Since 2017, The Frisk Lab at Stony Brook University’s School of Marine and Atmospheric
Sciences (SoMAS) has collaborated with the New York State Department of Environmental
Conservation (NYSDEC) on the Nearshore Ocean Trawl Survey.
The Nearshore Ocean Trawl Survey has been carried out annually since 2018. It aims to conduct survey trips in February, May, June, August and October to sample seasonally abundant finfish and macro invertebrates. The survey design is a random depth stratified otter trawl survey consisting of 30 stations per survey that geographically extends from Breezy Point to Block Island Sound. Two randomized locations within 15 designated depth strata (0-10m, 10-20m and 20-30m where available) create the 30 target stations for each survey. Each station consists of a CTD cast to profile the water column followed by a 20-minute otter trawl sample towed at 3knots to cover 1 nautical mile of seafloor. The resulting catch is sorted by species and weighed collectively with a subsample of 30 individuals measured for length data. Subsample species with visually distinguishable sexes (crabs, elasmobranchs, etc.) will be sexed at this time. Biological samples consisting of 5 individuals per tow for species of interest are frozen and dissected back at the lab for aging and stable isotope analyses.
In the Fall, an additional targeted tagging cruise is scheduled each year for Striped Bass
conventional dart tagging and scale sampling for aging analysis for the NYSDEC.
Our scientists and their colleagues are also able to use the Nearshore Ocean Trawl Survey as an
opportunistic sampling platform for additional projects such as acoustic telemetry tagging and
stable isotope analysis.
More information on this project can be found at the NY DEC website
(https://dec.ny.gov/nature/waterbodies/oceans-estuaries/ocean-action-plan/ocean-monitoring-
projects).
In the Fall, an additional targeted tagging cruise is scheduled each year for Striped Bass