halibut test clickable | Integrated Ecosystem Assessment

Predators

Sharks and Steller sea lions are significant predators of juvenile and adult halibut. Steller sea lion, are notorious for preying upon halibut that are hooked on the setline fishing gear.

References:

Aydin, K., Gaichas, S., Ortiz, I., Kinzey, D., & Friday, N. 2007. A comparison of the Bering Sea, Gulf of Alaska, and Aleutian Islands large marine ecosystems through food web modeling. U.S. Dep. Commer., NOAA Tech. Memo. Report NMFS-AFSC-178. Seattle, WA. p. 298.

Gaichas, S. K., Aydin, K. Y., & Francis, R. C. 2010. Using food web model results to inform stock assessment estimates of mortality and production for ecosystem-based fisheries management. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 67(9):1490-1506.

Best, E. A. & St.Pierre, G. 1986. Pacific halibut as predator and prey. International Pacific Halibut Commission, Technical Report No. 21. Seattle, WA. p. 27.

Competitors

Competition is a biological interaction where organisms compete for a limited supply of a resource, therefore, it may affect entire marine populations. Important halibut competitors include pyrosomes, squids and arrowtooth. Pyrosomes have a very high filtration rate that may reduce phytoplankton biomass locally. Similarly, halibut larvae and juvenile compete for zooplankton with squid. Arrowtooth is an important predator in the Gulf of Alaska and feeds on a variety of fish including the main prey of adult halibut.

References:

Archer, S. K., Kahn, A. S., Leys, S. P., Norgard, T., Girard, F., Du Preez, C., & Dunham, A. 2018. Pyrosome consumption by benthic organisms during blooms in the northeast Pacific and Gulf of Mexico. Ecology 99(4):981-984.

Brodeur, R., Perry, I., Boldt, J., Flostrand, L., Galbraith, M., King, J., Murphy, J., Sakuma, K., & Thompson, A. 2018. An unusual gelatinous plankton event in the NE Pacific: The Great Pyrosome Bloom of 2017. PICES Press 26(1):22-27.

Shaul, L. D. & Geiger, H. J. 2016. Effects of Climate and Competition for Offshore Prey on Growth, Survival, and Reproductive Potential of Coho Salmon in Southeast Alaska. North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission Bulletin 6:329-347.

Yang, M. 1993. Food habits of the commercially important groundfishes in the Gulf of Alaska in 1990. US Department of Commerce, NOAA Tech. Memo. Report NMFS-AFSC-22. Seattle, WA. p. 159.

Prey

Prey for Juvenile Halibut: Juvenile halibut prey mainly consists of crab, shrimp, sand lance and capelin

Prey for Adult Halibut: Adult halibut eat octopus, squid, and a variety of fish such as salmon, pollock, cod, herring, sablefish and rockfish.

References:

Best, E. A. & St.Pierre, G. 1986. Pacific halibut as predator and prey. International Pacific Halibut Commission, Technical Report No. 21. Seattle, WA. p. 27.

Yang, M. & Nelson, M. W. 2000. Food habits of the commercially important groundfishes in the Gulf of Alaska in 1990, 1993, and 1996. NOAA Tech. Memo NMFS-AFSC 112. Seattle, WA. p. 174.

Juvenile and Larval Halibut

Juvenile Halibut: A extreme metamorphosis happens between larvae and juveniles. Young fish developed at about six months old and already have the characteristic of the adult form. Juveniles settle to the bottom in shallow inshore areas. At the age of two, they start moving offshore again.

Larvae Halibut: Halibut eggs hatch 15 to 20 days after fertilization, depending on temperature. The eggs and larvae drift in deep ocean currents. As the larvae grow they move towards the surface and drift to shallower waters on the continental shelf. Postlarvae are transported by the Alaskan Stream and Alaska Coastal Current.

References:

International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC). 2019. Stock Status and Biology. https://www.iphc.int/ (Accessed 12/21/2018).

Food security/food/nutrition/cultural heritage/family connection/education

A halibut is filleted on shore. Alaska's vast and often remote landscape makes access to food a critical issue that most communities struggle with, relying on delivery by barge, ferry, or plane with intermittent service that results in expensive and often low quality food. Many Alaskans therefore rely on foraging and subsistence hunting and fishing, including for halibut, to provide food for their families. Barter and sharing networks distribute these foods throughout the community, which is especially critical for ensuring elders have access to these resources - a deeply rooted cultural tradition for Alaska Natives.

References:

Burke, T., Durr, M. C., & Coalition, A. F. (2013). The importance of local foods in mitigating poverty–related food insecurity in rural Southcentral and Southeastern Alaska. Anchorage, AK: University of Alaska Anchorage.[cited 2013 Dec] Available from: http://srdc. msstate. edu/ridge/projects/previous/00_final_dec13_tkburke. pdf.

Sill, Lauren and David Koster. 2013. The harvest and use of wild resources in Sitka, Alaska, 2013. Alaska Department of Fish and Game Division of Subsistence, Technical Paper No. 423, Douglas.

http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/techpap/TP423.pdf

http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/static/home/subsistence/pdfs/food_security_whitepaper.pdf

Sense of Place/ Community

A woman puts bait on a longline into a bucket that sits on the boat until the fishing grounds are reached. A variety of user groups participate in halibut fishing - commercial, recreational, and subsistence. In coastal communities, you can tell what fisheries are taking place by the activity on the docks. This activity builds social relationships within communities but also shows how individual and community identities are tied to a way a life and the marine environment. The largest economic driver for Sitka is the seafood industry, which supports several processing plants and a robust local commercial fishing fleet that is the largest in Southeast Alaska. Subsistence and recreational fisheries in the community are also critically important to many residents, and all of these intersect across Sitka's multiple harbors.

References:

Holen, D. (2014). Fishing for community and culture: the value of fisheries in rural Alaska. Polar Record, 50(4), 403-413.

Dombrowski, K. (2007). Subsistence livelihood, native identity and internal differentiation in Southeast Alaska. Anthropologica, 211-229.

Fey, M., S. Weidlich, N. Leuthold, R. Ames, and M. Downs. 2016. Fishing Communities of Alaska Engaged in Federally Managed Fisheries. North Pacific Fishery Management Council, Anchorage, Alaska, USA.

Sitka Economic Development Association (SEDA). 2017. Sitka, Alaska Community Profile 2017. SEDA Brochure, Sitka, Alaska, USA.

Subsistence fishing/Food security

A family hauls a halibut onto a skiff. Halibut have been harvested in Alaska for centuries. Alaska Natives traditionally fished for halibut with ornately carved hooks made from bone or wood. Similar to the commercial fishery, subsistence halibut are harvested using longlines (or skates) with baited hooks that sit on the seafloor. Subsistence halibut fishing serves an important role not just in terms of food, but in providing opportunities for families to spend time together on the water, passing down their traditions and values to future generations.

References:

http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=halibut.uses

https://alaskafisheries.noaa.gov/fisheries/sharc-faq

Secondary producers

Zooplankton is the available energy source for newly hatched fish larvae and fish juveniles and has a pivotal role in survival and recruitment. Zooplankton abundance and distribution is influenced by biological (e.g., predation, concentration of phytoplankton) and physical factors (e.g., fresh water input, local current patterns, winds that mix the water column). The main zooplankton-based food source for larvae and juvenile halibut are amphipods, krill, euphasiids, and copepods

References:

Spies, R. B. 2007. Long-term ecological change in the Northern Gulf of Alaska. Elsevier. Oxford, UK. p. 589.

McKinstry, C. A. & Campbell, R. W. 2017. Seasonal variation of zooplankton abundance and community structure in Prince William Sound, Alaska, 2009-2016. Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography 147: 69-78.

Primary Producer

Primary producers are a group of free-living microscopic organisms called phytoplankton which is the base of life in the ocean. Phytoplankton include photosynthetic organisms such as diatoms, cyanobacterias, dinoflagellates and coccolithophores. They are the main food source for secondary producers (zooplankton)

References:

Arimitsu, M. L., Piatt, J. F., & Mueter, F. 2016. Influence of glacier runoff on ecosystem structure in Gulf of Alaska fjords. Marine Ecology Progress Series 560:19-40.

Spies, R. B. 2007. Long-term ecological change in the Northern Gulf of Alaska. Elsevier. Oxford, UK. p. 589.

Stabeno, P., Bond, N., Hermann, A., Kachel, N., Mordy, C., & Overland, J. 2004. Meteorology and oceanography of the Northern Gulf of Alaska. Continental Shelf Research 24(7-8):859-897.

Weingartner, T., Eisner, L., Eckert, G. L., & Danielson, S. 2009. Southeast Alaska: oceanographic habitats and linkages. Journal of Biogeography 36(3):387-400.

Crawford, W. R., Brickley, P. J., & Thomas, A. C. 2007. Mesoscale eddies dominate surface phytoplankton in northern Gulf of Alaska. Progress in Oceanography 75(2):287-303.

Etherington, L. L., Hooge, P. N., Hooge, E. R., & Hill, D. F. 2007. Oceanography of Glacier Bay, Alaska: implications for biological patterns in a glacial fjord estuary. Estuaries and Coasts 30(6):927-944.

Adult Halibut

Pacific halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepis) is the largest flatfish in the world and one of the most important commercial, subsistence and recreational fisheries for communities of Southeast Alaska. Adult Pacific halibut are found on the continental shelf and live on or near the bottom. They are most often caught in depths ranging between 30 and 270 m. They spawn during winter in deeper waters and may return for feeding in shallow coastal waters during summer.

References:

Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC). 2016. Community Snapshots. Sitka. Online at https://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/read/socialsci/afsc/createReport.php?state=AK&community=Sitka (Accessed 08/08/2018).

International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC). 2019. Stock Status and Biology. https://www.iphc.int/ (Accessed 12/21/2018).

Himes-Cornell, A. H., Hoelting, K. R., Maguire, C., Munger-Little, L., Lee, J., Fisk, J., Felthoven, R. G., Geller, C., & Little, P. 2013. Community Profiles for North Pacific Fisheries-Alaska. U.S. Dep. Commer., NOAA Tech. Memo. Report NMFS-AFSC-259. Seattle, WA. p. 5283.

Wolfe, R. J. 2004. Local traditions and subsistence: A synopsis from twenty-five years of research by the State of Alaska. Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Subsistence. Juneau, AK. p. 89.

Water temperature

Warmer water temperatures might be related to shorter times of hatching and increased survival. Warm year anomalies occuring during events such as ENSO or stron Aleutian Lows are associated with recruitment strength.

References:

Bailey, K. M. & Picquelle, S. J. 2002. Larval distribution of offshore spawning flatfish in the Gulf of Alaska: potential transport pathways and enhanced onshore transport during ENSO events. Marine Ecology Progress Series 236:205-217.

Hollowed, A. B., Hare, S. R., & Wooster, W. S. 2001. Pacific Basin climate variability and patterns of Northeast Pacific marine fish production. Progress in Oceanography 49(1-4):257-282.

Boeing, W. J. & Duffy-Anderson, J. T. 2008. Ichthyoplankton dynamics and biodiversity in the Gulf of Alaska: responses to environmental change. Ecological Indicators 8(3):292-302.

Alaska Current

The Alaska Current, that flows northwards, accelerates at the head of the GOA to form the Alaskan Stream that flows along the continental slope. Flow on the GOA continental shelf is dominated by the Alaska Coastal Current, a coastal current that is mediated by downwelling favourable winds and freshwater input from streams along the coastline. Drift and survival of halibut eggs and larvae, migration and growth of juveniles and adults, all depend on the Alaska Coastal Current. Ocean variability is an important factor in the year-to-year changes in fish stock recruitment. For example storms events, high freshwater discharched, and wind stress fluctuations may enhance or modify cross-shelf and along- shore transport and migration.

References:

Heim, P. K., Johnson, M. A. & O'Brien, J. J. 1992. The influence of the Alaskan Gyre on the coastal circulation in the Gulf of Alaska. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans 97(C11):17765-17775.

Reed, R.K. & Schumacher, J.D. 1986. Current measurements along the shelf break in the Gulf of Alaska. Journal of Physical Oceanography 16: 1985-1990.

Spies, R. B. 2007. Long-term ecological change in the Northern Gulf of Alaska. Elsevier. Oxford, UK. p. 589.

Stabeno, P., Bond, N., Hermann, A., Kachel, N., Mordy, C., & Overland, J. 2004. Meteorology and oceanography of the Northern Gulf of Alaska. Continental Shelf Research 24(7-8):859-897.

Freshwater Input

Alongshore and cross-shelf transport of juvenile halibut may be enhanced by fresh water input. Success in this process of arriving at suitable inshore nurseries could play a role in recruitment variability. Differences in precipitation contribute to variations in the stratification of water in the ACC. These baroclinic instabilities generate eddies (gyres) on the shelf that are also important in the trasport of nutrients, zooplankton and ichthyoplankton.

References:

Bailey, K. M., Abookire, A. A., & Duffy-Anderson, J. T. 2008. Ocean transport paths for the early life history stages of offshore spawning flatfishes: a case study in the Gulf of Alaska. Fish and Fisheries 9(1):44-66.

Doyle, M. J., Picquelle, S. J., Mier, K. L., Spillane, M. C., & Bond, N. A. 2009. Larval fish abundance and physical forcing in the Gulf of Alaska, 1981-2003. Progress in Oceanography 80(3-4):163-187.

Sitka Eddy

The Sitka eddy is a well-developed anticyclonic baroclinic oceanographic feature that has a pivotal role in exporting chlorophyll from the shelf and transporting oceanic (nutrient-rich) waters onshore due to its spinning motion.

References:

Crawford, W. R., Brickley, P. J., & Thomas, A. C. 2007. Mesoscale eddies dominate surface phytoplankton in northern Gulf of Alaska. Progress in Oceanography 75(2):287-303.

Ladd, C., Stabeno, P., & Cokelet, E. 2005. A note on cross-shelf exchange in the northern Gulf of Alaska. Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography 52(5-6):667-679.

Stabeno, P., Bond, N., Hermann, A., Kachel, N., Mordy, C., & Overland, J. 2004. Meteorology and oceanography of the Northern Gulf of Alaska. Continental Shelf Research 24(7-8):859-897.

Whitney, F., Crawford, W., & Harrison, P. 2005. Physical processes that enhance nutrient transport and primary productivity in the coastal and open ocean of the subarctic NE Pacific. Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography 52(5-6):681-706.

Commercial fishing

A halibut longliner returns from a fishing trip into Sitka harbor. Many individuals, families, and communities are dependent upon commercial halibut fishing throughout Alaska. For the community of Sitka, halibut represents the second most important commercially harvested species for local fishermen in terms of revenue. Longlining is the harvest method for halibut, where the fishermen set a long line of baited hooks that sits on the seafloor to attract the fish. The annual halibut harvest limits are set by a bilateral commission known as the International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC), which coordinates stock assessment for the U.S. and Canada, and the U.S. fishery is managed by the National Marine Fisheries Service.

References:

NPFMC/NMFS. 2016. Twenty-year review of the Pacific halibut and sablefish Individual Fishing Quota Management Program. Available online: https://www.npfmc.org/wp-content/PDFdocuments/halibut/IFQProgramReview_417.pdf

https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/pacific-halibut#resources

Search form