NOAA Ship Pisces will conduct a survey of reef fish located on the US continental shelf and shelf-edge of the GOM from March 11 through May 27, 2021. Six hundred and eighteen sites have been selected for sampling with the Spherical/Satellite array, bandit reels and CTD during daylight hours; 460 in the western GOM and 158 in the eastern GOM (Figures 1 & 2). Individual sampling sites will be supplied prior to sailing. Mapping will be conducted at night at randomly selected areas near the following or previous day’s sampling.

Mapping operations: Bathymetric mapping will be conducted in and around selected sites at night with the ME 70 sonar (Figures 1 & 2). Night-time mapping will commence at sunset, or when day operations have finished, in the general area of the sites sampled that day or the area planned for the next day. Mapping will be concluded at sunrise, or whatever time is needed, in order to be on site for operations the following morning. A CTD cast will be conducted prior to, during, and after acoustic transects to obtain speed-of-sound for proper processing of data. All other acoustic systems need to be secured prior to and during acoustic transects to eliminate acoustic contamination of the mapping data. If other systems are required to ensure safe transit while mapping, ensure that the acoustic signals are offset and not interfering with each other. All transect lines for mapping will be composed in Hypack by the FPC and made available to the ship’s bridge. The mapping goal is to locate features within and outside our current universe to expand the sample universe as well as improve the ability for site selection by closing gaps created by mapping with less precise systems.

Camera operations will utilize up to three Spherical/Satellite camera arrays of which one is 48” tall, 40” diameter, (Figure 3) and the 2 others, 36” tall, 40” diameter (Figure 4). Each Spherical/Satellite camera array has a mounted Eureka Manta CTD which collects environmental parameters during soak time, two pressure housings (rated to 500 m), one containing six video cameras, which provide a near spherical field of view and the second containing the satellite camera. Camera 3 in the spherical housing will be paired with the satellite camera to obtain stereo measurements. The Spherical/Satellite camera arrays will be deployed 1 h after sunrise, with the last retrieval 1 h prior to sunset. The arrays will be baited with mackerel and squid and soak on the seafloor for 30 minutes. In order to maximize sampling time, multiple Spherical/Satellite camera arrays (clusters of up to three) will be set consecutively. The clustered sites will be separated by a minimum of 0.2 nm and a maximum of 2 nm. This will ensure relatively quick and safe transit between individual sites. While the first camera array is soaking, the ship will proceed to the next two sites and deploy two additional arrays. Once the third camera array is in the water, the ship will retrieve the first deployment, then second and so on. As sea conditions change, retrieval order may be modified by bridge to avoid navigation issues (e.g. buoys in close proximity and changing currents).

Bandit reels will be deployed after each cluster (3) of cameras are retrieved. This will allow up to 3-4 bandit reel stations per day. During bandit reel operations, the reels are only to be deployed under the following conditions: 1) a member of the deck department and scientific party are both present at each reel, 2) the ship is in position in DP and stable with the OOD having notified as such and 3) the FPC has given the all clear for the reels to be baited and deployed.