Distribution, biomass, and demography of coastal pelagic fishes in the California Current Ecosystem during summer 2018 based on acoustic-trawl sampling

This report provides: 1) a detailed description of the acoustic-trawl method (ATM) used by NOAA’s Southwest Fisheries Science Center (SWFSC) for direct assessments of the dominant species of coastal pelagic species (CPS; i.e., Pacific Sardine Sardinops sagax, Northern Anchovy Engraulis mordax, Pacific Mackerel Scomber japonicus, Jack Mackerel Trachurus symmetricus, and Pacifc Herring Clupea pallasii) in the California Current Ecosystem (CCE) off the west coast of North America; and 2) estimates of the biomasses, distributions, and demographies of those CPS in the survey area between 26 June and 23 September 2018. The survey area spanned most of the continental shelf between the northern tip of Vancouver Island, British Columbia (BC) and San Diego, CA.