Fish Communities of the Upper Epipelagic Layer of the Bering Sea during the Period of Anadromous and Catadromous Migrations of Pacific Salmon

• Main Authors: Oleg A. Ivanov, Igor I. Glebov, Er N. Starovoytov
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Fish communities; biomass; salmon; comparative trawling; Bering Sea; Pacific
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.502.1894; http://www.npafc.org/new/publications/Technical Report/TR6/page 114-116(Ivanov).pdf

In accordance with the BASIS program, expeditionary research on the upper epipelagic layers (0–50 m) of the western Bering Sea was carried out by scientists aboard the RV TINRO in autumn 2002–2003 and summer 2003. The methods of our investigations are reported by Temnykh et al. (2002). Here, we use trawl catch data from the TINRO surveys to describe the species composition of upper epipelagic fish communities during the period of salmon migrations in the western Bering Sea. In addition, we analyze the results of joint trawl fishing operations by Russian, Japanese, and U.S. vessels in autumn 2002, and discuss a number of methodological problems revealed by our findings. In autumn, the number of fish species composing upper epipelagic communities was the same in 2002 and 2003 (48 species; 23–28 families; Table 1). However, the qualitative composition of species in these years was slightly different. The coefficient of Serensen-Chekanovsky, which is often used for comparing the qualitative composition of fauna (Kafanov and Kudryashov 2000), was 0.79. In summer 2003, the composition of upper epipelagic communities consisted of 52 species of fish and other nekton. This composition was only slightly different than in