Bottom Obstructions in the Southwestern 

 North Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean Sea 1 



G. MICHAEL RUSSELL, ABRAHAM J. BARRETT, L. STEVE SARBECK, 

 and JOHN H. WORDLAW 2 



ABSTRACT 



Lists of bottom obstructions arc provided to aid in avoiding potential hazards to fishing gear. 

 Locations, depth, gear type, and damage received are included. Within the regions, the following 

 numbers of obstructions are identified: 267 southeastern North America, 320 Gulf of Mexico, 23 West 

 Indies, 119 Caribbean Sea, and 59 northeast coast of South America. 



INTRODUCTION 



Damage to fishing gear from bottom obstructions is 

 costly in lost time and gear replacement or repair. To ef- 

 fectively reduce gear damage, fishermen keep their own 

 records of obstructions encountered during fishing 

 operations, but few of these personal records have been 

 published. There are two additional sources for infor- 

 mation on obstructions: Graham (1975) and the Ob- 

 struction Commission, Gulf State Marine Fisheries 

 Commission, New Orleans, La. 



Since 1950 the National Marine Fisheries Service (for- 

 merly Bureau of Commercial Fisheries) had located 788 

 obstructions during research cruises. This report 

 provides fishermen, operating in the southwestern North 

 Atlantic and adjacent areas, with locations of these ob- 

 structions. However, no attempt has been made to iden- 

 tify them. 



DATA FORMAT 



The southwestern North Atlantic has been divided 

 into five regions to help find these obstructions: 1) 

 southeastern North America, 2) Gulf of Mexico, 3) West 

 Indies, 4) Caribbean Sea, and 5) northeastern South 

 America. 



Division between these regions is based on latitude and 

 longitude, and major geographical features that form 

 natural boundaries (Fig. 1). The location of obstructions 

 within these five regions is arranged from north to south 

 (latitude) or east to west (longitude), depending on a 

 fisherman's orientation to the shoreline. Locations 

 within regions 2 (Gulf of Mexico), 3 (West Indies), and 4 

 (Caribbean Sea) are listed from east to west (increasing 

 longitude); locations within regions 1 (southeastern 



North America) and 5 (northeastern South America) are 

 listed from north to south (decreasing latitude). 



Information on depth, gear, and damage is also provid- 

 ed. Loran positions are included for those areas where 

 readings are considered reliable. 



APPLICATION 



The area to be fished can be identified from the 

 orientation chart (Fig. 1). If fishing is to be conducted in 

 the Gulf of Mexico (region 2) then the longitude of the 

 fishing area should be determined. The positions and 

 depth of obstructions can then be obtained directly from 

 the listing, including type of damage to gear. 



Example: A fisherman plans to fish between lat. 29 c 00' 

 and 29°50'N and long. 80°30' and 80°40'W. He finds the 

 area is in southeastern North America, region 1 (Fig. 1). 

 He then refers to the obstruction location listing for this 

 region. The locations between lat. 29°00' and 29°50'N are 



'Contribution No. 77-08P from the Southeast Fisheries Center. Pasca- 

 goula Laboratory. 



'Southeast Fisheries Center Pascagoula Laboratory, National Marine 

 Fisheries Service, NOAA, P.O. Drawer 1207, Pascagoula. MS 39567. 



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UNITED STATES 1 "unusnii 



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Figure i 



-Geographic boundaries of the five regions where obstruc- 

 tions have been located. 



