NOAA Technical Memorandum
NMFS-AFSC-156
Results of the 2004 Eastern Bering Sea Upper Continental Slope Survey of Groundfish and Invertebrate Resources
Abstract
The results of the 2004 Alaska Fisheries Science Center’s (AFSC) bottom trawl survey of the groundfish and invertebrate resources of the eastern Bering Sea upper continental slope (BSS) is presented. The 2004 BSS survey is the second biennial groundfish survey standardized to the AFSC’s latest technologies and protocols for survey design, net design, catch data gathering, species identification and recognition, and net mensuration monitoring.
Two hundred and forty survey bottom trawls were conducted from 200 to 1,200 m on the slope with 231 tows being successful and used for abundance estimates. The survey area stretched from north of the Aleutian Islands, Alaska, at 54E N to near the Russian-U.S. border at 61E N. Sampling was stratified by six subareas running north to south and by five depth strata within each subarea. Target sampling effort was proportional to the area (km2) in each subarea and depth strata. An average tow represented a mean sampling density of one tow per an approximate 162 km2.
This report provides estimates of biomass in metric tons (t), population, and catch per unit effort(CPUE; no./ha and kg/ha) for all species identified on the survey. Size frequencies (39 species) and CPUE distribution (40 species) plots are presented for the most abundant or for species of commercial and ecological interest.
The largest survey total catch weights of fish and invertebrate species encountered during the 2004 slope survey included; giant grenadier (Albatrossia pectoralis), Pacific ocean perch (Sebastes alutus), walleye pollock (Theragra chalcogramma), arrowtooth flounder (Atheresthes stomias), popeye grenadier (Coryphaenoides cinereus), sea cucumber (Parastichopus leucothele), the triangle Tanner crab (Chionoecetes angulatus), and the notched brittle star (Ophiura sarsi).
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