FY 1989

Preliminary results of a survey for late-stage larval walleye pollock and observations of larval drift in the western Gulf of Alaska, 1987

Hinckley, S., K. Bailey, J. Schumacher, S. Picquelle, and P. Stabeno

In Proceedings of the International Symposium on the Biology and Management of Walleye Pollock, Alaska Sea Grant Report 89-1, Anchorage, AK, November 1988, 297–306 (1989)

In June and July of 1987, an exploratory survey for the nursery area of the late-larval and early-juvenile stages of walleye pollock (Theragra chalcogramma) was conducted in the western Gulf of Alaska. The goals of the survey were to define the geographical distribution of these life stages, estimate abundance, examine drift to their nursery area, and examine the feasibility of using these life stages in a pre-recruit survey. This paper represents a preliminary report on results of the survey. The center of distribution of late-larval and early-juvenile walleye pollock was between the Shumagin and the Semidi Islands. This corresponded to concurrent locations of satellite-tracked drifters released in the center of the egg distribution in Shelikof Strait in April. Larval numbers were low to the southwest and northeast of the center of distribution and offshore of the 200-m depth contour. Estimated total abundance of late-larval and early-juvenile walleye pollock in the survey area was 9.0 × 10 individuals.