September 3, 2020 — With their regular fisheries surveys thwarted by covid-19 precautions, researchers from the Northeast Fisheries Science Center and a pair of Massachusetts fishing vessels have embarked on a three-week longline survey to compensate with new technology.
The 50-foot Mary Elizabeth out of Scituate and the 40-foot Tenacious II homeported at East Dennis have carried scientists on the Gulf of Maine longline research survey for six years, collecting data at 45 stations, according to a description of the program from NMFS officials.
The effort targets areas of rough bottom, where fish typically hide and are hard to sample with trawl gear. Covid-19 has complicated fisheries surveys off every U.S. coast, with NMFS cancel\ling many regularly scheduled 2020 research cruises over crew health and safety concerns.
That trend likewise closed the usual spring window for the Gulf of Maine longline survey.
“When it was clear we’d not be able to do our usual spring survey, we looked for ways to make the best of it,” said Anna Mercer, chief of the Center’s Cooperative Research Branch.