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Published: January 26, 2012
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In December, 2011, NOAA Fisheries Alaska Region biologists encountered high winds and 30-foot seas while conducting the first-ever winter sablefish research cruise near Kodiak, Alaska.
Sablefish, also called “black cod,” command some of the highest prices per pound paid to commercial fishers in Alaska, an estimated $100 million dollars per year. Sablefish is prized for its rich and healthy omega-3 oil content and flaky, mild-flavored white flesh. Most of the total world catch of sablefish comes from Alaska.
Sablefish are managed by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council. In Alaskan waters, sablefish populations are healthy and above biomass limits. According to NOAA, fishery managers must have current and reliable estimates of how many females there are in the population that are mature enough to spawn, so they have given this particular sablefish research project the highest priority.
Although NOAA has been conducting maturity observations on sablefish in Alaska since 1979, the research was always conducted during the summer months when maturity is difficult to assess. By conducting the research in winter, when scientists can clearly identify mature females that will spawn during the next annual spawning cycle, scientists will be able to provide the first accurate estimate of the age that female sablefish become reproductively active.
The new study is a joint effort between the Alaska Fisheries Science Center’s Resource Assessment and Conservation Engineering (RACE) and Auke Bay Laboratories (ABL) divisions with support from NOAA’s Alaska Regional Office.
RACE’s Jim Stark is chief scientist for the study and oversaw the 10-day cruise that began December 6 aboard the chartered Fishing Vessel Gold Rush, accompanied by ABL biologist Katy Echave.
The scientists and the Gold Rush crew worked along the continental shelf and gullies south and east of Kodiak Island and in Shelikof Strait, completing 41 bottom trawls in poor weather. The effort meant working long hours, sometimes into evenings or until the next morning.
Stark and Echave collected ovaries from 385 female sablefish representing a size range from 14 to 35 inches (37 to 88cm). They collected data on length, age, weight and anatomical features from each fish and ovary. ABL scientists will also measure the fecundity, which is the number of eggs each female produces.
Since there is very little knowledge of the winter distribution of sablefish preparing to spawn, Echave placed satellite tags on several individual sablefish to monitor their movements during the spawning season over the next few months. These tags are set to pop up to the surface in mid-January and February and transmit their data to a satellite.
Other fishery scientists will use the information collected during the sablefish cruise to determine the spawning stock size and ultimately set sustainable catch levels for Alaska waters.
For more information, visit: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/fishwatch/species/sablefish.htm
source: NOAA Fisheries Alaska Region
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Published: January 26, 2012
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EmailIn December, 2011, NOAA Fisheries Alaska Region biologists encountered high winds and 30-foot seas while conducting the first-ever winter sablefish research cruise near Kodiak, Alaska.
Sablefish, also called “black cod,” command some of the highest prices per pound paid to commercial fishers in Alaska, an estimated $100 million dollars per year. Sablefish is prized for its rich and healthy omega-3 oil content and flaky, mild-flavored white flesh. Most of the total world catch of sablefish comes from Alaska.
Sablefish are managed by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council. In Alaskan waters, sablefish populations are healthy and above biomass limits. According to NOAA, fishery managers must have current and reliable estimates of how many females there are in the population that are mature enough to spawn, so they have given this particular sablefish research project the highest priority.
Although NOAA has been conducting maturity observations on sablefish in Alaska since 1979, the research was always conducted during the summer months when maturity is difficult to assess. By conducting the research in winter, when scientists can clearly identify mature females that will spawn during the next annual spawning cycle, scientists will be able to provide the first accurate estimate of the age that female sablefish become reproductively active.
The new study is a joint effort between the Alaska Fisheries Science Center’s Resource Assessment and Conservation Engineering (RACE) and Auke Bay Laboratories (ABL) divisions with support from NOAA’s Alaska Regional Office.
RACE’s Jim Stark is chief scientist for the study and oversaw the 10-day cruise that began December 6 aboard the chartered Fishing Vessel Gold Rush, accompanied by ABL biologist Katy Echave.
The scientists and the Gold Rush crew worked along the continental shelf and gullies south and east of Kodiak Island and in Shelikof Strait, completing 41 bottom trawls in poor weather. The effort meant working long hours, sometimes into evenings or until the next morning.
Stark and Echave collected ovaries from 385 female sablefish representing a size range from 14 to 35 inches (37 to 88cm). They collected data on length, age, weight and anatomical features from each fish and ovary. ABL scientists will also measure the fecundity, which is the number of eggs each female produces.
Since there is very little knowledge of the winter distribution of sablefish preparing to spawn, Echave placed satellite tags on several individual sablefish to monitor their movements during the spawning season over the next few months. These tags are set to pop up to the surface in mid-January and February and transmit their data to a satellite.
Other fishery scientists will use the information collected during the sablefish cruise to determine the spawning stock size and ultimately set sustainable catch levels for Alaska waters.
For more information, visit: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/fishwatch/species/sablefish.htm
source: NOAA Fisheries Alaska Region
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