EK60 Water Column Sonar Data Collected During OL1109

2011 COAST. A total of 37 strip transects were conducted across both banks between the depths of 90-390m. Abundance and biomass estimates were calculated for all rockfishes (genus Sebastes), lingcod (Ophiodon elongatus), and Pacific hake (Merluccius productus), however, the primary focus of the analysis was on the following recreationally or commercially important ‘target’ species: greenspotted rockfish (S. chlorostictus), sunset rockfish (S. crocotulus), cowcod (S. levis), bocaccio (S. paucispinis), and bank rockfish (S. rufus). In addition, we described the geological characteristics of the seabed along each transect, examined some aspects of groundfish behavior that may affect abundance and biomass estimates (e.g., height of each fish above the seabed, reaction of fishes to the ROV), and a cursory analysis of the time required to conduct and analyze the results from this survey.