, the publisher has waived all rights to these data and has dedicated them to the Public Domain (CC0 1.0). Users may copy, modify, distribute and use the work, including for commercial purposes, without restriction.

GBIF Registration

This resource has been registered with GBIF, and assigned the following GBIF UUID: 945e66cf-dd7d-4a97-aba2-d68adedc8e21.  Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO) publishes this resource, and is itself registered in GBIF as a data publisher endorsed by Belgian Biodiversity Platform.

Keywords

Samplingevent

Contacts

Rhea Maesele
  • Metadata Provider
  • Originator
  • Point Of Contact
Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)
BE
Gerlinde Van Thuyne
  • Originator
Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)
BE
Stijn Cooleman
  • Metadata Provider
  • Originator
Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO) / Belgian Biodiversity Platform
BE
Dimitri Brosens
  • Originator
Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)
BE
Jo Loos
  • Originator
Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)
BE
Jan Breine
  • Originator
Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)
BE

Additional Metadata