Haddock! Haddock!
Two impressive tows of haddock were brought onboard the NOAA FRV Albatross IV along the northern edge of Georges Bank, near the Hague line. Station 236 captured 2,822 individuals weighing 4,920 lbs and station 239 had 3,356 individuals weighing 6,293 lbs. The majority of these haddock were in the 17 to 19 inch range and likely were representatives of the very strong 2003 year class.
An Interesting Yellowtail Observation
Tows in the southern portion of Closed Area II captured more yellowtail flounder than previous fall surveys. The two largest tows occurred at stations 211 and 210, which yielded 491 and 250 individuals respectively. It will be interesting to see how this year?s catch compares statistically with previous years.
Big Catches of Little Windowpane
Small windowpane flounder (1,393 individuals measuring two inches or less) were noticeably abundant at several stations during the third leg. Most of these were on the southern side of the Georges Bank shoals. This is the largest number of small windowpane flounder on a fall bottom trawl survey to date. The second largest number occurred on the 1985 fall bottom trawl survey when 884 individuals measuring two inches or less were encountered; the majority of these were also on the southern side of Georges Bank shoals.
Spiny Dogfish Record Tow
After the standard bottom trawl survey work was completed on October 31, 2007 (during leg V), additional trawls were deployed where the vessel repeated a series of three twenty minute tows along the same track line in as short a time frame as possible to see what effect these tows would have on the total catch (did each tow?s successive catch become smaller?). While towing just north of Provincetown, MA, one day after hurricane Noel passed through, we brought aboard the largest catch of spiny dogs that I had ever seen. With great effort, the net was brought aboard and 90 minutes later, over 26,000 pounds of dogfish (7,261 individuals) had been processed. We left the area without completing the two other planned tows!
http://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/femad/ecosurvey/mainpage/rsr/fbts/fbts_2007/large_file.pdf
You think it might be time to open up Commercial Dogging?? The largest set of Dogs? The treehuggers will come up with some reason not too! REMEMBER THAT WAS A 20 MINUTE TOW.
This post edited by AUDREYMAE 08:04 AM 03/04/2008
Two impressive tows of haddock were brought onboard the NOAA FRV Albatross IV along the northern edge of Georges Bank, near the Hague line. Station 236 captured 2,822 individuals weighing 4,920 lbs and station 239 had 3,356 individuals weighing 6,293 lbs. The majority of these haddock were in the 17 to 19 inch range and likely were representatives of the very strong 2003 year class.
An Interesting Yellowtail Observation
Tows in the southern portion of Closed Area II captured more yellowtail flounder than previous fall surveys. The two largest tows occurred at stations 211 and 210, which yielded 491 and 250 individuals respectively. It will be interesting to see how this year?s catch compares statistically with previous years.
Big Catches of Little Windowpane
Small windowpane flounder (1,393 individuals measuring two inches or less) were noticeably abundant at several stations during the third leg. Most of these were on the southern side of the Georges Bank shoals. This is the largest number of small windowpane flounder on a fall bottom trawl survey to date. The second largest number occurred on the 1985 fall bottom trawl survey when 884 individuals measuring two inches or less were encountered; the majority of these were also on the southern side of Georges Bank shoals.
Spiny Dogfish Record Tow
After the standard bottom trawl survey work was completed on October 31, 2007 (during leg V), additional trawls were deployed where the vessel repeated a series of three twenty minute tows along the same track line in as short a time frame as possible to see what effect these tows would have on the total catch (did each tow?s successive catch become smaller?). While towing just north of Provincetown, MA, one day after hurricane Noel passed through, we brought aboard the largest catch of spiny dogs that I had ever seen. With great effort, the net was brought aboard and 90 minutes later, over 26,000 pounds of dogfish (7,261 individuals) had been processed. We left the area without completing the two other planned tows!
http://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/femad/ecosurvey/mainpage/rsr/fbts/fbts_2007/large_file.pdf
You think it might be time to open up Commercial Dogging?? The largest set of Dogs? The treehuggers will come up with some reason not too! REMEMBER THAT WAS A 20 MINUTE TOW.
This post edited by AUDREYMAE 08:04 AM 03/04/2008
