with the aid of benthic grabs and dredges operated from surface 

 ships (Runnstrom, 1941; Fridrikkson and Timmermann, 1951; Bowers, 

 1969; Pankratov and Sigajev, 1973). Other techniques have been 

 used to locate spawning sites, including: (1) the capture of 

 fully ripe adult herring; (2) the capture of other species which 

 are feeding on herring eggs; and, (3) the collection of recently 

 hatched larvae in towed plankton nets. None of these techniques, 

 however, permit in situ observation and study of the egg beds or 

 the egg bed habitat. 



Deep water in situ work in the Gulf of Maine was carried out 

 on egg beds on Georges Bank in 1970 with a submersible (Caddy and 

 lies, 1973) and on Jeffreys Ledge during 1972-1978 by personnel 

 of the Northeast Fisheries Center's Manned Undersea Research and 

 Technology Program using a variety of underwater techniques 

 including submersibles, SCUBA divers, remotely controlled camera 

 sleds, and an underwater habitat ( Boyar et al . , 1973; Cooper et 

 al., 1975; McCarthy et al., 1979). 



Egg bed studies were initiated by the Maine Department of 

 Marine Resources ( DMR ) in eastern Maine coastal waters in the 

 fall of 1983. Support during 1983 and 1984 was also provided by 

 the University of Maine Sea Grant Program. Research activities 

 during the first two years focused primarily on studies of larval 

 distributions and physical and biological oceanographic factors 

 affecting larval survival and westward transport along the coast 

 from the spawning ground ( Townsend et al . , 1986; 1987). 

 Seventeen egg bed sites were located between 1983 and 1987 based 

 on information provided by local fishermen who observed herring 

 eggs adhering to lobster pots which are deployed in large numbers 

 along the coast to depths of 40-50 m (Figs. 2 & 3). Support from 

 NOAA's National Undersea Research Program at the University of 

 Connecticut, Avery Point, in 1985 and 1986 provided funding for 

 surveys of individual spawning sites using a remotely-operated 

 underwater vehicle ( Mini-Rover ) equipped with a video camera, 

 depth gauge, and compass and deployed from a 40' support vessel. 



The objectives of egg bed research activities in eastern 

 Maine have been: 1) to precisely locate individual egg beds; 2) 

 to determine the distribution and abundance of eggs at individual 

 spawning sites in relation to depth, bottom topography, and 

 substrate type, and; 3) to compare egg development and mortality 

 rates at different positions in the egg mass, on different 

 substrates, and at different distances from egg bed perimeters. 

 Field work in the fall of 1985 produced video documentation of 

 egg bed and spawning habitat characteristics at two sites (A & 

 D). Two additional sites ( F & K ) were surveyed more extensively 

 in the fall of 1986 and briefly in the spring of 1987. This 

 paper presents a description of the physical characteristics of 

 these four egg beds based on underwater video observations, 

 bathymetric surveys, and observations and analyses of egg and 

 sediment samples. 



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