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Research Document - 2001/066

Overview of Physical and Biological Oceanographic Conditions on Georges Bank

By F. H. Page, R. Losier, K. Drinkwater, B. Petrie, G. Harrison and D. Sameoto

Abstract

A description of the physical and biological oceanographic conditions on Georges Bank in recent years is given and compared to historical conditions. The data examined includes hydrographic data from research vessels and ships of opportunity, sea surface temperature and chlorophyll estimates obtained from satellite remote sensing programs and plankton data from the Continuous Plankton Recorder program. The data indicate the water temperatures on Georges Bank in recent years have been about 1 degree C above normal. The degree of vertical stratification has been relatively constant for the past 20 years. The shelf/slope front and Gulf Stream was closer to Georges Bank in 2000 than the long-term normals and the concentration of chlorophyll on the Bank was higher in 2000 than in 1999 or 1998. The abundance of Calanus finmarchicus has been decreasing within the Gulf of Maine since the late 1980s. The physical conditions observed during the recent Canadian groundfish bottom-trawl surveys also reflect these patterns. Although the temperatures are above normal in recent years, they are still within the range normally associated with demersal stages of cod and haddock caught within the Georges Bank and Scotian Shelf areas.

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