Contrasting the variability in spatial distribution of two juvenile flatfishes in relation to thermal stanzas in the eastern Bering Sea

2019 ◽  
Vol 77 (3) ◽  
pp. 953-963
Author(s):  
Cynthia Yeung ◽  
Daniel W Cooper

Abstract Groundfish species in the Bering Sea are undergoing pronounced changes in spatial distribution and abundance due to warming ocean temperatures. The main drivers of interannual variability in this ecosystem are the alternating warm and cold thermal stanzas. Yellowfin sole (Limanda aspera; YFS) and northern rock sole (Lepidopsetta polyxystra; NRS) are commercially-valuable flatfishes in the Bering Sea and are among the most dominant groundfish species there in numbers and biomass. We examined the variability in the spatial distribution and abundance of juvenile NRS and YFS in relation to the ice and temperature conditions associated with warm-cold thermal shifts from 1982 to 2017. The goal was to assess the implications of the fluctuating thermal environment for Bering Sea flatfish production. We found ice cover and bottom temperature indices in the preceding 1 to 3 years to be the best predictors of NRS juvenile distribution. In contrast, these indices were not significantly correlated with YFS juvenile distribution, which could be an artifact of their relatively low availability to sampling. A warm stanza, as the Bering Sea is currently in, is expected to favor high numbers of NRS juveniles and the northward expansion of their distribution.

2019 ◽  
Vol 211 ◽  
pp. 319-330 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel G. Nichol ◽  
Stan Kotwicki ◽  
Thomas K. Wilderbuer ◽  
Robert R. Lauth ◽  
James N. Ianelli

1984 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
David A. Somerton ◽  
Jeffrey June

Red king crab (Paralithodes camtschatica), a prohibited species, are incidentally caught by United States trawl fisheries for yellowfin sole (Limanda aspera) and other groundfish in the eastern Bering Sea. To reduce this incidental catch, we propose a method for determining a king crab conservation zone where trawling would be prohibited. This method considers the gross revenue potentially gained by the yellowfin sole fishery and lost by the king crab fishery by allowing trawling in each of a number of equal-size areas. Utilizing exvessel prices and research survey estimates of species densities, areas are assigned relative values equal to the value of groundfish minus the value of king crab. By including all areas with negative relative values in the conservation zone, the potential gross revenue that could be obtained from the groundfish and king crab resource is maximized.


1977 ◽  
Vol 34 (5) ◽  
pp. 611-616 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. E. Alpers ◽  
B. B. McCain ◽  
M. S. Myers ◽  
S. R. Wellings

A study to determine the prevalence of fish disease in the Bering Sea revealed lymphocystis disease in yellowfin sole (Limanda aspera). The gross pathology and histopathology of typical nodules are described. Electron microscopic studies revealed characteristic icosahedral lymphocystis virus particles, as well as clusters of intracellular structures of uncertain origin. This study begins a larger effort to understand the effects of an altered marine environment upon the biology of lymphocystis virus infection in the Bering Sea. Key words: lymphocystis, pleuronectids, yellowfin sole, Bering Sea, flatfish.


1981 ◽  
Vol 59 (4) ◽  
pp. 667-678 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex E. Peden ◽  
M. Eric Anderson

Lycodapus leptus n.sp., L. poecilus n.sp., and L. psarostomatus n.sp. are described from the eastern Bering Sea. A new key to all known species of Lycodapus is presented. In addition, L. fierasfer Gilbert, L. parviceps Gilbert, and L. derjugini Andriashev are recognized from the Bering Sea and L. microdon Schmidt is recognized from the Sea of Okhotsk. The northern range limit of Lycodapus dermatinus Gilbert is established from a sea mount off southeastern Alaska. A specimen of Lycodapus that cannot be identified to species represents the most southern record for the genus in Asiatic waters.


2005 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 328-332 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergei Rodionov ◽  
James E. Overland

Abstract A common problem of existing methods for regime shift detection is their poor performance at the ends of time-series. Consequently, shifts in environmental and biological indices are usually detected long after their actual appearance. A recently introduced method based on sequential t-test analysis of regime shifts (STARS) treats all incoming data in real time, signals the possibility of a regime shift as soon as possible, then monitors how perception of the magnitude of the shift changes over time. Results of a STARS application to the eastern Bering Sea ecosystem show how the 1989 and 1998 regime shifts manifest themselves in biotic and abiotic indices in comparison with the 1977 shift.


2011 ◽  
Vol 68 (7) ◽  
pp. 1426-1434 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shaara M. Ainsley ◽  
David A. Ebert ◽  
Gregor M. Cailliet

Abstract Ainsley, S. M., Ebert, D. A., and Cailliet, G. M. 2011. Age, growth, and maturity of the whitebrow skate, Bathyraja minispinosa, from the eastern Bering Sea. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 68: 1426–1434. Skates are a common bycatch in groundfish fisheries in the Bering Sea; however, their life-history characteristics are not well known. The study is the first to investigate the age, growth, and age at maturity of Bathyraja minispinosa. Ages were estimated using sectioned vertebrae and several growth models were compared. The Gompertz model was the best fit and no significant differences were detected between sexes for any model. The maximum age estimated was 37 years, and parameter estimates generated from the three-parameter von Bertalanffy model were k = 0.02 year−1 and L∞ = 146.9 cm total length (TL). Males reached their size at 50% maturity larger than females (70.1 and 67.4 cm, respectively), but no significant differences in the estimated size or age at maturity were found. Whereas B. minispinosa is smaller than many skate species in the eastern Bering Sea, it has a considerably longer estimated lifespan, indicating that size may not be a reliable method of estimating the vulnerability of a rajid species to population declines in the eastern North Pacific.


Trudy VNIRO ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 181 ◽  
pp. 206-222
Author(s):  
K.K. Kivva ◽  
◽  
J.V. Selivanova ◽  
M.N. Pisareva ◽  
A.A. Sumkina ◽  
...  

The main part of the annual primary production in the Arctic and Subarctic zones of the World Ocean is formed during the spring phytoplankton bloom. The timing of the bloom depends on combination of physical factors. Oscillating control hypothesis, proposed in [Hunt et al., 2002] for the Eastern Bering Sea, describes annual peculiarities of ecosystem development related to conditions of the spring phytoplankton bloom. We review propositions of this hypothesis on the reasons of phytoplankton bloom and its connection with physical processes for four local regions of the Bering Sea shelf. The regions include western, northern and south-eastern parts of the shelf. The analysis is based on ocean color and microwave remotely sensed data as well as on atmospheric reanalysis. The results allow for hypothesis improvement. An early phytoplankton bloom may be present in the surface layer in April or May along the eastern Bering Sea shelf even in situations of early sea ice retreat (e. g. February-March) or absence of ice during winter. However, such combinations were not observed in the western Bering Sea shelf region. In 1998–2018, early ice retreat in the western shelf region was always accompanied by relatively late phytoplankton bloom. The temporal lag between sea ice retreat and phytoplankton bloom may be substantial in some years along the southernmost position of the ice edge. On the other hand, the spring bloom in the northern part of the shelf usually follows the ice retreat. In case of early ice retreat, the timing of the bloom is determined not only by wind conditions, but also by heat balance at the surface of the sea. The results are proposed to be used in further analysis of ecosystem dynamics of the western Bering Sea shelf.


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