Biology of the Pacific Pomfret (Brama japonica) in the North Pacific Ocean

• Main Authors: William G. Pearcy, Joseph P. Fisher, Mary M. Yoklavich
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Gulf of Alaska; Pacific; Brama; Subarctic; Alaska
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.488.9446; http://swfsc.noaa.gov/publications/cr/1993/9367.pdf

Abundances of Pacific pomfret (Brarna japonica), an epipelagic fish of the North Pacific Ocean, were estimated from gillnet catches during the summers of 1978-1 989. Two size modes were common: small pomfret <1 yr old, and large fish ages 1-6. Large and small fish moved northward as temperatures increased, but large fish migrated farther north, often into the cool, low-salinity waters of the Central Subarctic Pacific. Lengths of small fish were positively correlated with latitude and negatively correlated with summer surface temperature. Interannual variations in the latitude of catches correlated with surface temperatures. Large catches were made in the eastern Gulf of Alaska (51-55"N) but modes of small pomfret were absent here, and large fish were rare at these latitudes farther to the west. Pomfret grow rapidly during their first two years of life. They are pectoral fin swimmers that swim continuously. They prey largely on gonatid squids in the region ofthe Subarctic Current in the Gulf of Alaska during summer. No evidence was found for aggregations on a scale 51 km. Differences in the incidence of tapeworm, spawning seasons, and size distributions suggest the possibility of discrete populations in the North Pacific Ocean. L'abondance de la casthagnole mince (Brarna japonica), un poisson epipelagique du Pacifique nord, a et6 estimk P partir des prises par filets maillants des et & 1978 P 1989. Deux classes de taille etaient comrnunement trouv&s: la petite casthagnole de moins de 1 an et la grande de 1 6 ans. Les uns comme les autres migrent vers le nord a