Fishes and Associated Environmental Data Collected 

 in New York Bight, June 1974-June 1975 



STUART J. WILK, WALLACE W. MORSE, DANIEL E. RALPH, and THOMAS R. AZAROVITZ 1 



ABSTRACT 



Tabulations of fishes and associated environmental observations are given for 700 trawl stations 

 made during 30 collecting intervals in the New York Bight from June 1974 to June 1975. Summary 

 tables included give the following information: collecting interval data (vessel, dates, stations sam- 

 pled, gear, and area); station data (date, location, time of day, total catch, and environmental obser- 

 vations); and catch data for 127 species, representing 67 families (location, number, and weight). 



The 10 most frequently collected species were: Merluccius bilinearis (456 stations), Scophthal- 

 mus aquosus (419), Raja erinacea (411), Urophycis chuss (409), Pseudopleuronectes americanus (363), 

 Hippoglossina oblonga (325), Lophius americanus (305), Peprilue triacanthus (284), Paralichthys den- 

 tatus (272), and Squalus acanthias (224). 



INTRODUCTION 



The Sandy Hook Laboratory of the National Marine 

 Fisheries Service began a systematic survey during June 

 1974 of benthic fishes occurring in the New York Bight 

 and Sandy Hook, Lower, and Raritan Bays. This study 

 was designed to provide a comprehensive data base for 

 current and anticipated research needs. This paper con- 

 tains tabulations of stations, catches, and environmen- 

 tal data collected during this 13-mo study. 



These data, when compared with similar time series, 

 will ultimately contribute a significant portion of the 

 material needed to detect and understand natural and 

 man-induced changes in relative abundance, dis- 

 tribution, movements, conditions, and reproductive 

 cycles of fishes occurring in the New York Bight. 



STUDY AREAS 



The New York Bight is that portion of the Atlantic 

 continental shelf between eastern Long Island, N.Y., and 

 Cape May, N.J. (Fig. 1). This study was conducted in 

 the northern section of the New York Bight where the 

 Long Island and New Jersey coastlines are nearly per- 

 pendicular. 



Two study areas, ocean and bay, were designated to 

 facilitate sampling and data handling. The ocean study 

 area was delineated by two sets of imaginary lines and 

 the 28- and 366-m isobaths (Fig. 2). The first set of lines 

 extends seaward from points on Long Island and New 

 Jersey to the 28-m isobath; the second set from the 28-m 

 isobath to the edge of the continental shelf (366 m). The 

 bay study area included Sandy Hook, Lower, and 

 Raritan Bays (Fig. 3). 



'Northeast Fisheries Center Sandy Hook Laboratory, National Marine 

 Fisheries Service, NOAA, Highlands, NJ 07732. 



STATION SELECTION 



Station locations in the ocean survey area were 

 selected by a stratified random sampling design (Steel 

 and Torrie 1960). Strata boundaries were determined by 

 depth, i.e., 0-10, 11-19, 20-28, 29-55, 56-110, 111-183, and 

 184-366 m (Fig. 2). A minimum of two stations per 

 stratum were randomly selected to be sampled during 

 each cruise. Inshore strata (0-28 m) were sampled at a 

 rate of approximately one station per 515 km 2 and off- 

 shore strata (29-366 m) at a rate of approximately one 

 station per 1,030 km 2 . Grosslein (1969) described ad- 

 ditional details pertaining to this sampling method and 

 design. 



The bay survey area was divided into 103 sampling 

 blocks. Except where interrupted by land, each block 

 measured 1' of latitude by 1' of longitude, i.e., 1.8 km X 

 1.4 km (2.5 km 2 ). Trawl stations for all bay cruises were 

 selected randomly from these blocks at the beginning of 

 the study and were retained as permanent stations 

 throughout the study. 



MATERIALS AND METHODS 



Research vessels used during this study were the 10.4- 

 m Xiphias and 19.8-m Rorqual from the Northeast 

 Fisheries Center, the 47.2-m Delaware II and 57.0-m Al- 

 batross IV from the National Ocean Survey, and the 

 chartered 27.4-m Atlantic Twin. Xiphias and Rorqual 

 were used exclusively in the bay areas, Delaware II was 

 used in both the ocean and the bay, and Albatross IV and 

 Atlantic Twin were used only in the ocean. 



Loran A navigation was the principal method used for 

 positioning on ocean stations. Radar, land ranges, and 

 visual sightings of buoys were used to position vessels on 

 bay stations and some of the inshore ocean stations. 



Temperature, salinity, and depth observations were 

 made at each station. Vertical temperature profiles were 



