The Aleutians and Beyond: Distribution, Size Composition, and Catch Dynamics of the Aleutian Skate Bathyraja aleutica across the North Pacific

• Published in: Animals
• Main Authors: Grigorov, Igor V., Kivva, Kirill K., Orlov, Alexei M.
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI 2022
• Subjects: Article; Bering Sea; Pacific; Kamchatka; Sakhalin; Aleutian Islands
• Online Access: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9774337/; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12243507

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Deep-water skates play an important role as top predators in the North Pacific, yet they are also considered promising targets of bottom-trawl and longline fisheries. Moreover, skates are highly vulnerable to over-fishing due to their very long lifespans, late maturation, small litter size, long incubation period, etc. Despite their ecological and commercial importance, the distribution, basic biological traits, and dynamics of abundance of many deep-water skate species remain poorly understood, information that is critical for their conservation and management. The Aleutian skate Bathyraja aleutica is one of the more common deep-water species and is widely distributed across the North Pacific, but it remains largely understudied. In this paper, we compiled and analyzed long-term data records of the Aleutian skate in the North Pacific from various databases, which revealed new information on its spatial and vertical distribution, size composition, reproductive biology, and interannual catch dynamics. ABSTRACT: The results of long-term (1948–2021) studies on the spatial and vertical distribution, dynamics of abundance, and size composition of the Aleutian skate Bathyraja aleutica in the North Pacific Ocean are presented. Maximum densities of this species were characteristic of the eastern Bering Sea slope, off the central Aleutian Islands, consisting of the Pacific waters off southeastern Kamchatka and the northern Kurils, and northeastern Sakhalin. This species was most abundant at depths of 100–600 m; in the cold months, B. aleutica migrates to greater depths for over-wintering, and in warm months it feeds at shallower depths. Bathyraja aleutica was most common at the bottom, at temperatures around 3 °C. The total length of individuals ranged from 9.6–170 cm, with a predominance of skates with a length of 50–100 cm. Males did not differ significantly from females in body weight and length. The maximum values of the condition factor were typical for the autumn–winter period. Across years, there ...