This months adventure...begins Tuesday

[shresearchdude]

I'm going back out to sea and will post my adventure -and of course the fish, the time I do it depends on the shift I get. Leaving the pier in RI and headed north, likely into the Gulf of Maine area Tuesday15th-25th. I'll try to remember to bring my new Cannon onto the boat this time. (duh)
I will have to wait to download pictures until I get back. I'll bring my laptop with me to store pics so I won't need a bucket full of bytes.

And some background:

On each leg, up to 13 Center scientists and volunteers sample fish and shellfish populations and collect environmental data at each station. Throughout the 25-year program, data collection has occupied over 30,000 person-days. Universities and colleges, high schools, and state and Federal agencies have contributed personnel to this effort, and private citizens have also assisted.
Work is conducted on a 24-hour basis with two watches of 5-6 individuals standing 6-hour on and 6-hour off schedules. At each station the net is towed for 30 minutes at 6.5 km/hour (3.5 knots) relative to the bottom measured by the ship's doppler speed log. The catch is sorted by species, weighed to the nearest 0.1 kg, and measured. Age samples and stomach content observations are taken, and sex and maturity stage data are noted. Location, depth, time, weather conditions, water temperature, and trawl performance data are also recorded.

In addition to assessment-related applications, the surveys have provided data and sample material for countless studies on the biology and distribution of fish and invertebrate species which could not have been obtained from any other source. Cooperative work with researchers in other Federal and state agencies and academic institutions, including collection of plankton and pathology samples and observations on sea birds and marine mammals, has been a major responsibility. On a broader scale, the NEFC survey database is being used extensively for ecosystems research, focusing particularly on predator-prey relationships, recruitment processes, effects of environmental changes and impacts of pollution, oil drilling, and ocean dumping.
Since the autumn of 1963 over 60 standard bottom trawl survey cruises have been conducted, providing information on the abundance, biology, and distribution of the living marine resources of the Northwest Atlantic and environmental conditions affecting them. The resulting database is temporally the longest and most comprehensive of its kind. It also has proven invaluable for resource monitoring and biological research. Survey design and procedures have been basically unchanged throughout the history of the survey although technological improvements have been made as necessary to improve precision and operational efficiency.

I'll be aboard the R/V Bigelow which will replace the older R/V Albatross(1962) Currently the ships are conducting side by side calibration tests of gear, electronics, etc...
Bigelow stats:
http://www.moc.noaa.gov/hb/index.htm