Bunnfiskundersøkelser ved Bjørnøya og Vest-Spitsbergen høsten 1976

Abstract

This report describes the results from a survey with R.V. "G.O. Sars" from 4 October to 8 November on demersal fish in the area of Bear Island and West-Spitsbergen. The most numerous species in the trawl catches were blue whiting, long rough dab, redfish and cod, which respectively amounted to 27,9%, 21,8%, 19,8% and 17,9% of the catches. The absolute abundance of cod and haddock was estimated by the acoustic method. The cod stock in the area was calculated to consist of 57.2 mill. specimens. The most numerous year classes of cod were the 1972, 1973 and 1970 year classes. Haddock was found to be scarce, only 10.7 mill. specimens. Redfish was abundant over the greater part of the survey area. Redfish longer than 35 cm were seldom caught.