Number and Lengths, by Season, of Fishes Caught with an 



Otter Trawl near Woods Hole, Massachusetts, 



September 1961 to December 1962 



By 



F. E. LUX and F. E. NICHY, Fishery Biologists 



National Marine Fisheries Service Biological Laljoratoiy 



\^'oods Hole, Massachusetts 02543 



ABSTRACT 



Forty-one species of fish were caught in hauls made about four times per month at 

 water depths of 2 to 15 feet (0.6 to 4.6 m.) in Woods Hole harbor. Seasonal occurrence 

 is discussed and compared with water temperature. Data on growth during the first year 

 are given for a number of species. 



INTRODUCTION 



From Septeml^er 1961 to December 1962 

 otter trawl hauls were made about four times 

 monthly in shallow water in Great Harbor, 

 near Woods Hole, IMassachusetts, to obtain 

 information on the species and sizes of fin 

 fishes there and to collect winter flounder, 

 Pseudojilenivnectes americanns (Walbaum) , 

 for a food habits study. This report summar- 

 izes the results of the work, with the e.xcep- 

 tion of the winter flounder food study. 



The catch data provide information for 

 certain species on occurrence in relation to 

 season and water temperature, growth during 

 the first year, and sizes and seasons when the 

 young end their ]ielagic stage and become avail- 

 al)le to an otter trawl. The data also hel]) 

 to define the role of the shallow water coastal 

 zone as a fish nui'sery area. 



MATERIALS AND METHODS 



The area sampled is shown in figure 1. The 

 water depth where trawl hauls were made 

 varied from 2 to 15 feet (0.() to 4.6 m.). A 

 small bay adjoining a salt marsh (area B in 

 fig. 1) was not included in the sampling area 

 until November 1961. The fishes in this shal- 

 low area included a number of euryhaline spe- 



cies such as sticklebacks and mummichogs that 

 were not found in the deeper water farther 

 from shore. Bottom sediments in the areas 

 sampled were sand and mud. 



The gear used was an otter trawl with a 

 footrope and lieadrojie each 30 feet (9.1 m.) 

 long. The mesh size was 4 inches (102 mm.) 

 in the wings and bellies and 1.5 inches (;;8 

 mm.) in the codend, stretched measure. The 

 end 6-foot (1.8-m.) section of the codend was 

 lined with 0.5 inch (13 mm.) mesh twine and 

 therefore retained very small fish. The foot- 

 rope was weighted with chain. The trawl was 

 towed from a .skiff ])owered with a 10 horse- 

 ]iower outboard motor and at a speed of about 

 1.9 miles (3.1 km.) per hour. At this speed 

 the wingspread of the net was about 14.5 feet 

 (4.4 m.) and the headrope height 2 feet (0.6 

 m.). Each tow was about 15 minutes in dur- 

 ation, and, usually, two tows were made per 

 sampling date. This varied somewhat de- 

 pending upon weather and net condition. 



The sea surface temjieratures recorded at 

 the fishing area on each samjiling date (table 

 1) closely coincided with those recorded daily 

 on the opposite side of the harbor by C. H. 

 Wheeler at the NMFS (National Marine Fish- 

 eries Service) wharf. These daily recoi-ds are 

 therefore summai-ized as weeklv averages in 



