Document Type
Report
Department/Program
Virginia Institute of Marine Science
Publication Date
8-1996
Series
Special Scientific Report No. 124 V. R1991-1994
Abstract
The Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) has conducted a bottom trawl survey of some fashion since 1955. Historically, sampling has occurred as mid-channel transects at fixed locations spaced at approximately five mile intervals. During the 1970's, the need for a random stratified survey of the main stem Bay and tributaries was realized and subsequently implemented. This program had a very large spatial coverage in various depth strata, but was very limited in its temporal component. Sampling occurred on a semi-annual basis primarily in January and February, and again in July (Wojcik and Van Engel, 1988a.) Based on previous results from the fixed station sampling, effort was high to provide the desired margin of error (300-700 trawls per survey). This survey was discontinued after several years because of decreased funding. Subsequently, the program returned to a fixed station transect design. These river transects continued monthly until 1988, when Chesapeake Bay Stock Assessment Committee (CBSAC) funded a monthly random stratified survey of the main stem Bay (Chittenden, 1991) in hopes that this initiative would produce similar surveys of Virginia's major tributaries, the James, York, and Rappahannock Rivers. With this in mind, a pilot survey similar in design was established and implemented for the York River (for logistic reasons), beginning in October 1989. This work was performed independent of, and with a different vessel and smaller fishing gear than the primary sampling of the Bay and tributaries. With the purchase of the solely dedicated trawler RIV Fish Hawk, this random survey of the York was incorporated and sampled along with the historic fixed stations. This report shows the results of this random stratified survey of the York River for the period of June 1991, to December 1994.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.25773/9qtw-ks42
Keywords
Fisheries, Management, Abundance, Virgina
Recommended Citation
Land, M. F., Geer, P. J., Bonzek, C. F., & Austin, H. M. (1996) Juvenile Finfish and Blue Crab Stock Assessment Program York River Random Stratified Bottom Trawl Survey Data Summary Report Volume R1991-1994. Special Scientific Report No. 124 V. R1991-1994. Virginia Institute of Marine Science, William & Mary. https://doi.org/10.25773/9qtw-ks42
