The fish resources of the Middle Atlantic Bight are extremely diverse. Because of the complexity of the mid-Atlantic ecosystem, distribution, abundance, and assemblage composition vary greatly throughout the year. Grosslein and Azarovitz (1982) summarized this situation well: "The Middle Atlantic Bight is a complex ecosystem characterized by rapid latitudinal change in water temperatures and associated fauna. Subtropical and boreal fish fauna overlap in the region from Cape Hatteras to Georges Bank, resulting in a highly diverse fish community with large seasonal fluctuations in distribution." Fish of the mid-Atlantic can best be described as migrants. Environmental extremes occur every year, such as estuarine habitats which are frozen during the winter but reach tropical temperatures during the summer. Since the ecosystem is so harsh, few resident fish occur, and seasonal migrants produce distinctly different winter and summer populations. Distribution, abundance, composition, and migrational patterns are represented by several means. Table 1 (Appendix G) lists several mid-Atlantic finfish and shellfish, and gives information on habitation and trophic level interaction. Visuals No. 4A and 4B show assemblages of fish resources with respect to distance from shore, and to a lesser extent, northern and southern distribution extremities and some migrational movements. Figures 1 through 42 (Appendix G) represent data from the Marine Resources Monitoring and Assessment Program (MARMAP) survey conducted by the National Marine Fisheries Service during the spring and autumn. By sampling at these intervals, an estimation of seasonal variance can be attempted. In general, peak water temperatures occur during the autumn, after summer warming, and minimum temperatures are reached during the early spring. Interpretations of species-specific inshore-offshore movements as well as north-south migrations can be deduced from these data. Several authors have profiled the fish resources of the Middle Atlantic Bight. Such profiles are contained in Grosslein and Azarovitz (1982), Scarlett and Preim (in press), Gusey (1976), and McHugh and Ginter (1978). Data on the New York Bight fishes were given by Wilk et al. (1977), and a characterization of fish resources in and near the 106-Mile Dumpsite off New Jersey is contained in Pearce et al. (1983). In addition, much of the information contained in Bigelow and Schroeder (1953) is applicable to the mid-Atlantic. These data sources as well as many others listed at the end of Table 1 (Appendix G), if taken together, provide a profile of the major mid-Atlantic fish resources. Cape Hatteras lies just inside the southern boundary of the proposed sale area (see Visual No. 4A). This region represents a faunal break zone for north and south fish resources. Eckmann (1953) and Gosner (1979) both noted that Cape Hatteras roughly delineates the northern boundary of the warm-water region and marks the southern boundary of the Transatlantic province which roughly corresponds to the mid-Atlantic region profiled herein. Species found north of Cape Hatteras also include those with boreal affiliations, especially if they are pelagic and generally remain in the upper water column. This change in species is partly the result of the northeast deflection of the Gulf Stream which begins at Cape Hatteras. Because the proposed sale area extends slightly into this southerly regime, species distribution are also shown on Visuals No. 4A and 4B for many South Atlantic assemblages such as the hardbottom snapper-grouper complex, inshore shrimp, and others. Cape Hatteras does not function as an absolute barrier to distribution (spot and croaker migrate into mid-Atlantic waters--see Visual No. 4A), but abundance of South Atlantic fish resources becomes much less north of Cape Hatteras. Further discussion of mid-Atlantic fish resources follows within subsections entitled: eggs, larvae, and juveniles; canyon and inter-canyon fauna; and deepsea fish resources. a. Eggs, Larvae, and Juveniles Knowledge of egg and larvae distribution and abundance is essential to a characterization of the mid-Atlantic fish resources. "Natural fluctuations in fish populations may be due largely to factors controlling survival of egg and larvae stages" (Berrien, 1982). Even though the Middle Atlantic Bight does not have a large resident population, it does function as a valuable nursery ground for many species. In a similar manner to Georges Bank, "Significant quantities of fish larvae may be found in all areas of the Bight just about any time of year" (Berrien, 1982). Despite the year-round spawning activity in the Middle Atlantic Bight, the composition of the ichthyoplankton changes seasonally. Monthly sampling during 1965-66 provided a data base which can be used to depict seasonal shifts in ichthyoplankton composition. During the winter ichthyoplankton was comprised of 13 species. The two species with the greatest frequency of occurrence were sand lance and cod (Berrien, 1982). Total larval abundance during this season was the lowest found during the year of sampling. Spring sampling found the ichthyoplankton community to be comprised of 27 species, dominated by yellowtail flounder, sand lance, cod, windowpane, and winter flounder. Species diversity reached a peak in summer. During this time 27 species were captured and ichthyoplankton covered large patches. Larvae of species such as butterfish, fourspot flounder, hakes, yellowtail flounder, goosefish, silver anchovy, northern searobin, Atlantic mackerel, and silver hake were found over wide areas. Autumn sampling found 20 species comprising the ichthyoplankton community. Species with the highest frequency of occurrence were hakes, summer flounder, northern searobin, and menhaden. A summation of these data is given in Table 2 (Appendix G). Spawning strategies vary between species, but most marine fishes generate pelagic eggs and/or larvae which drift in surface waters for between a few days to a few weeks. Distribution of these early life stages is dependent on circulation patterns of the spawning locality and may occur in a greater portion of the water column than previously thought. Thermocline formation tends to play a large role in determining larval distribution. If the water column is well mixed larvae may be found as deep as 50 to 80 m; but if the thermocline is present, eggs and larvae tend to concentrate along this density difference (Grosslein, 1983). It is difficult to isolate one area with in the Middle Atlantic Bight that is consistently high in numbers of eggs and/or larvae. Smith et al. (1983) reported egg and larvae sampling results from the years of 1977-1980 (see Figure 43 in Appendix G). These data show the variability of egg and larvae concentrations with respect to season and year. A summary of spawning activity in the northeastern United States (mid-Atlantic included) is given by Smith et al. (1980). "Despite marked temporal and areal difference in abundance of eggs and larvae between years, the following consistent patterns emerged: 1) the number of taxa represented in egg and larval collections decreased with increasing latitude; 2) pelagic eggs were most abundant from spring through summer; 3) larval abundance peaked in winter and again from late spring through summer; 4) the winter peak was attributed almost entirely (>95 percent) to sand lance, Ammodytes spp., a demersal spawner and the only taxon to numerically dominate throughout the survey area; 5) several taxa contributed to the spring through summer peak; and 6) the within-year species composition changed seasonally during the spring-summer period but between years the change was consistent, as were the areal distributions of the principal taxa." Juvenile distribution is often entirely different from that of either the adults or egg and larvae stages. Bowman (1981) investigated the relative distribution and abundance of the juveniles of 15 species of fish occurring in the northwest Atlantic, Cape Hatteras to Nova Scotia, during 1975-1979. He concluded that southern New England and Georges Bank were important areas for silver, white, and red hake, winter and yellowtail flounder, haddock, cod, pollock, windowpane, and butterfish. The middle Atlantic demonstrated an importance for spotted hake and scup. The Gulf of Maine was found to be important for American plaice and witch flounder. Western Nova Scotia demonstrated high concentrations of redfish juveniles. In addition, Bowman (1981) concluded that for all areas sampled, "The number of species caught per tow, and the number of species caught, tended to be greatest in regions close to shore." This conclusion demonstrates the value of nearshore areas as nursery grounds. Submarine canyons are present along the edge of the mid-Atlantic continental shelf. They are important in a discussion of fish resources because they influence distribution of outer continental shelf and shelf-slope fishes. Such species as squid (long and short-fin), tuna, mackerel, billfish, swordfish, butterfish, lobster, tilefish, and red crab tend to concentrate within or directly above canyons. Intercanyon locations also contain some of these canyon species such as lobster, tilefish, and red crab, as well as red hake, white hake, and Atlantic cod. The demonstrated affinity of demersal fish resources is the result of the increased complexity of the habitat within canyons. This relatively rugged topography provides increased cover which also produces more prey species. The canyon and intercanyon areas of the north and mid-Atlantic continental shelf were studied by the MMS-funded canyon and slope processes study (Lamont-Doherty, 1983). Data concerning fish distribution in canyon and inter-canyon areas are reported for three sites on the mid-Atlantic shelf-edge. Tabulation of the results is given in Table 3 (Appendix G). The use of the word "common" in this table refers to groupings resulting from cluster analysis, not the usage of common as "ordinarily occurring." A total list of fish resources found during the study is contained in the report and should be consulted to determine species occurrence. Several interesting conclusions concerning megafaunal distribution were deduced from the Lamont-Doherty study (1983). They can be summarized as follows: 1) total megafaunal abundance was high in shallow regions (100 to 600 m), uniformly low in mid-depth regions (600 to 1400 m), and high below |