Inshore Lobster Trawl Survey
An annual trawl survey is conducted in Southwestern Nova Scotia and the Bay of Fundy to assess the lobster stocks in the area. The survey is conducted with the Northeast Fisheries Science Center Ecosystem Survey Trawl (NEST), a small mesh trawl with a cod end liner, which ensures the capture of various sizes of lobster. The dimensions and location of the trawl are monitored and recorded throughout the tow using an electronic trawl mensuration system. In addition, water temperature and depth are also monitored. The target tow length is 1 kilometer which is tracked using an Olex marine charting system. Vessel crew, DFO science staff and a contracted at sea observer work together to perform required tasks and collect all relevant data. Catch from each tow is separated by species, weighed and counted. Length frequency data is collected on select groundfish and crab species and detailed morphometric data is collected on each lobster.
PARAMETERS COLLECTED:
Set information and profile - includes set date, time depth and location
Catch summary - weight and number caught of each species
Length Freqeuncies - completed for up to 100 fish for selected species
Lobster Morphological Data - detailed data collected on each lobster
Bottom Temperature
Trawl Metrics
NOTES ON QUALITY CONTROL:
Data is visually verified and double keypunched. On loading to Oracle, data is run through rigorous automated checks to verify data accuracy and integrity.
SAMPLING METHODS:
The target tow length is 1 kilometer which is tracked using an Olex marine charting system. Vessel crew, DFO science staff and a contracted at sea observer work together to perform required tasks and collect all relevant data. Catch from each tow is separated by species, weighed and counted. Length frequency data is collected on select groundfish and crab species, detailed morphometric data is collected on each lobster. Bottom temperature and trawl metrics are collected for each tow.
CITATION LIST:
Denton, Cheryl M.. 2020. Maritimes Region Inshore Lobster Trawl Survey Technical Description. Canadian technical reports of fisheries and aquatic sciences (DFO) 3376.
- Publisher - Current Organization Name: Fisheries and Oceans Canada
- Licence: Open Government Licence - Canada
Data and Resources
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Data DictionaryCSVEnglish French guide CSV
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Inshore Lobster Trawl SurveyESRI RESTEnglish web_service ESRI REST
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Inshore Lobster Trawl SurveyESRI RESTFrench web_service ESRI REST
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Inshore Lobster Trawl SurveyFGDB/GDBEnglish dataset FGDB/GDB
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Data DictionaryCSVEnglish French guide CSV
Contact Information
Delivery Point: Bedford Institute of Oceanography, 1 Challenger Drive, PO Box 1006
City: Dartmouth
Administrative Area: Nova Scotia
Postal Code: B2Y 4A2
Country: Canada
Electronic Mail Address: adam.cook@dfo-mpo.gc.ca