Drop Sampling Data from Port Fourchon, Louisiana collected in 2006, 2016, 2022 and 2023

This dataset  assembles four nekton survey datasets from Port Fourchon/Barataria Bay, Louisiana spanning 2006, 2016, 2022, and 2023. The 2006 campaign provides long-format seine/drop-sample catches for fishes, invertebrates, and penaeids plus detailed site metadata (GPS, salinity, temperature, turbidity, depth, habitat, vegetation). The 2016, 2022, and 2023 studies supply wide-format abundance tables keyed to site–date identifiers. A hand-curated taxonomic key (final_aphia_codex_edited.csv) harmonizes names and AphiaIDs across years, and a coarse cross-year presence file (species_presence_2006_2016_2022.csv) flags which taxa were observed in each survey. Processing via dataset_merge_and_process_BCODMO.ipynb standardizes taxonomy, merges the time series, and yields community matrices (991168_v1_port-fourchon_drop-sampling.csv) and site-level presence proportions (presence_summary*.csv, presence_pivot*.csv). Together these files provide a 17-year record of estuarine nekton composition and habitat context for assessing turnover and temperature affinities during climate-driven shifts in coastal foundation species.