Atka Mackerel Research
Atka mackerel (Pleurogrammus monopterygius) is
a schooling, semi-demersal species distributed from the east coast of
the Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia, throughout the Komandorskiye and Aleutian
Islands, north to the Pribilof Islands, and eastward through the Gulf
of Alaska to Southeast Alaska. Their center of abundance has been in
the Aleutian Islands region, particularly from Buldir Island to Sequam Pass.
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Atka mackerel begin to recruit to the fishery at age 2 and many survive
to 14 years. Fifty percent of the female population is estimated to have
reached maturity at 31 cm (about 3.6 years old). Atka mackerel
migrate from the shelf edge to shallow coastal waters (5-30 m) to spawn.
Spawning occurs in July -September along the Aleutian Islands. Eggs are
adhesive and deposited in rock crevices. These nest are guarded by the
males until hatching, which occurs about 40-45 days later. Atka mackerel
eat copepods and euphausiids and, in turn, are prey
for other fish, seabirds,
Steller
sea lions, and other marine mammals.
The patterns of the Atka mackerel fishery generally reflect the behavior
the the species:
- the fishery is highly localized and usually occurs in the same few locations each year
- the schooling semi-demersal nature of the species makes if particularly
susceptible to trawl gear fished on the bottom
- trawling occurs almost exclusively at depths less than 200 m.
Atka mackerel are a very difficult fish to survey because:
- they do not have a swim bladder, making them poor targets for hydroacoustic surveys
- they prefer hard, rough and rock bottom which makes sampling with
standard survey bottom trawl gear difficult
- their schooling behavior and patchy distribution make the species susceptible to
large variances in catches, which greatly affect area-swept estimates of biomass
During 2006, pollock made up 71.4% of the average groundfish catch off Alaska. The pollock catch for 2006 was 1.56 million metric tons (t), down approximately 0.4% from 2005.
The next major species, Pacific cod, accounted for 239,427 t or 10.9% of the total 2006 groundfish catch. The Pacific cod catch was down about 5.4% from a year earlier.
The 2006 catch of flatfish, which includes yellowfin sole, rock sole, and arrowtooth flounder was 231,343 t, up about 10.1% from 2005.
Other important species are sablefish (0.7%), rockfish (1.9%), and Atka mackerel (2.9%).
- LAUTH, R. R., S. W. McENTIRE, and H. H. ZENGER, Jr.
2007. Geographic distribution, depth range, and description of Atka mackerel Pleurogrammus monopterygius nesting habitat in Alaska. Alaska Fish. Res. Bull. 12:165-186. (.pdf, 4.8MB). Online.
- LAUTH, R. R., and D. M. BLOOD.
2007. Description of embryonic development of Atka mackerel (Pleurogrammus monopterygius). Fish. Bull., U.S. 105:571–576. (.pdf, 538KB). Online.
- LAUTH, R. R., J. GUTHRIDGE, D. NICHOL, S. W. McENTIRE, and N. HILLGRUBER.
2007. Timing and duration of mating and brooding periods of Atka mackerel (Pleurogrammus monopterygius) in the North Pacific Ocean. Fish. Bull., U.S. 105:560-570. (.pdf, 710KB). Online.
- NICHOL, D.
2007. Archival tagging of Atka mackerel, Pacific cod, and flatfish in the Aleutians, Gulf of Alaska, and eastern Bering Sea, p. 41-42. In P. Sheridan, J. W. Ferguson, and S. L. Dowling (editors), Report of the National Marine Fisheries Service Workshop on Advancing Electronic Tag Technologies and Their Use in Stock Assessments. U.S. Dep. Commer., NOAA Tech. Memo. NMFS-F/SPO-82.
- Atka Mackerel Reproductive Biology (NPRB Proj. 522) Spatial and Temporal Variation in Atka Mackerel (Pleurogrammus monopterygius) Female Maturity
By: DANIEL COOPER, SUSANNE McDERMOTT
Conference: Alaska Marine Science Symposium, Anchorage, AK, Jan 2006
(2006 poster, .pdf, 312KB) Online.
- NPRB Project R0417: Reproductive Ecology of Atka Mackerel - Patterns in Atka Mackerel Small Scale Distribution and Variation in Maturity Schedule
By: DANIEL COOPER, SUSANNE McDERMOTT
Conference: Alaska Marine Science Symposium, Anchorage, AK, Jan 2005
(2005 poster, .pdf, 1.3MB) Online.
- Related AFSC research program reports and activities: Atka mackerel
- Additional publications, posters, and reports.
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(Source: 2005 North
Pacific Groundfish Stock Assessment and Fishery Evaluation Reports for 2006.)
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