Age-specific movement patterns of sablefish (Anoplopoma fimbria) in Alaska
Over 34,000 age 0–2 juvenile sablefish (Anoplopoma fimbria)were tagged and released in southeast Alaska waters during 1985–2005. The data set resulting from this tagging study was unusual because of its time span (20 years) and because age could be reliably inferred from release length (i.e., tagged and released fish were of known age); thus, age-specific movement patterns could be examined. The depth- and area-related recovery patterns supported the concepts that sablefish move to deeper water with age and migrate counterclockwise in the Gulf of Alaska. Availabilityto the fishery increased rapidly for fish of younger ages, peaked at age 5 to 6, and then gradually declined as sablefish moved deeper with age. Decreased availability with age may occur because of lower fishing effort in deep water and could have substantial implications for sablef ishstock assessments because “domeshaped” availability influences the reliability of abundance estimates. The area-related recovery pattern was not affected by year-class strength; i.e., there was no significant densitydependentrelationship.
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | article biblioteca |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2008
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| Subjects: | Biology, Ecology, Fisheries, |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1834/25484 |
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