Fall Long Island Sound Trawl Survey Data: Abundance and Distribution by Species

Summary This dataset contains fall catch distribution data for bottom trawls conducted by the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection in Long Island Sound aboard the R/V John Dempsey (1992-2014). Data are provided by CT DEEP Marine Fisheries Division for 61 fish species and 3 invertebrates in a format similar to other trawl data available through this data viewer. Only species caught in more than 5 fall tows (1992-2014) are included. Description Species included in this dataset are: alewife (ALW), American lobster (LOB), American shad (ASD), Atlantic croaker (CRO), Atlantic herring (ATH), Atlantic mackerel (MKR), Atlantic menhaden (MEN), Atlantic sturgeon (ATS), bay anchovy (BAY), bigeye scad (BES), black sea bass (BSB), blue runner (BLR), blueback herring (BBH), bluefish (BLF), butterfish (BUT), clearnose skate (CNS), conger eel (CON), crevalle jack (CRJ), cunner (CUN), fourbeard rockling (RCK), fourspot flounder (FSF), gizzard shad (GIZ), glasseye snapper (GLS), hickory shad (HSH), hogchoker (HOG), horseshoe crab (HOR), inshore lizardfish (LIZ), little skate (LSK), longfin squid (SQI), mackerel shad (MSD), moonfish (MOO), northern kingfish (NKF), northern pipefish (PIP), northern puffer (PUF), northern searobin (NSR), northern sennet (NOS), oyster toadfish (TDF), planehead filefish (FIL), red goatfish (RGF), red hake (RED), rough scad (SAU), roughtail stingray (RTS), round herring (RDH), round scad (RDS), scup (PGY), short bigeye (SBE), silver hake (WHI), smallmouth flounder (SMF), smooth dogfish (SMD), Spanish mackerel (SPA), spiny dogfish (SPD), spot (SPT), spotted hake (SPH), striped anchovy (STA), striped bass (STB), striped sea robin (SSR), summer flounder (SFL), tautog (BKF), weakfish (WKF), windowpane (WPF), winter flounder (WFL), winter skate (WSK), yellow jack (YJK).

Data are provided as tow-by-tow catch data and as site-summary data for the time periods 1992-2014 and 2005-2014.

Tow-by-tow catch data: Tow locations are depicted as points corresponding to GPS coordinates recorded for the water sample taken prior to each tow. Each tow has a unique identifier (SAMPLE variable). Catch data are provided as total number of fish caught, total kilograms caught, natural log of total count, and natural log of total biomass. Each tow includes the following variables: YY (year), Site, Sample (unique tow identifier), LAT_DD (latitude in decimal degrees), LON_DD (longitude in decimal degrees), SumCNT (total number of fish caught), SumWT (total kilograms caught), lnCNT (natural log of SumCNT), lnWT (natural log of SumWT), PosTow (value of zero means tow occurred, but did not catch species).

Site-summary data: Site summaries are attached to a 1x2 nm site grid as a way of depicting the area in Long Island Sound characterized by the tow data. Sampling protocols do not require that a tow start or end within a specific site box as long as the tow occurs within the correct stratum. The following variables are included for each site: LISSTRATA (LISTS strata is a combination of bottom type and depth interval, BTMTYPE (M=mud, T=trans, S=sand), DEPTHINT (1=5-9m, 2=9.1- 18.2m, 3=18.3-27.3m, 4=27.4+m), Site (site grid number), N (total number of tows by site), LnMnCNT (natural log mean count), LnSEcnt (natural log standard error mean count), Tot_Cnt (total count by site), PosTow (number of tows in which species was caught at site), LnMnWt (natural log mean kilograms), LnSEwt (natural log standard error mean kilograms), Tot_KG (total kilograms by site). Methods The Long Island Sound Trawl Survey is a stratified random survey begun in 1984. Biomass has been recorded since 1992. Fall data includes Sept-Oct cruises. Survey methodology can be found in Gottschall and Pacileo 2014 (http://www.ct.gov/deep/lib/deep/fishing/publications/2014_marine_fisheries_di vision_long_island_sound_trawl_survey.pdf) and Gottschall et al. 2000 (http://spo.nwr.noaa.gov/tr148.pdf). Citations Gottschall, K. F., M. W. Johnson, and D. G. Simpson. 2000. The distribution and size composition of finfish, American lobster, and long-finned squid in Long Island Sound based on the Connecticut Fisheries Division Bottom Trawl Survey, 1984-1994. NOAA Tech. Rep. NMFS 148, 195 p. Gottschall, K. and D. Pacileo. 2014. Long Island Sound Trawl Survey, Job 5. In: A Study of Marine Recreational Fisheries in Connecticut. Annual Progress Report, CT DEEP Marine Fisheries Division, Old Lyme, CT 141 p. Contact CT Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Marine Fisheries Division P.O. Box 719 Old Lyme, CT 06371 United States (860)434-6043 [email protected] Data Start 1992 Date Data End 2014 Date Data 41.318802 degrees N Northern Boundary Data 40.882972 degrees N Southern Boundary Data -73.702918 degrees E Western Boundary Data -72.049614 degrees E Eastern Boundary Spatial Type: Projected Reference Geographic Coordinate Reference: GCS_North_American_1983 Information Projection: NAD_1983_StatePlane_Connecticut_FIPS_0600_Feet Coordinate Reference Details Projected Coordinate System Well-known identifier: 102656 X Origin: -119756300 Y Origin: -96342500 XY Scale: 37294945.500735737 XY Tolerance: 0.0032808333333333331 Latest Well-known identifier: 2234 Well-Known Text: PROJCS["NAD_1983_StatePlane_Connecticut_FIPS_0600_Feet", GEOGCS["GCS_North_American_1983", DATUM["D_North_American_1983", SPHEROID["GRS_1980",6378137.0,298.257222101]], PRIMEM["Greenwich",0.0], UNIT["Degree",0.0174532925199433]], PROJECTION["Lambert_Conformal_Conic"], PARAMETER["False_Easting",999999.999996], PARAMETER["False_Northing",499999.999998], PARAMETER["Central_Meridian",-72.75], PARAMETER["Standard_Parallel_1",41.2], PARAMETER["Standard_Parallel_2",41.86666666666667], PARAMETER["Latitude_Of_Origin",40.83333333333334], UNIT["Foot_US",0.3048006096012192], AUTHORITY["EPSG",2234]] Use No restrictions or legal prerequisites for using the data after access is granted. Limitation The data is suitable for use at an appropriate scale, and is not recommended for use other than at scales 1:10,000 - 1:100,000. Although this data has been used by the State of Connecticut, Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (CT-DEEP), no warranty, expressed or implied, is made by CT-DEEP as to the accuracy of the data and or related materials. The act of distribution shall not constitute any such warranty, and no responsibility is assumed by CT- DEEP in the use of these data or related materials. The user assumes the entire risk related to the use of these data. Once the data is distributed to the user, modifications made to the data by the user should be noted in the metadata. When printing this data on a map or using it in a software application, analysis, or report, please acknowledge the CT-DEEP, Marine Fisheries Division as the source of the information. These data are suitable for planning purposes only, and should not be used for navigation or to make regulatory or jurisdictional boundary determinations.