January 16, 2026 — Another survey season has just wrapped up for the Gulf of Maine Bottom Longline team. While going to sea and working on these surveys can be fun and exciting, it also drastically disrupts our social and biological schedules. During survey season—April and May in the spring and October and November in the fall—I tend not to make any land-based plans, or see many people from my non-working life. Our schedules are highly dependent on weather conditions and can change at a moment’s notice. At the end of every survey season, when I announce my return from sea in various text messages and emails, I invariably get asked: “So … what do you do out there?”
Sampling the Gulf of Maine’s Rocky Bottom
The Gulf of Maine Bottom Longline Survey focuses on rocky bottom areas in the Gulf of Maine that are challenging for the Bottom Trawl Survey to sample. Using longline gear, we are able to get better data on groundfish species that live around rocky crevices that trawl nets might get hung up on. Each season, we partner with two commercial fishing vessels to sample 45 locations in the Gulf of Maine. We gather data that goes into stock assessments that help us understand what our fish stocks look like today and what they might look like in the future. Data collection at each station includes:
- Counting, weighing, and measuring every single fish that we catch
- Assessing age and maturity stage of certain species
- Gathering biological samples for researchers back on land
- Tagging and releasing some larger species like sharks and skates