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Amblyraja Radiata) in the Western Gulf of Maine

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Amblyraja Radiata) in the Western Gulf of Maine University of New Hampshire University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository Biological Sciences Scholarship Biological Sciences 2005 Age and growth estimates of the thorny skate (Amblyraja radiata) in the western Gulf of Maine James A. Sulikowski University of New Hampshire Jeff Kneebone University of New Hampshire Scott Elzey University of New Hampshire Joe Jurek Yankee Fisherman's Cooperative Patrick D. Danley University of Maryland - College Park See next page for additional authors Follow this and additional works at: https://scholars.unh.edu/biosci_facpub Part of the Animal Sciences Commons, and the Marine Biology Commons Recommended Citation Sulikowski, James A.; Kneebone, Jeff; Elzey, Scott; Jurek, Joe; Danley, Patrick D.; Howell, William Huntting; and Tsang, Paul C.W., "Age and growth estimates of the thorny skate (Amblyraja radiata) in the western Gulf of Maine" (2005). Fishery Bulletin. 4. https://scholars.unh.edu/biosci_facpub/4 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Biological Sciences at University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Biological Sciences Scholarship by an authorized administrator of University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Authors James A. Sulikowski, Jeff Kneebone, Scott Elzey, Joe Jurek, Patrick D. Danley, William Huntting Howell, and Paul C.W. Tsang This article is available at University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository: https://scholars.unh.edu/biosci_facpub/ 4 161 Abstract — The northwest Atlantic population of thorny skates (Ambly- Age and growth estimates of the thorny skate raja radiata) inhabits an area that (Amblyraja radiata) in the western Gulf of Maine ranges from Greenland and Hudson Bay, Canada, to South Carolina. Despite such a wide range, very little James A. Sulikowski Patrick D. Danley is known about most aspects of the Jeff Kneebone Department of Biology biology of this species. Recent stock University of Maryland Scott Elzey assessment studies in the northeast College Park, Maryland 20724 United States indicate that the bio- Zoology Department, Spaulding Hall mass of the thorny skate is below 46 College Road the threshold levels mandated by the University of New Hampshire W. Huntting Howell Sustainable Fisheries Act. In order Durham, New Hampshire 03824 Zoology Department, Spaulding Hall to gain insight into the life history E-mail address ( for J. A. Sulikowski, senior author): 46 College Road of this skate, we estimated age and [email protected] University of New Hampshire growth for thorny skates, using verte- Durham, New Hampshire 03824 bral band counts from 224 individuals ranging in size from 29 to 105 cm Joe Jurek total length (TL). Age bias plots and Yankee Fisherman’s Cooperative Paul C.W. Tsang the coefficient of variation indicated P.O. Box 2240 Department of Animal and Nutritional Sciences that our aging method represents a Seabrook, New Hampshire 03874 Kendall Hall nonbiased and precise approach for 129 Main St. the age assessment of A. radiata. Mar- University of New Hampshire ginal increments were significantly Durham, New Hampshire 03824. different between months (Kruskal- Wallis P<0.001); a distinct trend of increasing monthly increment growth began in August. Age-at-length data were used to determine the von Ber- talanffy growth parameters for this The northeast skate complex consists characteristics, coupled with the prac- of seven species endemic to the waters tice of selective removal of large in- population: L ∞ = 127 cm (TL) and off the New England coast of the dividuals, make these animals more k=0.11 for males; L∞ = 120 cm (TL) and k=0.13 for females. The oldest United States (New England Fisheries likely to be over-exploited by commer- age estimates obtained for the thorny Management Council (NEFMC1,2). In cial fisheries (Brander 1981; Hoenig skate were 16 years for both males the past, these skates were generally and Gruber, 1990; Casey and Myers and females, which corresponded to discarded because of their low commer- 1998; Dulvey et al., 2000; Frisk et total lengths of 103 cm and 105 cm, cial value (NEFMC1,2). More recently, al., 2001). respectively. the rapidly expanding markets for The thorny skate (Amblyraja radi- human consumption of skate wing ata) is a cosmopolitan species found and for use as lobster bait have made on both sides of the Atlantic ocean three of these species (winter skate from Greenland and Iceland to the [Leucoraja ocellata], little skate [L. English Channel in the eastern At- erinacea], and thorny skate [Amblyraja lantic (Compagno et al., 1989) and radiata]) commercially more viable from Greenland and Hudson Bay, (Sosebee, 2000; NEFMC1,2). Despite Canada, to South Carolina, United an increasing commercial importance, States, in the western Atlantic (Rob- harvests for skate in the U.S. portion ins and Ray, 1986; Collette and Klein, of the western north Atlantic remain 2002). Along with this broad geo- unregulated and have the potential to graphic range, marked differences in over-exploit the stocks. Moreover, life size exist for specimens captured in history information is almost nonex- different regions of the Atlantic. For istent for most of these elasmobranch fishes (Frisk, 2000 NEFMC1,2). The available information from the 1 few skates that have been studied cat- NEFMC (New England Fishery Man- agement Council. 2001. 2000 stock egorizes them as equilibrium strate- assessment and fishery evaluation gists (K selected) because they reach (SAFE) report for the northeast skate sexual maturity at a late age, have a complex. NEFMC, 50 Water Street, Mill 2 Newburyport, MA 01950. Manuscript submitted 21 August 2003 low fecundity, and are relatively long- 2 to the Scientific Editor’s Office. lived (Holden 1977; Winemiller and NEFMC (New England Fishery Man- agement Council). 2003. Skate fish- Manuscript approved for publication Rose, 1992; Zeiner and Wolfe, 1993; eries management plan. NEFMC, 50 8 July 2004 by the Scientific Editor. Francis et al., 2001; Frisk et el., Water Street, Mill 2 Newburyport, MA. Fish. Bull. 103:161–168 (2005). 2001, Sulikowski et al., 2003). These 01950. 162 Fishery Bulletin 103(1) example, the thorny skate reaches total lengths of over Marine Laboratory (CML). There, individual fish were 100 cm in the Gulf of Maine (Collette and Klein, 2002), euthanized (0.3g/L bath of MS222). Total length (TL in whereas specimens captured off the Labrador coast do cm) was measured as a straight line distance from the not reach total lengths >72 cm (Templeman, 1987). tip of the rostrum to the end of the tail, and disc width Although no directed fisheries for this species exists in (DW in cm) as a straight line distance between the tips the Gulf of Maine, this skate meets the minimum 1¼ of the widest portion of pectoral fins. Total wet weight pound-cut pectoral-fin size sought after by wing proces- (kg) was also recorded. sors (Sosebee, 2000; NEFMC1,2). Unfortunately, because landings are not reported by species, the proportion of Preparation of vertebral samples thorny skates to the total wing market is unknown. Re- cent assessment studies in the northeast United States Vertebral samples, taken from above the abdominal (NEFSC3) indicate that the biomass of thorny skates cavity, were removed from 320 thorny skates (154 females is declining, and is below threshold levels mandated and 166 males), labeled, and stored frozen. After having by the Sustainable Fisheries Act (SFA; NMFS4). Thus, been thawed, three centra from each specimen were owing to the recent commercial interest in this species removed from the vertebral column, stripped of excess and the concomitant decline in population size, obtain- tissue and air dried. Large centra were cut sagittally ing life history information for this species has become with a DremelTM tool fitted with a mini saw attachment more important. In order to provide insight into the while held with a vice-like device. Smaller centra were biology of this species and to determine the stock status sanded with a DremelTM tool to replicate a sagittal cut. (Simpfendorfer, 1993; Frisk et al., 2001), our objectives Processed vertebrae were mounted horizontally on glass were to estimate age and growth rates of A. radiata microscope slides and ground with successively finer-grit based on banding patterns in vertebral centra from (no. 180, no. 400, no. 600) wet-dry sandpaper. Each ver- specimens collected in the western Gulf of Maine. tebra was then remounted and the other side ground to produce a thin (300-micrometer) hourglass section. Materials and methods Band counts Sampling Vertebral sections were digitally photographed with a Canon Powershot S40 attached to a Leica S8PO dis- Thorny skates were captured by otter trawl in an approx- secting microscope and reflected light. Magnification imate 900 square mile area centered at 42°50ʹN and depended on the size of the section and varied from 4× 70°15ʹW in the Gulf of Maine between June 2001 and to 12× (Fig. 1). A growth ring (band count) was defined May 2002. These locations varied from 30 to 40 km off as one opaque and translucent band pair that traversed the coast of New Hampshire. Approximate depths at the intermedialia and that clearly extended into the this location ranged between 100 and 120 m. This area corpus calcareum (Casey et al., 1985; Brown and Gruber, was chosen for two reasons: 1) these waters support 1988; Sulikowski et al., 2003). The birth mark (age zero) the vast majority of commercial fishing in New Hamp- was defined as the first distinct mark distal to the focus shire and can be easily accessed during normal fishing that coincided with a change in the angle of the corpus operations; and 2) because of rolling closures within calcareum (Casey et al., 1985; Wintner and Cliff, 1996; the Gulf of Maine, an experimental fishing permit was Sulikowski et al, 2003).
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