National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration
United States Department of Commerce


 

FY 2008

The effect of oceanographic variability and interspecific competition on juvenile pollock (Theragra chalcogramma) and capelin (Mallotus villosus) distributions on the Gulf of Alaska shelf

Logerwell, E.A., P.J. Stabeno, C.D. Wilson, and A.B. Hollowed

Deep-Sea Res. II, 54(23–26), 2849–2868, doi: 10.1016/j.dsr2.2007.08.008 (2007)


Results from this study suggest that small-scale variability in the Alaska Coastal Current (ACC) and competition between juvenile pollock and capelin are potential mechanisms affecting the distribution and abundance of fishes in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). Fish distributions in Barnabus Trough, off the east coast of Kodiak Island, were assessed using acoustic data collected with a calibrated echosounder during August–September 2002 and 2004. Trawl hauls were conducted to determine the species composition of the fish making up the acoustic backscatter. Oceanographic data were collected from moorings, conductivity–temperature–depth (CTD) probes, trawl-mounted microbathythermographs (MBT) and expendable bathythermographs (XBT). National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) reanalysis data were used to assess area winds, and information on regional transport was derived from current meters deployed on moorings north and south of Kodiak Island. The distribution of water-mass properties and fish during 2002 showed variability at the temporal scale of weeks. Juvenile pollock (age-1 and age-2) were initially most abundant in warm, low-salinity water on the inner shelf, whereas capelin were distributed primarily on the outer shelf in cool, high-salinity waters. During a 2-week period juvenile pollock distribution expanded with the offshore expansion of warm, low-salinity water, and capelin abundance in outer-shelf waters decreased. We hypothesize that wind-driven pulsing of the ACC resulted in increased transport of warm, low-salinity water through the study area. In 2004, warm, low-salinity water characterized the inner shelf and cool, high-salinity water was found on the outer shelf. However, the distribution of water-mass properties did not show the weekly scale variability observed in 2002. Area winds were consistently toward the southwest during 2004, such that we would not expect to see the wind-driven pulsing of ACC water that occurred in 2002. Age-1 and age-2 pollock were not observed in Barnabus Trough in 2004. Instead, the midwater acoustic backscatter was composed of capelin mixed with age-0 pollock, and these capelin were not restricted to the outer-shelf waters, but were found primarily in warm, low-salinity inner-shelf waters that had been previously occupied exclusively by age-1 and age-2 pollock. We suggest that this is consistent with inner-shelf waters being preferred foraging habitat for juvenile pollock and capelin. Further study of the mechanisms linking climate change with variability in the ACC is needed, as are studies of the potential for competition between juvenile pollock and capelin.



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