Newfoundland to Virginia (Bigelow and Schroeder 1953). Howe (1971) reported that tomcod reach sexual 

 maturity at about 130 mm; they migrate up rivers to spawn in fresh or brackish water from November 

 through February. Eggs are adhesive and are found attached to the substrate. After spawning, adult and 

 larval tomcod remain in or near the estuary. They move to cooler waters during the summer months. 



Tomcod were caught in all fish programs, but were more abundant in the impingement and trawl 

 samples than in plankton collections. Eggs are adhesive and larvae tend to remain in or near spawning 

 areas, which are habitats that were not sampled by NUSCo programs. Over 98% of impinged tomcod 

 were adults (fish larger than 130 mm) and about 90% of these were taken during fall and winter (Fig. 16). 

 About 58% of the total tomcod impingement estimate during the two-unit operational period, were 

 impinged during 1981 and 1982; estimates for other years ranged from 91 to 4,938 fish (Table 13). In 

 trawls, more individuals were caught nearshore (stations NR, IN, NB and JC) than offshore (BR, TT) 

 (Table 15). Young-of-the-year dominated the catches of tomcod taken by trawl in the spring and summer; 

 adults were caught mostly in the fall and winter (Fig. 16). Trawl catches were seasonal and peaked from 

 April through June except at NR, where most fish were caught during their spawning season (Fig. 17). 

 Tomcod trawl catches were higher in 1981 and 1982 than in any other year (Table 14); during these two 

 years impingement estimates were also highest. This 1981-1982 peak could not be related to MNPS 

 operation or construction activities and, thus, it was attributed to an unusually large year-class. 



FALL -WINTER 



60 

 80 

 1 00 

 1 20 

 140 

 1 60 



200 400 

 FREQUENCY 

 TRAWLED 



600 



2000 4000 

 FREQUENCY 

 MP I NGED 



6000 



Figure 1 6. Length frequency dislribution of tomcod. 



42 



