Libby Logerwell hard at work aboard the R/V Ocean Starr. Photo credit: Ed Farley
The 3m Plumb Staff Beam Trawl was deployed at 7 stations during Leg 1 and at 21 stations during Leg 2 (as of September 7). Benthic invertebrates dominated the catches. Overall we caught 199 individual taxa and 737 kg of invertebrates. In contrast, we caught 36 individual taxa and 4.8 kg of fish. The top 10 fish taxa caught (by number) were Arctic cod, eelblennies and pricklebacks, sculpin, eelpout, alligatorfish, and snailfish. We also caught a few walleye pollock; they were not likely mature age classes. The top 10 invertebrate taxa caught (by biomass) were brittlestars, Psolus sp (Holothuroidea), snow crab, starfish, clams, sponge, and tube worms. The snow crab were also relatively small, although ovigerous females were caught at two stations during Leg 2, CH-L01 and CH-L02 (71° 30.32’ N 166° 57.34’ W and 71° 30.19’ N 168° 31.25’ W, respectively).
Fish and Snow Crab catch from Leg 1 and the first 9 days of Leg 2 (28 stations)
Species Total Number Total Weight (kg)
Snow crab 5031 32.691
Arctic cod 347 0.585
Snake prickleback 256 0.61
Stout eelblenny 191 0.5
Hamecon 166 0.338
Arctic staghorn sculpin 137 0.867
Shorthorn (Warty) sculpin 130 0.322
Canadian eelpout 95 0.154
Slender eelblenny 85 0.244
Arctic alligatorfish 77 0.058
Snailfish (Liparis sp.) 57 0.035
Spatulate sculpin 49 0.193
Marbled eelpout 37 0.032
Bering flounder 29 0.271
Sculpin unidentified 21 0.007
Arctic shanny 18 0.024
Walleye pollock 16 0.184
Saddled eelpout 14 0.095
Ribbed sculpin 13 0.033
Lumpenus sp. 12 0.008
Gymnelus hemifasciatus 10 0.021
Daubed shanny 9 0.028
Gymnelus sp. 7 0.017
Polar eelpout 7 0.032
Capelin 6 0.01
Liparis tunicatus 6 0.046
Eyeshade sculpin 5 0.035
Bullhorn sculpin 4 0.002
Saffron cod 4 0.004
Lycodes sp. 3 0.013
Fourline snakeblenny 2 0.015
Walleye pollock age 0 2 0.001
Fish doctor 1 0.013
Icelus sp. 1 0.001
Longhead dab 1 0.001
Snailfish unidentified 1 0.001
Wattled eelpout 1 0.001