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Age-0 Sablefish Size and Growth Indices from Seabird Diets at Middleton Island, Gulf of Alaska

Open-File Report 2023-1049
Prepared in cooperation with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Alaska Fisheries Science Center
By:  and 
https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20231049

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Abstract

Sablefish (Anoplopoma fimbria) is a commercially valuable groundfish species in Alaska, with the population assessed annually by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Alaska Fisheries Science Center. Sablefish recruit into the commercially fished population at 2 years old and are poorly sampled by most surveys before that age. However, information on the abundance, distribution, and size of pre-recruitment age fish is valuable as an ecosystem indicator for older fish. Size and an index of growth rate of age-0 sablefish were quantified using samples from seabird diets at Middleton Island, Alaska, an island in the northern Gulf of Alaska. Age-0 sablefish information may serve as an indicator for potential recruitment into older age populations. This report (1) provides information on the data collection for age-0 sablefish from seabird diets at Middleton Island, Alaska from 1978 to 2022, (2) describes a method for quantifying age-0 sablefish size and growth rate, and (3) describes the size and growth rate of sablefish sampled over time. An annual release of age-0 sablefish size and growth data by U.S. Geological Survey based on continued collections on Middleton Island, Alaska, may be used to assess ecosystem status and as a recruitment indicator for sablefish.

Suggested Citation

Arimitsu, M.L., and Hatch, S.A., 2023, Age-0 sablefish size and growth indices from seabird diets at Middleton Island, Gulf of Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2023–1049, 4 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20231049.

ISSN: 2331-1258 (online)

Study Area

Table of Contents

  • Acknowledgments
  • Abstract
  • Introduction
  • Methods
  • Results
  • Summary
  • References Cited
Publication type Report
Publication Subtype USGS Numbered Series
Title Age-0 sablefish size and growth indices from seabird diets at Middleton Island, Gulf of Alaska
Series title Open-File Report
Series number 2023-1049
DOI 10.3133/ofr20231049
Publication Date June 21, 2023
Year Published 2023
Language English
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Publisher location Reston, VA
Contributing office(s) Alaska Science Center Ecosystems
Description Report: v, 4 p.; Data Release
Country United States
State Alaska
Other Geospatial Middleton Island
Online Only (Y/N) Y
Additional publication details