Captures of Pacific halibut Hippoglossus stenolepis (Pleuronectidae) in Anadyr estuary of the Bering Sea

Results of a coastwide tagging study show that ontogenetic migration of Pacific halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepis) continues for larger fish, whereas in recent years the assumption had been that only smaller, younger fish migrated. In 2003–2004, a total of 67 000 Pacific halibut tagged with passive integrated transponder tags were released by the International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC) from Oregon to the Bering Sea. Portside scanning recovered over 3000 of these tags. Models were fitted that allowed commercial fishing mortality to be a function of fish length, year, and IPHC regulatory area, while migration probability was a function of area and length. Estimates from the models support the view that exploitation rates were much higher in eastern than western areas prior to the reduction of quotas following new results from a coastwide stock assessment in 2007. We explore possible explanations for differences between tagging and IPHC stock assessment results and note that this research provides confirmation of historical inferences regarding patterns of halibut migration based on conventional tagging.

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Biochemical Population Genetics of Pacific Halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepis) and Comparison with Atlantic Halibut (H. hippoglossus)

Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences ◽

10.1139/f84-127 ◽

1984 ◽

Vol 41 (7) ◽

pp. 1083-1088 ◽

Cited By ~ 53

Author(s):

W. Stewart Grant ◽

David J. Teel ◽

Tokimasa Kobayashi ◽

Cyreis Schmitt

Keyword(s):

Genetic Distance ◽

Bering Sea ◽

Gene Diversity ◽

Gulf Of Alaska ◽

Atlantic Halibut ◽

Protein Coding ◽

Pacific Halibut ◽

Three Samples ◽

Hippoglossus Stenolepis ◽

The Bering Sea

The gene products of 35 protein-coding loci were examined for Mendelian variation in three samples of Pacific halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepis) and one sample of Atlantic halibut (H. hippoglossus). Contingency table analyses of allelic frequencies for five polymorphic loci revealed no significant frequency differences between the Bering Sea and the Gulf of Alaska but detected significant Ada-2 frequency differences between these regions and Japan. Average genetic distance between the samples of Pacific halibut was 0.0002 ± 0.0007, and gene diversity analyses showed that 98.7% of the total genetic variation was contained within populations, 0.4% was due to differences between the Bering Sea and the Gulf of Alaska, and 0.9% was due to differences between these regions and Japan. These results are consistent with a larval drift, juvenile migration model of population genetic structure where not all juveniles home to their natal areas. Nei's genetic distance between Pacific and Atlantic halibut was 0.162 ± 0.073, and the molecular clock hypothesis suggests that these species became reproductively isolated from one another in the Pliocene between 1.7 and 4.5 million years ago.

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A mixed-species yield model for eastern Bering Sea shelf flatfish fisheries

Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences ◽

10.1139/f02-012 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 59 (2) ◽

pp. 291-302 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Paul D Spencer ◽

Thomas K Wilderbuer ◽

Chang Ik Zhang

Keyword(s):

Bering Sea ◽

Optimal Solution ◽

Single Species ◽

Mixed Species ◽

Yield Model ◽

Pacific Halibut ◽

Eastern Bering Sea ◽

Hippoglossus Stenolepis ◽

Hippoglossoides Elassodon ◽

Trawl Fisheries

A variety of eastern Bering Sea (EBS) flatfish including yellowfin sole (Limanda aspera), rock sole (Lepidopsetta bilineata), flathead sole (Hippoglossoides elassodon), and Alaska plaice (Pleuronectes quadrituberculatus), co-occur in various degrees in EBS trawl fisheries, impeding attempts to obtain single-species management targets. A further complication is the bycatch of Pacific halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepis); halibut bycatch limits, rather than single-species catch quotas, have been the primary factor regulating EBS flatfish harvest in recent years. To examine bycatch interactions among the EBS flatfish listed above, an equilibrium mixed-species multifishery model was developed. Equilibrium yield curves, scaled by recent average recruitment, are flat topped or asymptotically increasing, reflecting low fishing selectivity during the first several years of life and low growth relative to natural mortality. A linear programming analysis indicated that relaxation of the halibut bycatch constraint at the optimal solution of catch by fishery would produce approximately 20 times more flatfish yield than a similar relaxation of any flatfish catch quota. A strategy for establishing halibut bycatch limits that considers the foregone revenue in the halibut and flatfish trawl fisheries reveals how the choice of halibut bycatch limit is affected by the management goal for the flatfish complex.

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Pacific halibut bycatch in Pacific cod fisheries in the Bering Sea: an analysis to evaluate area-time management

Journal of Sea Research ◽

10.1016/s1385-1101(97)00055-5 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 39 (1-2) ◽

pp. 153-166 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Sara A. Adlerstein ◽

Robert J. Trumble

Keyword(s):

Bering Sea ◽

Time Management ◽

Pacific Cod ◽

Pacific Halibut ◽

Cod Fisheries ◽

The Bering Sea

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Serum Transferrin Systems and the Hemoglobins of the Pacific Halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepis)

Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada ◽

10.1139/f69-229 ◽

1969 ◽

Vol 26 (9) ◽

pp. 2351-2362 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

H. Tsuyuki ◽

E. Roberts ◽

E. A. Best

Keyword(s):

Bering Sea ◽

Serum Proteins ◽

Rare Type ◽

Population Analyses ◽

Pacific Halibut ◽

Eastern Bering Sea ◽

The Pacific ◽

Hippoglossus Stenolepis ◽

Northeastern Pacific ◽

Starch Gel

Based on starch-gel electrophoretic analyses of serum proteins of 1092 specimens of Pacific halibut sampled from the eastern Bering Sea and northeastern Pacific Ocean southward to southern British Columbia, three molecular species of transferrins were encountered. A fourth rare type was postulated to explain the observation of some phenotypes involving this transferrin. These transferrins, either singly or in combinations of two, accounted for the theoretically possible 10 phenotypes of which 8 were actually observed. Hereditary control by four codominant alleles (TfA, TfB, TfC, and TfD) is postulated to explain the heterogeneity of the transferrin patterns. The collections were arbitrarily divided into 10 geographic areas and gene frequency analyses were used to determine population structure. Phenotypic distribution was shown to be independent of age and sex. Of the 10 areas, only the collection from southeastern Alaska proved not to be homogeneous. Preliminary analysis of blood hemoglobins indicated that these proteins are not of value in population analyses.

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