Fig. 1. Location of trawl, seine, and ichlhyoplankton sampling stations. 



by month, with 8 samples collected in January, 

 15 in February, 14 in March, 5 in April, 4 per 

 month during May through November, and 10 

 in December. Data are reported from January 

 1976 through December 11, 1987. 



Ichthyoplankton program 



Weekly samples of entrained ichthyoplankton 

 (fish eggs and larvae) were collected during 3 day 

 and 3 nights from June through September, on 1 

 day and 1 night from October through February, 

 and during 4 days and 4 nights from March 

 through May. Sampling alternated weekly be- 

 tween the discharges of Units 1 and 2 (station 

 EN) when plant operations pennitted. A 1.0 x 

 3.6-m conical plankton net with 333-nm mesh 

 was deployed with a gantry system. Four General 



Oceanic flowmeters (Model 2030) were positioned 

 in the mouth of the net to account for horizontal 

 and vertical flow variations. Sample volume 

 (about 400 m ) was determined by averaging the 

 four volume estimates from the flowmeters. 



larvae were collected at station NB located in 

 mid-Niantic Bay (Fig. 1). Weekly 2 day and 2 

 night samples were taken from June through Au- 

 gust and April through May, and biweekly 1 day 

 and 1 night sample taken from September through 

 March. Paired 0.61 x 3.3-m conical plankton 

 nets, mounted on a bongo frame, were used to 

 take stepwise oblique tows. Sampling duration 

 was 5 minutes each at surface, mid, and bottom 

 depths. Sample volumes were measured using 

 one General Oceanics flowmeter in each net and 

 approximately 300 m of seawater were filtered 



Fish Ecology Studies 257 



