This layer is intended to represent the geographic extent of NOAA Fisheries’ U.S. West Coast Groundfish Bottom Trawl Survey. The U.S. West Coast Groundfish Bottom Trawl Survey started in 1998 and is led by NMFS Northwest Fisheries Science Center. This survey provides long-term time-series data for the management of West Coast groundfishes as well as coastwide environmental sampling for monitoring change within the California Current Ecosystem. The bottom trawl survey covers West Coast waters (55-1280 meters [30-700 fathoms]) twice annually using a trawl net and a random sampling design, stratified by depth and latitude. The survey collects fishery-independent data on abundance, distribution, and biology of most species included in the west coast groundfish management plan. Weight and measurements are collected from vertebrates and invertebrates alongside various biological samples. Samples collected include otoliths and other structures for aging, finclips for genetics, gonads for reproductive analysis, and stomach contents and tissue samples for diet/stable isotope analysis. Oceanographic sensors are affixed to the trawl net, collecting data such as temperature, salinity, and dissolved oxygen for each trawl at depth.

This layer is intended to represent the geographic extent of NOAA Fisheries’ U.S. West Coast Groundfish Bottom Trawl Survey. The U.S. West Coast Groundfish Bottom Trawl Survey started in 1998 and is led by NMFS Northwest Fisheries Science Center. This survey provides long-term time-series data for the management of West Coast groundfishes as well as coastwide environmental sampling for monitoring change within the California Current Ecosystem. The bottom trawl survey covers West Coast waters (55-1280 meters [30-700 fathoms]) twice annually using a trawl net and a random sampling design, stratified by depth and latitude. The survey collects fishery-independent data on abundance, distribution, and biology of most species included in the west coast groundfish management plan. Weight and measurements are collected from vertebrates and invertebrates alongside various biological samples. Samples collected include otoliths and other structures for aging, finclips for genetics, gonads for reproductive analysis, and stomach contents and tissue samples for diet/stable isotope analysis. Oceanographic sensors are affixed to the trawl net, collecting data such as temperature, salinity, and dissolved oxygen for each trawl at depth.

This layer is intended to represent information collected during NOAA Fisheries’ U.S. West Coast Groundfish Bottom Trawl Survey. The U.S. West Coast Groundfish Bottom Trawl Survey started in 1998 and is led by NMFS Northwest Fisheries Science Center. This survey provides long-term time-series data for the management of West Coast groundfishes as well as coastwide environmental sampling for monitoring change within the California Current Ecosystem. The bottom trawl survey covers West Coast waters (55-1280 meters [30-700 fathoms]) twice annually using a trawl net and a random sampling design, stratified by depth and latitude. The survey collects fishery-independent data on abundance, distribution, and biology of most species included in the west coast groundfish management plan. Weight and measurements are collected from vertebrates and invertebrates alongside various biological samples. Samples collected include otoliths and other structures for aging, finclips for genetics, gonads for reproductive analysis, and stomach contents and tissue samples for diet/stable isotope analysis. Oceanographic sensors are affixed to the trawl net, collecting data such as temperature, salinity, and dissolved oxygen for each trawl at depth.

NOAA Fisheries and its partners conduct bottom-trawl surveys in 7 regions in the US (Northeast, Southeast, Gulf of Mexico, West Coast, Gulf of Alaska, Bering Sea, Aleutian Islands). These surveys are designed to collect information on the seasonal distribution, relative abundance, and biodiversity of fish and invertebrate species found on the US continental shelves. Over 900 species of fish and invertebrates have been identified in these surveys.

NOAA Fisheries and its partners conduct bottom-trawl surveys in 7 regions in the US (Northeast, Southeast, Gulf of Mexico, West Coast, Gulf of Alaska, Bering Sea, Aleutian Islands). These surveys are designed to collect information on the seasonal distribution, relative abundance, and biodiversity of fish and invertebrate species found on the US continental shelves. Over 800 species of fish and invertebrates have been identified in these surveys.

Sampling the coastal waters of the Gulf of Maine using the Northeast Fishery Science Center standardized bottom trawl has been problematic due to large areas of hard bottom and the proliferation of fixed fishing gear. Concerns that areas with significant fish biomass were not being sampled resulted in the NEFSC developing a summer bottom trawl survey in order to supplement sampling in this region. The NEFSC worked with regional fisherman to map areas accessible to bottom trawls and used this information to develop a sampling regime. A master list of towable areas was used to inform the stratified-random survey design which allowed sampling in these areas, while greatly reducing gear damage. This survey was conducted from 1991 through 1995.

Paper logs are the primary data collection tool used by observers of the Northeast Fisheries Observer Program and Industry Funded Scallop Program deployed on commercial fishing vessels. Data collected on paper logs are used to enter critical data fields into a web-based data entry program, OBPRELIM, and loads data directly into Oracle tables. OBPRELIM is used to enter trip, incidental take, and haul level data for in-season quota monitored fisheries and discard log data for the herring and longfin squid fisheries to track slippage events. OBPRELIM contains built in audit checks to increase data quality. OBPRELIM is also used for post-entry Fisheries Sampling Branch processing and verification.

The GOA/AI Bottom Trawl Estimate database contains abundance estimates for the Alaska Biennial Bottom Trawl Surveys conducted in the Gulf of Alaska and the Aleutian Islands in alternate years. The estimates build upon raw and summary data available from the RACEBASE database and include calculated catch-per-unit-effort (cpue)s for principal species of groundfish and key invertebrates for each survey region. The cpues are averaged by survey strata, and then average cpues are multiplied by stratum areas which results in estimates of biomass and numerical abundance. Length and age data are combined with abundance to estimate the population at length and sex and population at age and sex.

Paper logs are the primary data collection tool used by observers of the Northeast Fisheries Observer Program and Industry Funded Scallop Program deployed on commercial fishing vessels. Data collected on paper logs are used to enter critical data fields into a web-based data entry program, OBPRELIM, and loads data directly into Oracle tables. OBPRELIM is used to enter trip, incidental take, and haul level data for in-season quota monitored fisheries and discard log data for the herring and longfin squid fisheries to track slippage events. OBPRELIM contains built in audit checks to increase data quality. OBPRELIM is also used for post-entry Fisheries Sampling Branch processing and verification.

Data collected by the ATLAS Client and transmitted electronically or by fax to the AFSC are loaded into production transaction tables which are the source data for those interfaces used for fishery management, scientific inquiry and fishing activity monitoring by industry.