Juvenile Fish and Blue Crab Trawl Surveys of the Chesapeake Bay from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science

The Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) Juvenile Fish and Blue
Crab Trawl Survey began sampling in 1955 and continues in similar
fashion today. The primary objective of the trawl survey is to monitor
trends in seasonal distribution and abundance of juvenile fish of
about twenty recreationally, commercially, and ecologically important
finfish and invertebrates.

Currently, the survey samples waters from the mouth of the Chesapeake
Bay up to the freshwater interface at the fall line of the James,
York, and Rappahannock Rivers. Samples from about 60 stations are
collected every month of the year. At each station, a 30 foot wide
shrimp trawl is towed for five minutes. Once on board, the catch is
sorted by species, the number of fish of each species is counted, a
large proportion of the fish are measured and all are released. About
70 species are commonly caught though 223 have been identified over
the last 40 years

[This information was adapted from the VIMS Fisheries Science
Dept. web pages.]