SHARK - National marine environmental monitoring of zooplankton in Sweden since 1979

The national monitoring program was initiated by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency and is now financed by the Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management.

Monitoring is performed by Stockholm University, Umeå University, Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute and Gothenburg University. Data are stored in the Swedish Ocean Archive (SHARK) by the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI). Data should be sampled and analyzed according to the HELCOM COMBINE Manual - Part C Annex C7 Mesozooplankton (https://helcom.fi/media/publications/Guidelines-for-monitoring-of-mesozooplankton.pdf). However, deviations from the manual might occur. Information about the program and the methods are available in Swedish at the website of Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management, https://www.havochvatten.se/vagledning-foreskrifter-och-lagar/vagledningar/ovriga-vagledningar/undersokningstyper-for-miljoovervakning/undersokningstyper/djurplankton-trend--och-omradesovervakning.html

Sampling Methods Samples are taken with vertical hauls using a WP-2 net. The samples are preserved and subsequently analyzed using microscopy.

Data and resources

Additional information

Temporal extent	1979-06-05 – ongoing
Date (publication)	2015-06-01
Status	onGoing
Update frequency	asNeeded
Metadata language	en
License	Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
Source metadata	ISO 19115 XML
Last updated	2026-11-04
Created	2026-11-04
API	package_show