Distribution and abundance of demersal juvenile cod (Gadus morhua) from inshore to offshore locations

• Main Authors: E. L. Dalley, J. T. Anderson
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1994
• Subjects: atlantic cod; Gadus morhua; Newfoundland
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.578.4990; http://archive.nafo.int/open/studies/s21/dalley.pdf

The preliminary results of the first systematic survey to examine inshore and offshore distribution of demersal juvenile Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua), carried out in December 1992, is presented. The sampling gear used was a 3-bridle Campelen 1 800 shrimp trawl outfitted with 14 inch rockhopper ground gear. Juvenile cod were found to be widely dis-tributed in each of the large bays in the Northeast coast of Newfoundland and on six transects across bathymetry from inshore areas to the shelf break. There were no distributional differ-ences observed between males and females. Length groups used to approximate ages 0– 3 indicated that length group 0 (LG0) was restricted to inshore bays. LG1 and LG2 were more abundant inshore with distribution extending onto the shelf away from shore, more so for LG2 than LG1. LG3 was more widely distributed on the shelf than in the bays with some of the highest catch rates occurring near the shelf break. The results indicate that in 1992 smaller juvenile cod (LG0 and LG1) were restricted to inshore areas and that with increas-ing size (LG2 and LG3) there was an increasing utilization of the shelf area. NAFO Sci. Coun. Studies, 21: 91–103