Density‐independent and density‐dependent factors affecting temporal changes in spatial distributions of eastern Bering Sea flatfish

• Published in: Fisheries Oceanography
• Main Author: SPENCER, PAUL D.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2008
• Subjects: Bering Sea; Greenland; Turbot; Alaska
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2419.2008.00486.x; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1365-2419.2008.00486.x; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1365-2419.2008.00486.x

Abstract The general warming of the eastern Bering Sea (EBS) and the wide range of abundance exhibited by several eastern Bering Sea flatfish motivated an examination of how density‐dependent and density‐independent factors may influence the spatial distributions of EBS flatfish. In this study, EBS trawl survey data from 1982 to 2006 were used to examine how temporal changes in the distributions of six flatfish species groups [yellowfin sole ( Limanda aspera ), rock sole ( Lepidopsetta sp.), flathead sole ( Hippoglossoides sp.), Alaska plaice ( Pleuronectes quadrituberculatus ), arrowtooth flounder ( Atheresthes sp.), and Greenland turbot ( Reinhardtius hippoglossoides )] are related to temporal changes in the location of the ‘cold pool’ (bottom water < 2°C), and how the area occupied by flatfish are related to the cold pool and population abundance. Rock sole and flathead sole distributions have generally moved northwest since 1982 and are significantly correlated with the movement of the cold pool, whereas arrowtooth flounder avoid the cold pool and their area occupied is inversely related to the size of the cold pool. The area occupied by arrowtooth flounder and rock sole are also significantly related to stock abundance. Multivariate statistical models indicate that the location of rock sole is more strongly related to stock abundance than to the cold pool, whereas the area occupied by arrowtooth flounder is more strongly related to the area of the cold pool rather than abundance. The temperatures occupied by several flatfish stocks indicate a substantial variability in suitable temperatures. These results suggest that a complex suite of density‐dependent and density‐independent factors may determine the response of EBS flatfish spatial distributions to increasing temperatures.