Effective fishery management measures to protect fish spawning aggregations require reliable information on the spatio-temporal distribution of spawning. Spawning closures have been part of a suite of fishery management actions to rebuild the Gulf of Maine stock of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua), but difficulties remain with managing rebuilding. The objective of this study was to identify the spatial and temporal distribution of cod spawning during winter in Massachusetts Bay to improve our understanding of cod spawning dynamics and inform fisheries management. Spawning was investigated in collaboration with commercial fishermen during three winter spawning seasons (October 2013–March 2016) using acoustic telemetry and passive acoustic monitoring equipment deployed in fixed-station arrays and mounted on mobile autonomous gliders. Tagged cod exhibited spawning site fidelity and spawning primarily occurred from early November through January with a mid-December peak and some inter-annual variability. The spatial distribution of spawning was generally consistent among years with multiple hotspots in areas >50 m depth. Current closures encompass most of spawning, but important areas are recommended for potential modifications. Utilizing multiple complementary technologies and deployment strategies in collaboration with commercial fishermen enabled a comprehensive description of spawning and provides a valuable model for future studies.
True's beaked whales (Mesoplodon mirus) were encountered on two separate shipboard surveys on 24 July 2016 and 16 September 2017 in the western North Atlantic Ocean. Recordings were made using a hydrophone array towed 300 m behind the ship. In 2016, three different groups were sighted within 1500 m of the ship; clicks were recorded for 26 min. In 2017, a single group of five whales was tracked over the course of five hours in which the ship maintained a distance <4000 m from the group. A total of 2938 frequency-modulated (FM) clicks and 7 buzzes were recorded from both encounters. Plausible inter-click-intervals (ICIs) were calculated from 2763 clicks, and frequency and duration measurements were calculated from 2150 good quality FM clicks. The median peak frequencies were 43.1 kHz (2016, n = 718) and 43.5 kHz (2017, n = 1432). Median ICIs were 0.17 s (2016) and 0.19 s (2017). The spectra and measurements of the recorded clicks closely resemble Gervais's beaked whale clicks (Mesoplodon europaeus) and distinguishing between the two species in acoustic data sets proves difficult. The acoustic behavior of True's beaked whales was previously unknown; this study provides a description of echolocation clicks produced by this species.
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