Habitat sample taken on Leg 3. Photo credit: NOAA Fisheries/Christine Kircun
UNDATED – Earlier this month, the Northeast Fisheries Science Center staff finished the 2019 spring bottom-trawl survey.
The crew aboard the NOAA vessel Henry B. Bigelow conducted survey resource tows and temperature and salinity sampling at 356 of 377 planned stations and plankton tows at 106 of 116 planned stations.
Data collected are used to monitor the distribution and abundance of fish and invertebrate species on the continential shelf and upper slope of the Northwest Atlantic Ocean.
Temperature and salinity profiles collected help link fish distribution to physical oceanographic conditions.
Larval fish and eggs collected help with understanding spawning distributions and estimating changes in fish abundance.
Zooplankton collected tell researchers about the ocean food web, and are used to construct models that support ecosystem-based fisheries management.
The spring survey occurs in four legs that range from 10 to 19 days long, beginning in the south and finishing up in the north.
The survey got underway on March 10, which was six days later than originally planned, due to the January federal government shutdown.
Wind and weather were comparatively mild and vessel operations were steady throughout the spring.
The vessel encountered rough seas during some of the third and fourth legs, but overall working conditions were favorable and sampling occurred over the full survey region.
The survey was completed on May 14.
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