2025 Fall Bottom Trawl Survey Completed in Northeast
Weather, mechanical, and other issues impacted station completion rates during our annual fall fisheries survey. The team was able to pivot and prioritize spatial coverage to obtain samples from 100 percent of the strata.
The Northeast Fisheries Science Center’s bottom trawl survey is among the longest running of their kind in the world. This survey provides more than 60 years of standardized data collected during a time of significant change in the ocean around us.
Dates and Legs
The 2025 Fall Bottom Trawl Survey began on September 5 and completed operations on December 9 aboard the NOAA Ship Henry B. Bigelow. We conducted the fall survey from south to north and it occurred in four legs:
- Leg 1: September 5–24
- Leg 2: October 3–21
- Leg 3: October 28–November 13
- Leg 4: December 2–9
We added a fourth leg to the fall survey to complete spatial area coverage and increase station density in undersampled strata on Georges Bank and in the Gulf of Maine.
Location
This survey monitors fishery stock abundance and distribution on the Northwest Atlantic continental shelf from Cape Lookout, North Carolina, to the Scotian Shelf.
Completion Rates
The survey team conducted and/or collected:
- Fishery resource survey tows and oceanographic sampling at 258 of 377 planned stations (68 percent completion)
- Plankton samples at 88 of 116 planned stations (76 percent completion)
We experienced a series of challenges and delays during the fall survey. The most impactful were related to mechanical and weather issues, including slowed operations because of a damaged acoustic sensor.
Despite these challenges, we completed representative tows at 68 percent of the planned stations. In collaboration with our population dynamics team, we prioritized spatial coverage so that we have samples from all strata and substrata. Taking this prioritization approach and having samples from 100 percent of the strata better allows assessment scientists to understand what may be happening in our region.
Survey Mission
The Bigelow supports a variety of marine research on this multispecies bottom-trawl survey. The most important of its missions is to monitor the region’s fishery resources. These data are critical inputs to regional fish stock assessments. They help inform fishery management decisions by the New England and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Councils as well as Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.
Data Collection and Use
Data collected are used to track fish ages, lengths, weights, sex, maturity, and food habits. The survey also collects taxonomic data and hundreds of special sample requests for partner institutions.
The temperature and salinity profiles we collect during the survey help link fish distribution to physical oceanographic conditions.
We use bongo nets to collect zooplankton, including larval fish and eggs, which help us:
- Understand fish spawning distributions
- Estimate fish abundance changes
- Construct models that support ecosystem-based approaches to fisheries management
We release survey data annually, about 3 months after the survey is complete. When available, the data can be found on our survey page.
Bottom Trawl Stations in the Mid-Atlantic
Bottom Trawl Stations in the Gulf of Maine
Percentage of Completed Bottom Trawl Stations
Percentage of Completed Plankton Stations
