Southern California Hook and Line Survey - 2020 Southern California Shelf Rockfish Hook and Line Survey

The Fisheries Research Survey team proposes to conduct the annual Shelf Rockfish Hook and Line Survey during September-October 2020. The survey is an ongoing partnership among scientists and the sportfishing industry with the 2020 survey marking its 17th consecutive year. This is an annual, fishery-independent survey aimed at collecting abundance and biological data for use in the stock assessments of several key rockfish species including overfished species. The survey provides data on abundance, spatial distributions, sex, maturity, length, weight, and age structure of shelf rockfish in untrawlable habitats. Since 2014 the survey has included sampling within the Cowcod Conservation Areas. We utilize a fixed-station design (201 sites) with standardized sampling protocols to acquire data and specimens appropriate for use in stock assessments and other groundfish research. Additional research topics include capturing and analyzing video imagery of the sea floor for habitat classification, collecting specimens and information for rockfish ecosystem research, the use of genetic techniques to identify cryptic species, and evaluation of eDNA as a research tool for groundfish. The survey’s sampling area is bounded by Point Arguello in the north (lat 34°30'N) and the border of the U.S.-Mexico exclusive economic zone in the south (lat 32°00'N). Currently, this survey provides the only long-term time series of fishery-independent abundance and biological data available for groundfish species in rocky, high-relief habitats. The goal is to ensure the sustainability of marine fisheries with a focus on ending overfishing. This data set contains information on date; time; vessel; set identification (i.e. unique sampling event number); gear performance; location; depth; soak time; sea surface temperature; water column profile that includes temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, and chlorophyll; ocean and weather observations; hook disposition; species captured; length and weight information for all specimens captured; and sex, age structure, and genetics data for all rockfish specimens captured.

[
  "https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inportserve/waf/noaa/nmfs/nwfsc/dmp/pdf/18433.pdf"
]