Bottom trawl surveys of the gulf of maine and georges bank have been conducted by thenmfs since fall 1963 and spring 1967 to provide fisheries managers with information on thecondition of fish…

This federal Formula Grant award, provided by the U.S. Department of the Interior's Fish and Wildlife Service under the Sport Fish Restoration program (CFDA 15.605), supports the Maine Department of Marine Resources' (DMR) inshore bottom trawl surveys in the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank. The $245,682.66 award, effective January 1, 2025 through December 31, 2025, aims to establish a scientifically-sound quantitative time series on the distribution and relative abundance of benthic marine resources in nearshore Gulf of Maine waters along Maine and New Hampshire. This effort will provide critical data on species populations in these important inshore habitats, which had previously been undersampled. The surveys consist of 120 stations per season (spring and fall), covering a total area of 4,546 square nautical miles and including depth strata from 0-55 fathoms. The data collected will inform fisheries management decisions and enhance understanding of these nearshore marine ecosystems.

Bottom trawl surveys of the gulf of maine and georges bank have been conducted by thenmfs since fall 1963 and spring 1967 to provide fisheries managers with information on thecondition of fish populations. However, until the mainenew hampshire inshore bottomtrawl survey began, about 80% of the historically important inshore waters goode 1884,collins and rathbun 1887, rich 1929, bigelow and schroeder 1953 were not surveyed. ASA result, prior to the start of the me NH inshore trawl survey in 2000, a dearth of informationexisted from areas shallower than 300 FT. The overall goal of this project is to provide ascientifically defensible quantitative timeseries on the distribution and relative abundance ofbenthic marine resources in nearshore gulf of maine waters along maine and newhampshire. These inshore waters are substantial in area and contain keys habitats for sportfish species and their prey. Without this survey, information on species in these waters wouldbe nonexistent. The mainenew hampshire inshore bottom trawl survey consists of two surveys, one each inspring and fall. Total survey area 4546 NM2 is stratified by depth and region. IT includes fourdepth strata 420 fathoms, 2135 fathoms, 36 55 fathoms, and 56 fathoms in five geographicregions. The shallowest depth was based on practical constraints imposed by a 54FOOT draggerwhile the deeper boundary was selected to approximately follow the twelvemile boundaryjurisdiction of asmfc. Each survey targets 120 stations each season and equates to a samplingdensity of about 1 station 3 8 NM 2.a standard tow consists of towing the research net for twenty minutes at 2.5 knots in as straighta line as possible. The net used in this survey is a modified version of maine shrimp trawldesigned to fish effectively for a variety ofbenthic species. At each station, the net is broughton board and all fish are identified and sorted by species. Collective weights are taken for allspecies. Lengths are taken on each individual unless the samples for that species are so largethat they cannot be processed before the next tow. For large samples e.g. herring arepresentative subsample is taken of at least one hundred 100 individuals. SEX and maturitystage of individuals are determined for selected groundfish species using the methods describedin burnett ET AL, 1989. A CTD profiler is deployed to collect temperature and salinity data. Atthe end of each survey, cruise and catch information is entered directly into the DMR s oracledatabase marvin, and are checked for accuracy before use. The results from the first twentytwo years of the inshore trawl survey show patterns of useby recreational species such as american shad, rainbow smelt, mackerel, winter flounder, haddock, atlantic COD and important prey species for sportfish in areas that are not coveredby the nmfs survey. Products from this project include yearly seasonal abundance indices and length distributions for regulated and sportfish species to predict stock biomass trends biological information on selected species to assess stock sizes and reproductivepotential abundance, size, and species composition data for population and community studies environmental data to identify nonbiological factors affecting abundance.