Observing Halibut Survival After Trawler Deck-Release with Satellite Tags

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Observing Halibut Survival After Trawler Deck-Release with Satellite Tags Observing halibut survival after trawler deck-release with satellite tags Craig S. Rose, FishNext Research Julie Nielsen, Kingfisher Marine Research John Gauvin, Alaska Seafood Cooperative Tim Loher, Int. Pacific Halibut Commission Paige Drobny, Spearfish Research Andrew Seitz & Michael Courtney, U of Alaska Fairbanks, SAFS Suresh Sethi, Alaska Pacific Univ. and Cornell Funded by grants from the North Pacific Research Board and NOAA’s Saltonstall-Kennedy program Bering Sea flatfish (all Pleuronectidae) Biomass 4.9 million mt (2015 AFSC shelf survey) • Yellowfish sole Limanda aspera • Northern rock sole Lepidopsetta polyxystra • Flathead sole Hippoglossoides elassodon • Alaska Plaice Pleuronectes quadrituberculatus • Arrowtooth flounder Atherethes stomias • Pacific halibut Hippoglossus stenolepis Also: Greenland turbot, Kamchatka flounder, rex sole, Dover sole, Bering flounder, Sakhalin sole, butter sole, longnose dab, starry flounder Trawl fisheries for flatfish in the Bering Sea • 225,000 - 250,000 mt / year recently (NMFS AKR) Other Flatfish Flathead Sole • Catcher / processor vessels Arrowtooth Flounder Alaska Plaice • Quotas allocated by vessel Pacific halibut Yellowfin Rock Sole Sole (bycatch, must be released) • Fixed halibut bycatch mortality limits - allocated between vessels • Significant constraint • Recently reduced • Catches sampled entering processing area (after holding) Trawler deck-sorting to reduce halibut mortality • Deck-sort to release bycaught halibut as soon as possible • Much lower mortality than if put into holding tanks • Current survival estimates from onboard viability assessments • Structured set of reflex and injury observations • Scored Excellent, Poor, ‘Dead’ • Viability survival rates (E-80%, P-45%, D-10%) based on 1970 tag releases • Vessel specific mortality estimates for trials Project Goals • Apply modern tag technology to validate and improve the foundation for halibut survival rates • Develop tag tools and metrics to monitor halibut survival (Julie Nielsen’s earlier talk) • Compare viability-based survival outcomes with those indicated by recorded halibut activity • Find conditions that improve survival • Guide further survival improvements Deployment Trips Tags on: 160 trawl releases 20 Controls Flounder, turbot ATF/GTR_2 (25) Halibut Pac. Ocn. Perch Yellowfin sole longline (10) POP_2 (8) YFS_1 (39) YFS_3 (45) Trawl - June Flathead sole FHS_1 (34) Trawl - June Trawl - Aug Longline – Jul1 Halibut handling and data • Stratified halibut selection – Time on deck • 1 per 5 minute intervals – random time within • Video viability assessments • Reflex and injury scan, scored Excellent, Poor, or ‘Dead’ • Scored from videos by 5 experienced observers Camera • Fish and handling data recorded • fish length • humidity • time-on-deck • sand in catch • tow duration • sea state • deck temperature • trawl net • seafloor temperature • excluder use Tags popped up and reported • Data reported from 0 – 4.9 days 5 – 14.9 days all 180 tags! (only one with too little data to use) • Some appeared to release from active fish (anchor failure?) • Most recoveries in 15 – 59.9 days 60+ days vicinity of release, at all durations • Some longer movements from full or near-full deployment periods Classification of activity data: live or dead and when Alive all 60 days Died after 3 days • Scored by 6 reviewers • Majority outcome after reconciliation discussion (Nine dropped – still tied or too uncertain) Analysis methods • Kaplan-Meyer survival curves – estimate probability of surviving by time since release (can account for early releases) Trip • Cox proportional hazards modelling to regress multiple factors against survival period. Viability scores D P E Survival analysis .01 .45 .80 Key features of survival curves Nearly all deaths occurred in the first 2 weeks Variability by Trip-Target Survival analysis Compare survival estimates between tagging results and from viability scores 100% Viability Survival 90% Tag Survival 80% Most Trip-Targets have reasonable matches 70% (POP only 8 fish) 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% ATF/GTR_2 FHS_1 POP_2 YFS_1 YFS_3 Trip 3 (YFS) high viability, Low tag survival Survival by trip and viability • Most trip/targets – Survival rates by viability score similar to each other and standard rates • YFS Trip 3 – Survival rates for Excellent Poor excellent and poor scores ‘Dead’ substantially lower than other trips and standard rates Third trip hypotheses Increased mortality due to: Surface/air temperatures Deck handling Assessment handling Third trip hypotheses Viability assessments overestimated: Pre – assessment recovery tank Multiple potential differences unique to Trip 3 precluded isolating a single cause for the low survival of released halibut in spite of scoring high viabilities Factors predicting mortality Handling, fish size, environmental Cox proportional hazards model AIC Measurement pvalue import. SpecimenLength 0.003 97% OnDeckTime 0.007 92% Trip1-FHS 0.862 Trip2-POP 0.149 96% Trip1-YFS 0.004 Trip3-YFS 0.012 TowDuration 0.010 92% Sediment in n.s. 27% catch DeckTemp* n.s. 37% CatchSize n.s. 26% * - Also Surface Temp, Surface Temp – Bottom Temp (all highly correlated) Factors predicting mortality Model comparison (132 halibut with viabilities) Model structure Npars AIC R2 Without Viability DaysSurvive ~ All factors except Viability 10 640 0.47 DaysSurvive ~ SpecimenLength 1 652 0.20 DaysSurvive ~ OnDeckTime 1 653 0.19 DaysSurvive ~ Trip/Catch 4 662 0.16 DaysSurvive ~ TowDuration 1 662 0.09 DaysSurvive ~ SpecimenLength + OnDeckTime + TowDuration 3 641 0.34 DaysSurvive ~ SpecimenLength + OnDeckTime + TowDuration + Trip/Catch 7 637 0.45 With Viability DaysSurvive ~ All factors including Viability 12 591 0.74 DaysSurvive ~ Viability 2 623 0.47 DaysSurvive ~ Viability + SpecimenLength + OnDeckTime + Tow Duration 5 601 0.64 DaysSurvive ~ Viability + SpecimenLength + OnDeckTime + TowDuration + Trip/Catch 9 591 0.72 Next steps • Better understand variation across fisheries/seasons/vessels • Viability scoring from deck sorts • More tagging? How to distribute? • Explore survival monitoring options • Viability? Length-TOD-Tow time? Both? • How much variability is acceptable? • Does monitoring motivate practices that increase survival? • Further tag developments for survival use Summary • Acceleration-only tags measure survival and tell us a lot about what happens to halibut after deck release • Deck sort process greatly improves halibut survival (Time on deck <25 min. vs. hours) • Viability predicts survival well – except for trip 3 – Could not isolate specific cause • Fish size, time-on-deck and tow time all influence survival • Trip and Fishery variability is also significant Questions? Discussion • Thanks to: Captains and crews of: Viability reviewers F/V Constellation Elanor Wolfe • Coauthors! F/V Cape Horn Nicholas Rubino Laura Mowczan • Sarah Webster F/V Arica Alisha Foster F/V Darlynne Christopher Kromm Length composition of tagged halibut 25 ATF/GTR_2 (25) 20 FHS_1 (22) 15 POP_2 (8) YFS_1 (36) Number 10 YFS_3 (41) 5 0 50 60 70 80 90 Length (nearest 10 cm) 15 December 2017 IFS 10 21.
Recommended publications
  • Research Plan 2 3 A
    Arctic Pre-proposal 3.4-Galloway 1 Research Plan 2 3 A. Project Title: Characterizing lipid production hotspots, phenology, and trophic transfer at the 4 algae-herbivore interface in the Chukchi Sea 5 6 B. Category: 3. Oceanography and lower trophic level productivity: Influence of sea ice dynamics and 7 advection on the phenology, magnitude and location of primary and secondary production, match- 8 mismatch, benthic-pelagic coupling, and the influence of winter conditions. 9 10 C. Rationale and justification: 11 The spatial extent of arctic sea ice is declining and earlier seasonal sea ice melt may dramatically 12 affect the magnitude, and spatial and temporal scale of primary production (Kahru et al. 2011, Wassmann 13 2011). In order to predict the consequences of these changes to ecosystems, it is important that we 14 understand the mechanistic links between temporally dynamic ice conditions and the physical factors 15 which govern phytoplankton growth (Popova et al. 2010). The mechanisms that govern productivity of 16 the Chukchi Sea ecosystem are of considerable interest due to dramatically changing temporal and spatial 17 patterns of sea ice coverage and because this area is likely to be the subject of intense fossil fuel 18 exploration in coming decades (Dunton et al. 2014). Tracing the biochemical pathways of basal resources 19 (pelagic and attached micro- and macroalgae) in this system is critical if we are to better understand how 20 the Chukchi Sea ecosystem might be modified in the future by a changing climate and offshore oil and 21 gas exploration and production (McTigue and Dunton 2014).
    [Show full text]
  • FISH LIST WISH LIST: a Case for Updating the Canadian Government’S Guidance for Common Names on Seafood
    FISH LIST WISH LIST: A case for updating the Canadian government’s guidance for common names on seafood Authors: Christina Callegari, Scott Wallace, Sarah Foster and Liane Arness ISBN: 978-1-988424-60-6 © SeaChoice November 2020 TABLE OF CONTENTS GLOSSARY . 3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY . 4 Findings . 5 Recommendations . 6 INTRODUCTION . 7 APPROACH . 8 Identification of Canadian-caught species . 9 Data processing . 9 REPORT STRUCTURE . 10 SECTION A: COMMON AND OVERLAPPING NAMES . 10 Introduction . 10 Methodology . 10 Results . 11 Snapper/rockfish/Pacific snapper/rosefish/redfish . 12 Sole/flounder . 14 Shrimp/prawn . 15 Shark/dogfish . 15 Why it matters . 15 Recommendations . 16 SECTION B: CANADIAN-CAUGHT SPECIES OF HIGHEST CONCERN . 17 Introduction . 17 Methodology . 18 Results . 20 Commonly mislabelled species . 20 Species with sustainability concerns . 21 Species linked to human health concerns . 23 Species listed under the U .S . Seafood Import Monitoring Program . 25 Combined impact assessment . 26 Why it matters . 28 Recommendations . 28 SECTION C: MISSING SPECIES, MISSING ENGLISH AND FRENCH COMMON NAMES AND GENUS-LEVEL ENTRIES . 31 Introduction . 31 Missing species and outdated scientific names . 31 Scientific names without English or French CFIA common names . 32 Genus-level entries . 33 Why it matters . 34 Recommendations . 34 CONCLUSION . 35 REFERENCES . 36 APPENDIX . 39 Appendix A . 39 Appendix B . 39 FISH LIST WISH LIST: A case for updating the Canadian government’s guidance for common names on seafood 2 GLOSSARY The terms below are defined to aid in comprehension of this report. Common name — Although species are given a standard Scientific name — The taxonomic (Latin) name for a species. common name that is readily used by the scientific In nomenclature, every scientific name consists of two parts, community, industry has adopted other widely used names the genus and the specific epithet, which is used to identify for species sold in the marketplace.
    [Show full text]
  • Assessment of the Other Flatfish Stock Complex in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands
    11. Assessment of the other flatfish stock complex in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Thomas K. Wilderbuer and Daniel G. Nichol Executive Summary Summary of Changes in Assessment Inputs Changes in the Input Data 1) The 2013 catch (total and discarded) was updated, and catch through 26 October, 2013 were included in the assessment. 2) The 2013 Eastern Bering Sea shelf survey biomass estimates and standard errors of other flatfish species are included in the assessment. Changes in the Assessment Methodology 1) There were no changes in the assessment methodology. Summary of Results A summary of the 2013 recommended ABCs and OFLs (in bold) relative to the 2012 recommendations for Other flatfish in the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands (BSAI) is as follows: As estimated or As estimated or specified last year for: recommended this year for: Quantity 2013 2014 2014 2015 M (natural mortality rate) for rex sole 0.17 0.17 0.17 0.17 M (natural mortality rate) for Dover sole 0.085 0.085 0.085 0.085 M (natural mortality rate) for all others 0.15 0.15 0.15 0.15 Tier 5 5 5 5 Biomass (t) 114,200 114,200 107,500 107,500 FOFL (F=M) for rex sole 0.17 0.17 0.17 0.17 FOFL (F=M) for Dover sole 0.085 0.085 0.085 0.085 FOFL (F=M) for all other species 0.15 0.15 0.15 0.15 maxFABC for rex sole 0.13 0.13 0.13 0.13 maxFABC for Dover sole 0.064 0.064 0.064 0.064 maxFABC for all other species 0.113 0.113 0.113 0.113 FABC for rex sole 0.13 0.13 0.13 0.13 FABC for Dover sole 0.064 0.064 0.064 0.064 FABC for all other species 0.113 0.113 0.113 0.113 OFL (t) 17,800 17,800 16,700 16,700 maxABC (t) 13,300 13,300 12,400 12,400 ABC (t) 13,300 13,300 12,400 12,400 As determined last year for: As determined this year for: Status 2011 2012 2012 2013 Overfishing n/a n/a n/a n/a Responses to SSC and Plan Team Comments to Assessments in General There were no comments relative to the other flatfish assessment.
    [Show full text]
  • BSAIF Latfish S Urveillance R Eport 1
    Moody Marine Ltd. BSAI Flatfish Fishery: Surveillance Report 1 2011 First Annual Surveillance Report Bering Sea / Aleutian Islands Flatfish Fisheries: Alaska Plaice Flathead Sole Northern Rock Sole Yellowfin Sole Arrowtooth Flounder Certificate Nos.: Alaska Plaice MML-F-047 Flathead Sole MML-F-050 Northern Rock Sole MML-F-051 Yellowfin Sole MML-F-052 Arrowtooth Flounder MML-F-048 Moody Marine Ltd. Authors: Jake Rice, Don Bowen, Susan Hanna, Paul Knapman Moody Marine Ltd 815 – 99 Wyse Road Dartmouth Nova Scotia B3A 4S5 CANADA Tel: (1) 902 422 4551 Fax: (1) 902 422 9780 Email: [email protected] Web Site: www.moodyint.com FCS 03 v1 Rev 00 Page 1 of 29 Moody Marine Ltd. BSAI Flatfish Fishery: Surveillance Report 1 2011 1.0 GENERAL INFORMATION Scope against which the surveillance is undertaken: MSC Principles and Criteria for Sustainable Fishing as applied to the Flatfish Trawl Fishery. Species: Yellowfin sole (Limanda aspera also known as Pleuronectes asper), flathead sole (Hippoglossoides elassodon), arrowtooth flounder (Atheresthes stomias), Alaska plaice (Pleuronectes quadrituberculatus) and northern rock sole (Lepidopsetta polyxystra also known as Pleuronectes bilineatus). Area: Bering Sea / Aleutian Islands (BSAI) Methods of capture: Trawl Date of Surveillance Visit: 9-13th May 2011 Initial Certification Date: 22nd January 2010 Certificate No.: Alaska Plaice MML-F-047 Flathead Sole MML-F-050 Northern Rock Sole MML-F-051 Yellowfin Sole MML-F-052 Arrowtooth Flounder MML-F-048 Surveillance stage 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Surveillance team: Lead Auditor: Paul Knapman Team members: Jake Rice, Don Bowen, Susan Hanna Company Name: Alaska Seafood Cooperative c/o Groundfish Forum Address: 4241 21st Ave West Suite 200 Seattle Washington, 98199 Contact 1 Jason Anderson Tel No: +1 206-462-7682 E-mail address: [email protected] FCS 03 v1 Rev 00 Page 2 of 29 Moody Marine Ltd.
    [Show full text]
  • 2017 Sustainability Rating Score
    2017 SUSTAINABILITY RATING SCORE How did Tradex Score for Sustainably Sourced Raw Materials in 2017? VICTORIA, BC, February 28 - THE STATS ARE IN! Our Sustainability Rating Score for 2017 increased to 92 percent for all production of our three SINBAD brands. This means that 92 percent of all raw materials used in the production of our SINBAD, SINBAD Gold, and SINBAD Platinum products in 2017 were harvested from sustainable fisheries. This is up 7 percent from our 2016 score of 85 percent. Tradex uses guidance from Seafood Watch, Ocean Wise, and the Marine Stewardship Council to determine the sustainability status of raw materials. Their ratings are then entered into our inFINite™ Sustainability Production Tracker to arrive at a score out of 100. Below is a breakdown of how sustainable our SINBAD, SINBAD Gold, and SINBAD Platinum brand products measured up by category. 100% Sustainably Harvested Raw Materials in 2017 Below are the species that scored 100% on sourcing from sustainable fisheries Atlantic Cod Chum Salmon Coho Salmon Haddock Ocean Perch Pink Salmon Pink Shrimp Pollock Rock Sole Sockeye Salmon Tilapia Yellowfin Sole Pacific Rockfish Less than 100% Sustainably Harvested Raw Materials in 2017 Below are the species that scored less than 100% on sourcing from sustainable fisheries Species Results Improvement Plan In 2018, whenever possible, Tradex will source from the MSC Certified Alaskan Fishery. Due to high market Pacific Cod 56% of raw materials for demand, Tradex is unable to completely stop sourcing Trawl Caught branded production were Pacific Cod from Russia. Pacific Cod stocks in Russia are FAO 61 - Russia from sustainable fisheries considered to be low and steps towards completing FIP’s for improving data transparency for fisheries management are recommended.
    [Show full text]
  • Identification of Larvae of Three Arctic Species of Limanda (Family Pleuronectidae)
    Identification of larvae of three arctic species of Limanda (Family Pleuronectidae) Morgan S. Busby, Deborah M. Blood & Ann C. Matarese Polar Biology ISSN 0722-4060 Polar Biol DOI 10.1007/s00300-017-2153-9 1 23 Your article is protected by copyright and all rights are held exclusively by 2017. This e- offprint is for personal use only and shall not be self-archived in electronic repositories. If you wish to self-archive your article, please use the accepted manuscript version for posting on your own website. You may further deposit the accepted manuscript version in any repository, provided it is only made publicly available 12 months after official publication or later and provided acknowledgement is given to the original source of publication and a link is inserted to the published article on Springer's website. The link must be accompanied by the following text: "The final publication is available at link.springer.com”. 1 23 Author's personal copy Polar Biol DOI 10.1007/s00300-017-2153-9 ORIGINAL PAPER Identification of larvae of three arctic species of Limanda (Family Pleuronectidae) 1 1 1 Morgan S. Busby • Deborah M. Blood • Ann C. Matarese Received: 28 September 2016 / Revised: 26 June 2017 / Accepted: 27 June 2017 Ó Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany 2017 Abstract Identification of fish larvae in Arctic marine for L. proboscidea in comparison to the other two species waters is problematic as descriptions of early-life-history provide additional evidence suggesting the genus Limanda stages exist for few species. Our goal in this study is to may be paraphyletic, as has been proposed in other studies.
    [Show full text]
  • Pleuronectidae
    FAMILY Pleuronectidae Rafinesque, 1815 - righteye flounders [=Heterosomes, Pleronetti, Pleuronectia, Diplochiria, Poissons plats, Leptosomata, Diprosopa, Asymmetrici, Platessoideae, Hippoglossoidinae, Psettichthyini, Isopsettini] Notes: Hétérosomes Duméril, 1805:132 [ref. 1151] (family) ? Pleuronectes [latinized to Heterosomi by Jarocki 1822:133, 284 [ref. 4984]; no stem of the type genus, not available, Article 11.7.1.1] Pleronetti Rafinesque, 1810b:14 [ref. 3595] (ordine) ? Pleuronectes [published not in latinized form before 1900; not available, Article 11.7.2] Pleuronectia Rafinesque, 1815:83 [ref. 3584] (family) Pleuronectes [senior objective synonym of Platessoideae Richardson, 1836; family name sometimes seen as Pleuronectiidae] Diplochiria Rafinesque, 1815:83 [ref. 3584] (subfamily) ? Pleuronectes [no stem of the type genus, not available, Article 11.7.1.1] Poissons plats Cuvier, 1816:218 [ref. 993] (family) Pleuronectes [no stem of the type genus, not available, Article 11.7.1.1] Leptosomata Goldfuss, 1820:VIII, 72 [ref. 1829] (family) ? Pleuronectes [no stem of the type genus, not available, Article 11.7.1.1] Diprosopa Latreille, 1825:126 [ref. 31889] (family) Platessa [no stem of the type genus, not available, Article 11.7.1.1] Asymmetrici Minding, 1832:VI, 89 [ref. 3022] (family) ? Pleuronectes [no stem of the type genus, not available, Article 11.7.1.1] Platessoideae Richardson, 1836:255 [ref. 3731] (family) Platessa [junior objective synonym of Pleuronectia Rafinesque, 1815, invalid, Article 61.3.2 Hippoglossoidinae Cooper & Chapleau, 1998:696, 706 [ref. 26711] (subfamily) Hippoglossoides Psettichthyini Cooper & Chapleau, 1998:708 [ref. 26711] (tribe) Psettichthys Isopsettini Cooper & Chapleau, 1998:709 [ref. 26711] (tribe) Isopsetta SUBFAMILY Atheresthinae Vinnikov et al., 2018 - righteye flounders GENUS Atheresthes Jordan & Gilbert, 1880 - righteye flounders [=Atheresthes Jordan [D.
    [Show full text]
  • Fisheries Update for Monday August 26, 2019 Groundfish Harvests
    Fisheries Update for Monday August 26, 2019 Groundfish Harvests through 8/17/2019, IFQ Halibut/Sablefish & Crab Harvests through 8/26/2019 Fishing activity in the Bering Sea /Aleutian Islands A season Groundfish Fisheries for the week ending on August 17, 2019, last week's Pollock harvest slowed down with an 8,000MT reduction from the previous week. The Pollock 8 season harvest is 60% completed thru last week. Last week's B season Pollock harvest came in at 48, 126MT fishing has .slowed down last week. The total groundfish harvest last week was 58,255MT (130million pounds). We are seeing increased effort in the Aleutian Islands on Pacific Ocean Perch last week's harvest of 1 ,938MT and Atka mackerel1 ,816MT. Halibut and Sablefish harvest statewide continues to see increased harvests, The Halibut harvest is 11.8 million pounds harvested 67% of the allocation has been taken. The Sablefish IFQ harvest is at 13.8 million pounds landed, the season is 53% of the allocation has been completed; Unalaska has had 46 landings for 820, 1171bs of Sablefish. Aleutian Island Golden King Crab allocation opened on July 15th with and allocation of 7.1 million pounds we have 4 vessels registered to fish the allocation. The Eastern District allocation is set at 4.4 million pounds and has had 7 landing for and estimated total of 600,000 to 800,000 harvested. The Western District at 2.7 million pounds there have been 5 landings for and estimated 200,000 to 250,0001bs harvested. For the week ending August 17, 2019 the Groundfish landings, showed a harvest of 58,255MT landed (130million pounds) most of last week's harvest was Pollock 48, 126MT (107 million pounds).
    [Show full text]
  • Western Bering Sea Pacific Cod and Pacific Halibut Longline
    MSC Sustainable Fisheries Certification Western Bering Sea Pacific cod and Pacific halibut longline Public Consultation Draft Report – August 2019 Longline Fishery Association Assessment Team: Dmitry Lajus, Daria Safronova, Aleksei Orlov, Rob Blyth-Skyrme Document: MSC Full Assessment Reporting Template V2.0 page 1 Date of issue: 8 October 2014 © Marine Stewardship Council, 2014 Contents Table of Tables ..................................................................................................................... 5 Table of Figures .................................................................................................................... 7 Glossary.............................................................................................................................. 10 1 Executive Summary ..................................................................................................... 12 2 Authorship and Peer Reviewers ................................................................................... 14 2.1 Use of the Risk-Based Framework (RBF): ............................................................ 15 2.2 Peer Reviewers .................................................................................................... 15 3 Description of the Fishery ............................................................................................ 16 3.1 Unit(s) of Assessment (UoA) and Scope of Certification Sought ........................... 16 3.1.1 UoA and Proposed Unit of Certification (UoC) ..............................................
    [Show full text]
  • Relationship Between Trophic Level and Total Mercury Concentrations in 5 Steller Sea Lion Prey Species
    Relationship between trophic level and total mercury concentrations in 5 Steller sea lion prey species Item Type Poster Authors Johnson, Gabrielle; Rea, Lorrie; Castellini, J. Margaret; Loomis, Todd; O'Hara, Todd Download date 24/09/2021 18:03:56 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/11122/3461 Relationship between trophic level and total mercury concentrations in 5 Steller sea lion prey species Gabrielle Johnson 1,2, Lorrie Rea 2,3,4, J. Margaret Castellini 1,4, Todd Loomis 5 and Todd O’Hara 4,6 1School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK 99775, 2Alaska Department of Fish and Game , Division of Wildlife Conservation, 1300 College Road, Fairbanks, AK 99701 3Institute of Northern Engineering, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK 99775, 4Wildlife Toxicology Laboratory, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK 99775 5Ocean Peace Inc., 4201 21st Avenue West Seattle, WA 98199, 6Department of Veterinary Medicine, College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK 99775 Abstract: Results: Conclusions: Total mercury concentrations [THg] were measured in 5 Steller sea lion finfish prey species collected in the eastern Aleutian Islands to determine if the amount and/or variation in mercury in select prey could explain the wide range of [THg] in sea lion pup hair and blood (Castellini et al. 0.20 • In 3 of the 5 prey species (ARFL, KAFL and PACO) [THg] linearly 2012, Rea et al. 2013). Atka mackerel (ATMA; Pleurogrammus monopterygius), Pacific cod Walleye pollock (PACO; Gadus macrocephalus), walleye pollock (WAPO; Theragra chalcogramma), arrowtooth 0.18 increased with length of the fish suggesting that [THg] Atka mackerel flounder (ARFL; Atheresthes stomias), and Kamchatka flounder (KAFL; Atheresthes evermanni) bioaccumulates with age in these species.
    [Show full text]
  • Using Ecologically Based Relationships to Predict Distribution of Flathead Sole Hippoglossoides Elassodon in the Eastern Bering Sea
    MARINE ECOLOGY PROGRESS SERIES Vol. 290: 251–262, 2005 Published April 13 Mar Ecol Prog Ser Using ecologically based relationships to predict distribution of flathead sole Hippoglossoides elassodon in the eastern Bering Sea Christopher N. Rooper*, Mark Zimmermann, Paul D. Spencer Alaska Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, 7600 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, Washington 98115-6349, USA ABSTRACT: This study describes a method for modeling and predicting, from biological and physi- cal variables, habitat use by a commercially harvested groundfish species. Models for eastern Bering Sea flathead sole Hippoglossoides elassodon were developed from 3 relationships describing the response of organism abundance along a resource continua. The model was parameterized for 1998 to 2000 trawl survey data and tested on 2001 and 2002 data. Catch per unit effort (CPUE) of flathead sole had a curvilinear relationship with depth, peaking at 140 m, a proportional relationship with bot- tom water temperature, a positive curvilinear relationship with potential cover (invertebrate shelter- ing organisms such as anemones, corals, sponges, etc.), a negative relationship with increasing mud:sand ratio in the sediment, and an asymptotic relationship with potential prey abundance. The predicted CPUE was highly correlated (r2 = 0.63) to the observations (1998 to 2000) and the model accurately predicted CPUE (r2 = 0.58) in the test data set (2001 and 2002). Because this method of developing habitat-based abundance models is founded on ecological relationships, it should be more robust for predicting fish distributions than statistically based models. Thus, the model can be used to examine the consequences of fishing activity (e.g.
    [Show full text]
  • Book of Abstracts
    PICES Seventeenth Annual Meeting Beyond observations to achieving understanding and forecasting in a changing North Pacific: Forward to the FUTURE North Pacific Marine Science Organization October 24 – November 2, 2008 Dalian, People’s Republic of China Contents Notes for Guidance ...................................................................................................................................... v Floor Plan for the Kempinski Hotel......................................................................................................... vi Keynote Lecture.........................................................................................................................................vii Schedules and Abstracts S1 Science Board Symposium Beyond observations to achieving understanding and forecasting in a changing North Pacific: Forward to the FUTURE......................................................................................................................... 1 S2 MONITOR/TCODE/BIO Topic Session Linking biology, chemistry, and physics in our observational systems – Present status and FUTURE needs .............................................................................................................................. 15 S3 MEQ Topic Session Species succession and long-term data set analysis pertaining to harmful algal blooms...................... 33 S4 FIS Topic Session Institutions and ecosystem-based approaches for sustainable fisheries under fluctuating marine resources ..............................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]