NEFSC 1999 Atlantic Herring Acoustic/Midwater Trawl Survey (DE9909, EK500) |
The NEFSC Atlantic herring acoustic survey is a fisheries independent survey that
provides scientific data for Atlantic herring assessments in the U.S. mid-Atlantic
and New England regions. The survey is conducted in the fall on pre-spawning and spawning
herring primarily in the Georges Bank region, but with other historical sites in the
Gulf of Maine surveyed. The survey is a systematic design with parallel transects
oriented perpendicular to bathymetric features. Midwater trawl sites are selected
on an ad hoc basis to sample acoustic backscatter attributed to Atlantic herring as
well as backscatter by other organisms. The primary gear is multifrequency Simrad
echosounders, but midwater trawl, CTD, and a host of other scientific sensor data
are collected ancillary to the acoustic data. |
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