 |
Leg 5 of the Fall Survey |
| Home | Template | |
|
|
Leg 5 of the Fall Survey |
| Home | Template | |
|
|
|
The purpose of this leg was to do
comparative tows between the "bad" gear configuration and the standard
gear configuration. The Center was going to tow one set of gear for
a day and then try to closely repeat (but not exactly) the tows with the
other gear the next day. We were told that it had to be done on such
a tight schedule because the Albatross was booked solid until it went to
the Shipyard. (Rumor has it it has not moved from the dock since
coming in in early November) We suspected it was so that if
relatively insignificant differences were found it could be reported at
the early November council meeting. One significant objective of this leg was to determine the scale of needed additional testing (or if any) is needed. Industry members at the planning session insisted that one needed an industry boat to serve as a constant between the two days. As all of us know, same area, same gear, fish may be present in different quantities one day to the next. The Center people planning this leg were extremely cooperative and could not have been more helpful. It was finally determined that the F/V Sea Breeze would act as the constant. The survey protocol was that a series of small areas were chosen, a series of smaller blocks within that area was delineated, and blocks to be towed were randomly chosen. Actual tow direction, specific start points, etc. were determined by the captain of the Sea Breeze. Each tow for the Albatross was 30 minutes long. The Albatross towed at their normal (and we think too fast) speed of 3.8 knots. The Sea Breeze towed at its normal speed of about 3 knots. The Sea Breeze towed until it had covered the same distance as the Albatross. The Albatross hauls back at a speed through water of about 3 knots. The Sea Breeze hauls back at a negative speed through the water. This may account for the significant difference in catches of pelagic species between the two boats.
|