The main spawning grounds of North East Arctic cod are in the Lofoten area. Echosounder equipment was first used in 1935 to detect concentrations of spawning cod, and the first attempt to map such concentrations was made in 1938 (Sund, 1938). Later investigations have provided valuable information on the migratory patterns, the geographical distribution and the age composition and abundance of the stock.
The current time series of survey data starts in 1985. Due to the change in echo sounder equipment in 1990, results obtained earlier are not directly comparable with later results. The survey is designed as equidistant parallel acoustic transects covering 3 strata (North, South and Vestfjorden). In most surveys previous to 1990, the transects are not parallel, but more as parts of a zig-zag pattern across the spawning grounds aimed at mapping the distribution of cod. For practical reasons, trawl samples are not taken according to a proper trawl survey design. The spawning concentrations can be located with echosounder which effectively reduce the number of trawl stations needed. The ability to properly sample the composition of the stock (age, sex, maturity stage etc.) is limited by the amount of fixed gear (gillnets and longlines) in the different areas.
