Habitat suitability models for groundfish in the Gulf of Alaska

Pirtle, Jodi L.; Shotwell, S. Kalei; Zimmermann, Mark; Reid, Jane A.; Golden, Nadine E.

doi:10.1016/j.dsr2.2017.12.005

Cited by 34 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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“…To meet this need, we have been publishing 100 m resolution bathymetry compilations in recent years: AI [3], Cook Inlet (50 m resolution: [16]), Norton Sound [17], and central Gulf of Alaska (GOA, AK, USA) [18]. These bathymetry compilations have been utilized for a variety of fishery research purposes including fish vertical migration [19]; coral and sponge distribution modeling in the AI [20] and GOA [21]; quantifying inshore study sites in the central GOA [22], eastern GOA [23], and bathymetry groundtruthing [24]; bathymetric steering of seafloor current flow [25]; inshore habitat loss [26]; Essential Fish Habitat modeling in the EBS [27], GOA [28,29], and AI [30]; juvenile groundfish habitat suitability models [31]; and capelin (Mallotus villosus) distribution modeling [32].…”

Section: Bathymetry Compilations Oceanographic and Biological Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bathymetry and Canyons of the Eastern Bering Sea Slope

Zimmermann

Prescott

2018

Geosciences

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We created a new, 100 m horizontal resolution bathymetry raster and used it to define 29 canyons of the eastern Bering Sea (EBS) slope area off of Alaska, USA. To create this bathymetry surface we proofed, edited, and digitized 18 million soundings from over 200 individual sources. Despite the vast size (~1250 km long by~3000 m high) and ecological significance of the EBS slope, there have been few hydrographic-quality charting cruises conducted in this area, so we relied mostly on uncalibrated underway files from cruises of convenience. The lack of hydrographic quality surveys, anecdotal reports of features such as pinnacles, and reliance on satellite altimetry data has created confusion in previous bathymetric compilations about the details along the slope, such as the shape and location of canyons along the edge of the slope, and hills and valleys on the adjacent shelf area. A better model of the EBS slope will be useful for geologists, oceanographers, and biologists studying the seafloor geomorphology and the unusually high productivity along this poorly understood seafloor feature.

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Section: Bathymetry Compilations Oceanographic and Biological Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bathymetry and Canyons of the Eastern Bering Sea Slope

Zimmermann

Prescott

2018

Geosciences

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“…Pirtle et al. (in press) found that juvenile Sablefish habitat was predicted to occur in low‐lying areas with little rocky substrate and a low‐gradient slope, including deep main channels of bays. The reference tag detection rate was similar between the two receivers at the mouth (receivers 7 and 8) and between the two at the middle mouth (receivers 5 and 6), suggesting that differences in occupancy for those areas were more likely due to tagged fish traveling along the northern shoreline than a result of acoustic shadowing by rocky habitat along the southern shoreline.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Assessing how juvenile fish use nursery areas may contribute to an understanding of the connection between postsettlement habitat and the population's vital rates (e.g., survival, recruitment, and emigration; Rutecki and Varosi 1997a; Hanselman et al. ; Pirtle et al., in press). One way to assess how juvenile fish use nursery areas is to examine their movements within such habitats.…”

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confidence: 99%

Movement Patterns of Juvenile Sablefish within a Nursery Area in Southeast Alaska

2018

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The Sablefish Anoplopoma fimbria is a commercially important species that inhabits waters of the Pacific Ocean from Baja California, Mexico, to the Bering Sea, Alaska. Most studies have focused on the larval, neustonic (near-surface) juvenile, or adult stage of the Sablefish life cycle, while much less is known about the postsettlement juvenile stage (ages 0-2) in nearshore nursery areas, even though survival of postsettlement juveniles is thought to be important for determining year-class strength. We used acoustic telemetry to monitor movement of postsettlement juvenile Sablefish in a nursery area in Alaska to better describe their period of nearshore residency. Forty juvenile Sablefish received surgically implanted acoustic transmitters and were monitored using eight fixed receivers throughout the summer and fall of 2015 and 2016 in a small bay (St. John Baptist Bay) in Southeast Alaska. We quantified movement patterns in terms of displacement from the head of the bay, distance traveled, and duration of time spent within the bay for 28 individuals. Sablefish showed fidelity to the bay during the summer, with relatively high rates of movement within the bay. Juvenile Sablefish traveled 9.4 km/d and spent 20.2 h/d within the bay on average in 2015 and traveled 13.0 km/d and spent 17.9 h/d within the bay on average in 2016. Tagged Sablefish showed the greatest affinity for a region near the head of the bay, perhaps indicating an area of preferred habitat, prey resources, or environmental conditions. In addition, we assessed variation in horizontal movements among individuals and identified three distinct movement types. This study fills a gap in knowledge of Sablefish early life history by characterizing movement during nearshore residency before out-migration into deeper waters. Our results *Corresponding author: rhea.ehresmann@alaska.gov Received February 12, 2018; accepted June 27, 2018 This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made. Estuarine and coastal ecosystems have long been recognized as nursery grounds for crustaceans and fishes (Herke 1971;Weinstein 1979;Boesch and Turner 1984;Beck et al. 2001). Nursery habitats support ecological processes that contribute to recruitment success by improving growth and survival of juveniles, such as providing refuge habitat from predators, food resources, and favorable environmental conditions at a range of spatial and temporal scales (Heck et al. 2003;Nagelkerken et al. 2015;Sheaves et al. 2015). Assessing how juvenile fish use nursery areas may contribute to an understanding of the connection between postsettlement habitat and the population's vital rates (e.g., survival, recruitment, and emigration; Rutecki and Varosi 1997a;Hanselman et al. 2015; Pirtle et al., in press). One way to assess how juvenile fish use nursery ar...

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“…Digitizing smooth sheet shorelines and combining them with the smooth sheet soundings allowed shore-to-shore bathymetric descriptions of small study sites in the central Gulf of Alaska [26], the eastern Gulf of Alaska [27], and verification of smooth sheet data quality [28] for the Gulf of Alaska Integrated Ecosystem Research Project (GOA-IERP: https://www.nprb.org/gulf-of-alaska-project/about-the-project/). The GOA-IERP also produced maps of juvenile fish habitat [29], capelin (Mallotus villosus) habitat [30], and bathymetric steering of water currents in canyons [31] by using our improved CGOA bathymetry [12]. Detailed analysis of historical and recent smooth sheets from the Chignik area of the WGOA demonstrated significant inshore shallowing of some bays over a 70-year period, possibly due to redeposition of volcanic ash in eelgrass (Zostera marina) beds [32].…”

Section: Biological Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bathymetry and Geomorphology of Shelikof Strait and the Western Gulf of Alaska

2019

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We defined the bathymetry of Shelikof Strait and the western Gulf of Alaska (WGOA) from the edges of the land masses down to about 7000 m deep in the Aleutian Trench. This map was produced by combining soundings from historical National Ocean Service (NOS) smooth sheets (2.7 million soundings); shallow multibeam and LIDAR (light detection and ranging) data sets from the NOS and others (subsampled to 2.6 million soundings); and deep multibeam (subsampled to 3.3 million soundings), single-beam, and underway files from fisheries research cruises (9.1 million soundings). These legacy smooth sheet data, some over a century old, were the best descriptor of much of the shallower and inshore areas, but they are superseded by the newer multibeam and LIDAR, where available. Much of the offshore area is only mapped by non-hydrographic single-beam and underway files. We combined these disparate data sets by proofing them against their source files, where possible, in an attempt to preserve seafloor features for research purposes. We also attempted to minimize bathymetric data errors so that they would not create artificial seafloor features that might impact such analyses. The main result of the bathymetry compilation is that we observe abundant features related to glaciation of the shelf of Alaska during the Last Glacial Maximum including abundant end moraines, some medial moraines, glacial lineations, eskers, iceberg ploughmarks, and two types of pockmarks. We developed an integrated onshore–offshore geomorphic map of the region that includes glacial flow directions, moraines, and iceberg ploughmarks to better define the form and flow of former ice masses.

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Habitat suitability models for groundfish in the Gulf of Alaska

Cited by 34 publications

References 55 publications

Bathymetry and Canyons of the Eastern Bering Sea Slope

Bathymetry and Canyons of the Eastern Bering Sea Slope

Movement Patterns of Juvenile Sablefish within a Nursery Area in Southeast Alaska

Bathymetry and Geomorphology of Shelikof Strait and the Western Gulf of Alaska

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