NOT TO BE CITED WITHOUT PRIOR REFERENCE TO THE AUTHOR(S) Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization

• Main Author: M. A. Treble
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2002
• Subjects: Baffin Bay; Greenland; Baffin; Northwest Atlantic
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.598.5199; http://archive.nafo.int/open/sc/2005/scr05-056.pdf

Two stratified random otter trawl surveys covering depths of 400 m to 1500 m and targeting Greenland halibut (Reinhardtius hippoglossoides) were conducted in NAFO Division 0A (Baffin Bay). The first was conducted in northern Div. 0A from September 4 to 12 in an area that had not been previously surveyed. The second, from October 14 to 24, 2004 covered previously surveyed strata in southern Div. 0A. In northern Div. 0A there were 43 valid tows in a survey area covering 54 204 sq km. In southern Div. 0A 58 stations were successfully completed and the survey area was 44 484 sq km. Greenland halibut were distributed throughout the surveyed area and were present in all but one tow taken at 340 m in northern Div. 0A. This was the only haul that we were able to complete in depths <500 m during the northern survey. Biomass and abundance in northern Div 0A was estimated to be 45,877 tons (S.E. 9,406) and 4.85 x 107 (S.E. 9.0 x 106), respectively. Densities declined with depth from 0.97 t/sq km to 0.5 t/sq km. The estimate of biomass for southern Div. 0A was 86,176 (S.E. 12 502) with abundance of 1.11 x 108 (S.E. 1.7 x 107). Densities were highest (2.0 to 3.3 t/sq km) within the 751 to 1 000 m depth strata. Overall strata, mean densities were lower in northern Div. 0A (0.8 t/sq km) than in southern Div. 0A (1.9 t/sq km). While the overall abundance in southern Div. 0A is relatively unchanged from previous surveys a decline in abundance/sq. km was observed for the 1