Project Title: Ontogenetic patterns of abundance and distribution of Pacific halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepis) and Greenland halibut (Reinhardtius hippoglossoides) in canyon and slope habitats of the eastern

• Main Authors: Bering Sea, Prof Lorenzo Ciannelli
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: festival; and will share results from our research with the public in general (from children to adults) throu; Bering Sea; Greenland; Pacific
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.495.4287; http://doc.nprb.org/web/09_prjs/905_app1_web.pdf

Bering Sea canyons: comparison between canyon and slope habitats using existing data Summary of Proposed Work: We investigate differences between canyon and slope habitat utilization of Pacific halibut (PH; Hippoglossus stenolepis) and Greenland halibut (GH; Reinhardtius hippoglossoides) in the eastern Bering Sea (EBS). We test four hypotheses: (1) canyons are the preferred spawning habitat for PH and GH, (2) PH and GH males are more abundant in canyon regions, while females are more abundant in the slope regions during summer, (3) successful PH and GH settlers cross the boundary between shelf and slope through canyons, and (4) inter-annual variability of environmental conditions may differentially affect PH and GH settlement success. We will evaluate abundance, distribution patterns, and sex-specific size composition of PH and GH in canyon and slope regions of the EBS using existing data from the AlaskaFisheriesScienceCenter and International Pacific Halibut Commission databases. In addition, we model depth-discrete currents to determine dispersal of PH and GH larvae from canyon regions to settling locations in the EBS using DisMELS (Dispersal Model for Early Life Stages), a coupled biophysical individual-based model developed at the AlaskaFisheriesScienceCenter. Collectively, the results of our study are expected to provide insights on habitat utilization for two commercially important and slope-associated species of the EBS.