[PDF-2.35 MB]
Details:
-
Personal Author:
-
Corporate Authors:
-
NOAA Program & Office:
-
Description:A pilot flatfish survey was conducted on the US portion of Georges Bank during August 2013 with a goal of providing a population estimate for Yellowtail Flounder in this region. This survey was designed and conducted with the fishing industry using two commercial vessels and a net designed to catch Yellowtail Flounder. Fishermen classified the region into two strata: one expected to have high densities of Yellowtail Flounder and the other expected to have low densities of Yellowtail Flounder. Stations were randomly assigned within these strata, with the high density stratum allocated more stations. Since the high efficiency trawl used for the survey could not be fished everywhere on Georges Bank, some stations were moved during the survey. Results showed much higher catch rates in the high density stratum than in the low density stratum, with some heterogeneity within each stratum. Catch rates within the high density stratum generally increased from south to north and from west to east and were generally higher at night than during the day. Size and age distributions were similar in the two strata and similar to the NEFSC 2013 fall survey, despite the latter catching many fewer Yellowtail Flounder. Estimation of the Yellowtail Flounder population for the entire Georges Bank region requires estimating the proportion of the population on the Canadian side of the bank and the catchability of the net. The authors suggest a reasonable range of possible values is 4,000 mt to 10,000 mt, with higher likelihood of being closer to the lower end of the range than the upper end of the range.
-
Keywords:
-
Document Type:
-
Place as Subject:
-
Rights Information:Public Domain
-
Compliance:Submitted
-
Main Document Checksum:
-
Download URL:
-
File Type:
