My Trip on the Coastal Bays to Trawl and Seine

Type: Coast
Region: Eastern
Location: Near Ocean City

This week, I was lucky enough to join Angel Willey, Steve Doctor, Chris Jones, and Gary Tyler on a trip to the Coastal Bays near Ocean City to trawl and seine in the area and record our catch. Upon arriving, I was immediately given rain gear to change into, as well as water shoes and gloves. I quickly realized I wouldn't just be sitting around watching, but rather actively participating in this team's work. The Trawl and Beach Seine survey strives to investigate the abundance and size of the marine species in the area and use this data to manage their populations and habitats.

At the start of our day, I was given easier jobs like using the secchi disk, a flat black and white disk which is lowered into the water to measure water clarity. In this water, the black and white of the disk would disappear when lowered towards the bottom, and upon pulling it up, at the distance when the black and white becomes visible, the length of the rope is marked and measured. Another routine at each trawling and seining location was to take coordinates, measure dissolved oxygen, salinity and temperature. I was given the opportunity to do each.

When trawling, we would drag the net behind us for six minutes, record our new coordinates, pull in the net, and unload it on a platform on the boat. We would measure the first twenty of every species and count the rest. They included lots of spots, blue crabs, Atlantic silversides, bay anchovies, and summer and winter flounder. We would also measure in liters the amount of macroalgae, and identify the different types and they're percentage.

We seined a couple times, and Angel suggested I jump into the water and drag the net from the boat to the shore of a small beach of a tiny island. Gary and I made our way to the sand through goopy, deep mud. I had to be careful not to lose a shoe as I attempted to shuffle my feet for fear of stepping on a skate or a ray. When we pulled it in, I was surprised at the large amount of catch, and especially the number of crabs of all sizes. As the little pinches on my hands will tell you, none of them were shy about claiming their personal space. More frequently than earlier we saw Atlantic silversides, and bay anchovies. When measuring these fellows, I couldn't help but linger for a moment to examine them on my measuring board. Their clear bodies and large silver stripes make them particularly interesting, though they seemed to be fairly common catch.

I had a great day and I'm grateful for the opportunity and everything the team taught me. For more information on the project, you can visit the Coastal Fisheries web page