Sea Surface Temperature Information Background: In
Sea Surface Temperature Information Background: In FW28, the Council recommended a seasonal closure of the ET-Flex area from July 1 – September 30 in an effort to reduce discard mortality by shifting effort from summer months other times of the year when the SST is lower. In the past, the PDT has noted that sea surface temperature could be used as a reasonable proxy for a suite of factors that impact discard mortality. These include, but are not limited to: air temperature, exposure on deck, water temperature in the upper thermocline. At its August 29/30 meeting, the PDT discussed reviewing SST data again as part of the FW29 specifications process. Council staff contacted Dr. Kevin Friedland at the NEFSC about the availability of SST data in the Mid-Atlantic region. Dr. Friedland prepared several figures summarizing SST data for access areas in the Mid-Atlantic. Data: Daily average (mean) SST for Hudson Canyon, Elephant Trunk, Elephant Trunk-Flex, and Delmarva. • • • • •
Red: Long term mean, 1982 – 2016. Blue: Mean from more recent years, 2012 – 2016. Thin solid line: Daily data Thick translucent line: Loess smoothing. Values shown as “08-12” (or August, 2012) is the month of the maximum value for each loess curve.
Data source: OISST dataset, which can be accessed at https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oisst Figure 1 - Mid-Atlantic Rotational Area Boundaries, including ID numbers to match with SST figures.
Figure 2 - Daily average SST for the Elephant Trunk Access Area.
Figure 3 - Daily average SST data for Elephant Trunk Flex Access Area.
Figure 4 - Daily average SST for Hudson Canyon.
Figure 5 - Daily Average SST for Delmarva Area.
Figure 6 –Scallop landings by month of year, for the first 7 months of FY 2015 – 2017, by market grade and access/open area.
Figure 7 - FY2017 Monthly LA landings data by access area and open areas.
Figure 8 – FY 2016 Monthly Landings for MAAA and Open Areas.
Figure 9 – FY 2015 Monthly Landings for Access Areas and Open Areas.
Red: Long term mean, 1982 – 2016. Blue: Mean from more recent years, 2012 – 2016. Thin solid line: Daily data Thick translucent line: Loess smoothing. Values shown as “08-12” (or August, 2012) is the month of the maximum value for each loess curve.
Data source: OISST dataset, which can be accessed at https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oisst Figure 1 - Mid-Atlantic Rotational Area Boundaries, including ID numbers to match with SST figures.
Figure 2 - Daily average SST for the Elephant Trunk Access Area.
Figure 3 - Daily average SST data for Elephant Trunk Flex Access Area.
Figure 4 - Daily average SST for Hudson Canyon.
Figure 5 - Daily Average SST for Delmarva Area.
Figure 6 –Scallop landings by month of year, for the first 7 months of FY 2015 – 2017, by market grade and access/open area.
Figure 7 - FY2017 Monthly LA landings data by access area and open areas.
Figure 8 – FY 2016 Monthly Landings for MAAA and Open Areas.
Figure 9 – FY 2015 Monthly Landings for Access Areas and Open Areas.
