Most fishery independent surveys count, weigh, and measure the majority of species caught. Many surveys also collect selected body structures for in-lab age determinations for selected species. We provide examples from the Northeast Fisheries Science Center's (NEFSC) bottom trawl survey that detail the development of at-sea sampling to elucidate age, growth, maturity, fecundity, spawning season, stomach contents, diet composition, condition, habitat types and prey preferences, basic oceanography (or limnology), and bioenergetics for a suite of diverse species. We show how the development of new methodologies and technologies has decreased both deck-time and time in the lab for processing many of the samples required to provide information on the topics listed above. As new technologies develop to make our trawl catch processing more efficient, we assert that we can notably increase the amount of information collected from trawl surveys with little additional effort. We show that with marginally additional catch processing time on the deck, at-sea sampling can provide a significant return on the knowledge of aquatic and marine resource species, non-resource species, habitats, food webs, and the ecosystems within which they occur. As observing systems continue to expand their remit to provide ecosystem management advice, the need for increased efficiencies on fisheries surveys will remain. 相似文献
Delaware River and Bay Morone saxatilis (Walbaum), striped bass, have recently undergone a dramatic recovery. Here, we examine spatio‐temporal patterns in the distribution and food habits of striped bass in marsh creeks in the estuary (salinity range 1–20 psu), 1996–2000. Sampling occurred monthly, April through November, with otter trawls (4.9 m, 6 mm mesh, n = 6760) and weirs (intertidal block nets, 6 mm mesh, n = 647) at eight sites. Young‐of‐the‐year (YOY) fish were generally more than 10 times more abundant at oligohaline sites, although they were abundant at mesohaline sites in 1996, the lowest salinity year. Small striped bass (<100 mm) in creeks relied on mysids and other crustaceans and became more piscivorous with size. Overall, they consumed 46% by weight fish, of which 52% were mummichog, Fundulus heteroclitus (L.), and 18% were YOY Atlantic croaker, Micropogonias undulatus (L.), prey types which are not typical in most food habits studies and are indicative of feeding in marsh creeks. These data suggest that young striped bass are an abundant component of Delaware Bay marsh creek fauna and may play an important role in trophic relays within this system. 相似文献