Spatial Analysis Using Observer Data in the Aleutian Islands and Bering Sea Prepared for Alaska Marine Conservation Council Prepared by Ecotrust

• Main Authors: Rockfish Bycatch, Charles Steinback, Sarah Klain
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2006
• Subjects: in the Aleutian Islands and Bering Sea; Bering Sea; Pacific; Alaska; Aleutian Islands
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.547.8091; http://www.akmarine.org/publications/AMCC_Ecotrust_GIS_Rockfish_Bycatch_Report_2006.pdf

North Pacific rockfish, marine fish belonging to the genera Sebastes and Sebastolobus, share unique biological and life history traits. The biological characteristics of rockfish, including longevity, high age at maturity, habitat preferences, and physiology, elevate their susceptibility to localized depletion and over-harvest. The collapse of rockfish populations off the Pacific coast of California, Oregon, and Washington have heightened concerns about the effects of fishing on rockfish populations. In Alaska, no rockfish species are designated as overfished, but high rates of rockfish bycatch, localized depletion, and over-harvest have the potential to threaten rockfish populations. For example, reproductively isolated populations could be overfished inside a region or sub-area, such as the Aleutian Islands, without exceeding the overfishing level of the broader management area. Similarly, there is the risk of overfishing individual species that are managed as part of a species group, while the complex catch as a whole remains within allowable catch guidelines. In the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI), NOAA Fisheries and the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) manage twelve rockfish species. Pacific ocean