Groundfish and Shrimp Survey

The current SEAMAP groundfish trawl survey is conducted semi-annually in the summer (June-July) and fall (October-November). A 42-ft shrimp trawl is used to collect specimens from Brownsville, TX to Key West, FL in 5 to 60 fm of water. Due to funding limitations, areas off southwest Florida are not sampled in the fall. The trawl is towed for 30 minutes, and catch is either worked up in its entirety or is subsampled if the catch is over 22 kg. During the trawl surveys, plankton samples are also collected using a 61 cm bongo frame and 0.335 mm mesh net and/or a 1x2 m Neuston frame with a 0.947 mm mesh net.

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Future temporal and spatial expansion of trawl surveys would improve the precision of estimates for all species, as well as provide coverage for Florida waters that are not sampled currently during the fall season. The expansion of biological sampling (i.e., stomach content, and age and growth analyses) would improve the stock assessments for those species sampled, as well as provide a basis for trophic and predator-prey analyses. This information is essential for the development of multispecies and integrated ecosystem assessments.

Theme Keywords

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	Type	Title
	Project	Abundance of King Mackerel Larvae from SEAMAP Fall Plankton Survey (1986 to 2006) Bongo Net Collections
	Project	Atlantic Croaker Abundance from SEAMAP Shrimp/Groundfish Surveys 1987-2009