January 7, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:
The COVID-19 pandemic and typical fall weather conditions were challenges, but the Cooperative Gulf of Maine Bottom Longline Survey team and industry partners wrapped up a successful season in early November.
“Every single person on the bottom longline survey team worked incredibly hard to get the survey completed this fall,” said Anna Mercer, chief of the Cooperative Research Branch. “From building new software to installing new camera systems, from repeated COVID-19 testing to careful quarantining, from new work flows to new hardware, it was a true team effort.”
The survey targets groundfish at 45 stations across the Gulf of Maine using tub-trawl bottom longline gear. The survey plan focuses on rocky bottom habitat, where fish are difficult to sample with trawl gear.
New Data Collection System Used
This year’s survey is the first to use a new data collection system developed by the branch. This next generation of software and hardware significantly upgrades digital data collection and catch processing at sea.
A tablet-based application replaces paper logs for most data types, improves operational efficiency, consistency, and data quality control for recording catch data and biological samples. Digital scales, electronic fish measuring boards, and barcode scanners now wirelessly communicate with the tablets. This keeps the system compact and agile for use on small commercial fishing vessels.
Both vessels were also newly equipped with electronic monitoring cameras. Adding cameras provides a way to get detailed information on the condition of bait or fish on hooks as the vessel retrieves the gear. This “hook status” information gives analysts a measure of hook availability—how available the hook is to fish that the gear encounters—which will improve understanding of catch rates.