This manual describes the current methodologies, stratification, and sample processing used in the inshore beam-trawl surveys that provide fisheries-independent information to the fish stock assessments for flatfish species (often recruitment indices), as well as for elasmobranch species. Additionally, the inshore survey DYFS provides data for stock assessment of Crangon crangon. The inshore surveys included are conducted by Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands. The manual contains an overview of the major historical changes in survey methodology and/or data collection; it also provides an overview of the main points of attention for data users and recommended data processing.