Trawl Survey of Shrimp and Forage Fish Abundance in Alaska's Westward Region, 2003
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
TRAWL SURVEY OF SHRIMP AND FORAGE FISH ABUNDANCE IN ALASKA’S WESTWARD REGION, 2003 By David R. Jackson Regional Information Report1 No. 4K04-12 Alaska Department of Fish and Game Division of Commercial Fisheries 211 Mission Road Kodiak, Alaska 99615 April 2004 1 The Regional Information Report Series was established in 1987 to provide an information access system for all unpublished division reports. These reports frequently serve diverse ad hoc informational purposes or archive basic uninterpreted data. To accommodate timely reporting of recently collected information, reports in this series undergo only limited internal review and may contain preliminary data; this information may be subsequently finalized and published in the formal literature. Consequently, these reports should not be cited without prior approval of the author or the Division of Commercial Fisheries. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Staff from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game and National Marine Fisheries Service provided important assistance in the completion of the 2003 shrimp and forage fish trawl survey and this report. R/V Resolution Captain Denis Cox, Jr., and crew, Dan Wilson and Kurt Pedersen, Fish and Wildlife Technicians Tom Dinnocenzo and Carl Peterson, and biologist Paul Anderson of National Marine Fisheries Service were all essential during the at-sea survey work and data collection. Carl Peterson completed sexed length frequencies of strata samples in the laboratory and Allison Birdsong performed data entry. Many thanks to database manager Ric Shepard for extensive programming and data retrieval and to publications specialist Lucinda Neel, for assistance with report formatting. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES .............................................................................................................. i LIST OF FIGURES............................................................................................................. ii LIST OF APPENDICES ..................................................................................................... iv ABSTRACT........................................................................................................................ 1 INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................... 2 OBJECTIVES ..................................................................................................................... 3 METHODS ......................................................................................................................... 4 Trawl Description and Survey Procedures............................................................... 4 Shrimp Population Estimation ................................................................................. 5 RESULTS ........................................................................................................................... 6 Shrimp Populations ................................................................................................. 6 Forage Fish Distribution.......................................................................................... 8 Tagged Pacific Cod ................................................................................................. 8 Bottom Temperatures .............................................................................................. 8 DISCUSSION ..................................................................................................................... 8 LITERATURE CITED........................................................................................................ 11 TABLES ............................................................................................................................. 13 FIGURES............................................................................................................................ 21 APPENDIX......................................................................................................................... 44 LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Shrimp biomass indices from the Westward Region Shrimp Fishery Management Plan, 1982 ................................................................................................ 13 2. Relative abundance by weight of the top 20 species, percentage of shrimp, and percentage of forage fish occurrence in the 2003 Westward Region small- mesh trawl survey.......................................................................................................... 14 3. Fish measurements from the 2003 Westward Region small-mesh trawl survey ............ 15 4. Shrimp population estimates from the 2003 Westward Region small-mesh trawl survey................................................................................................................... 16 5. Sidestriped shrimp population estimates from the 2003 Westward Region small-mesh trawl survey................................................................................................ 18 6. Minimum acceptable biomass indices (MABI) and shrimp population estimates in metric tons from surveyed Westward Region fishing sections, 1995-2003 ..................................................................................................................... 20 i LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Commercial shrimp fishing districts of Westward Registration Area J.......................... 21 2. Commercial shrimp fishing sections in the Kodiak, Chignik and South Peninsula Districts of Westward Area J......................................................................... 22 3. Shrimp harvests from the Kodiak, Chignik and South Peninsula Districts, 1958-2003 ..................................................................................................................... 23 4. Location of sample sites from the 2003 Westward Region small-mesh trawl survey............................................................................................................................ 24 5. Distribution and relative abundance in kg/km towed of 4 jellyfish groups from the 2003 Westward Region small-mesh trawl survey. ................................................... 25 6. Distribution and relative abundance in kg/km towed of northern pink shrimp from the 2003 Westward Region small-mesh trawl survey............................................ 26 7. Carapace lengths of northern pink shrimp from the 2003 Westward Region small-mesh trawl survey................................................................................................ 27 8. Carapace lengths of northern pink shrimp by commercial fishing section from the 2003 Westward Region small-mesh trawl survey .................................................... 28 9. Size composition by sex of northern pink shrimp from the 2003 Westward Region small-mesh trawl survey of the Chiniak Bay, Ugak Bay, Marmot Bay and Marmot Island commercial shrimp fishing sections................................................ 29 10. Size composition by sex of northern pink shrimp from the 2003 Westward Region small-mesh trawl survey of the Kiliuda Bay, Twoheaded Island, Alitak Bay and Alitak Flats commercial shrimp fishing sections ............................................. 30 11. Size composition by sex of northern pink shrimp from the 2003 Westward Region small-mesh trawl survey of Kukak Bay, Wide Bay, Puale Bay and Shelikof Strait................................................................................................................ 31 12. Size composition by sex of northern pink shrimp from the 2003Westward Region small-mesh trawl survey of the Uganik Bay and Uyak Bay commercial shrimp fishing sections............................................................................... 32 13. Distribution and relative abundance in kg/km towed of humpy shrimp from the 2003 Westward Region small-mesh trawl survey .................................................... 33 ii LIST OF FIGURES (Cont.) Figure Page 14. Carapace lengths of humpy shrimp from the 2003 Westward Region small- mesh trawl survey.......................................................................................................... 33 15. Distribution and relative abundance in kg/km towed of sidestriped shrimp from the 2003 Westward Region small-mesh trawl survey............................................ 34 16. Carapace lengths and size by sex composition of sidestriped shrimp from the 2003 Westward Region small-mesh trawl survey.......................................................... 35 17. Distribution and relative abundance in kg/km towed of eulachon, Pacific sandfish, longsnout prickleback and Pacific herring from the 2003 Westward Region small-mesh trawl survey.................................................................................... 36 18. Ocean bottom temperatures from the 2003 Westward Region small-mesh trawl survey................................................................................................................... 37 19. Relative abundance in kg/km towed of northern pink shrimp and sidestriped shrimp from the Westward Region small-mesh trawl survey, 1971-2003...................... 38 20. Shrimp abundance estimates from Wide Bay, 2001-2003 ............................................. 39 21. Carapace lengths of northern pink shrimp from Wide Bay, 2001-2003......................... 39 22. Relative abundance in kg/km towed of eulachon from the Westward Region small-mesh trawl survey, 1976-2003............................................................................