Seasonal Distribution Patterns of Commercial Landings of 45 Species off the Northeastern United States during 1977-88

摘要

Seasonal distribution patterns of commercial landings of 45 finfish and shellfish species off the northeastern United States are analyzed using commercial weighout landings statistics collected by the Northeast Fisheries Center (NEFC) during 1977-88. Plots of the average quarterly commercial landings of each species are presented, with each plot showing the seasonal distribution of average landings over the 12-year period within 10-minute squares of latitude and longitude. Landings reported only to 30 minutes of latitude and longitude are prorated to 10-minute squares based on the distribution of landings that were reported to the finer scale. Comparisons are made with similar plots which are based on NEFC bottom trawl survey catch data, and which were previously published by others. Suggestions are made for the preparation of additional plots which would facilitate other comparisons between the commercial and survey data.