Post-larval stage 



Abundance and distribution 



The abundance and distribution of post-larval juvenile winter 

 flounder were examined at four stations in the Niantic River. By 

 design, nets of four Increasing mesh sizes and four increasing tow 

 lengths were used with the 1-m beam trawl in order to maximize 

 efficiency in catching juveniles as they grew In length and declined in 

 number. One factor which may have influenced catches was the lack of a 

 tickler chain used with the smallest (0.8-mm) mesh. Catches with this 

 net declined from mid-May through the end of June when it was replaced 

 by the 1.6-mm mesh net and a tickler chain was added to the beam trawl. 

 Following these changes an immediate four to five-fold increase in catch 

 occurred at the LR and CO stations. Even as catches declined throughout 

 the summer they remained higher than those in June. This indicated that 

 the number of juveniles was probably underestimated early in the season, 

 perhaps due to lesser catch efficiency of the first net used. 



Juvenile winter flounder were most abundant at LR (Fig. 17). 



30H 



MAY JUNE 



SEPT OCT 



Figure 17. Weekly mean CPUE (+ 2 standard errors) for 

 juvenile winter flounder taken at station 

 LR in the Niantic River during 1983. 



44 



