NOAA Technical Memorandum
NMFS-AFSC-31
The groundfish resources of the Aleutian Islands region and southern Bering Sea 1980, 1983, and 1986
Abstract
During the summer and fall of 1980, 1983, and 1986, the National Marine Fisheries Service and the Fisheries Agency of Japan conducted comprehensive trawl surveys of the groundfish resources of the Aleutian Islands. The survey area included the continental shelf and upper slope from Stalemate Bank to Unimak Pass, including Bowers Ridge and a portion of the southern Bering Sea.
The major objectives of these surveys were to define the distribution and abundance of commercial groundfish species and to assess changes in stock abundance and biological conditions over the 6-year survey period. Results of each of these yearly surveys include distribution information, biomass and population estimates, size and age composition, and length weight data for most species of commercial fish. This paper presents and compares the data from each of the three surveys.
The average total biomass estimate for the three surveys was 2.4 million metric tons. Fish made up over 96% of this biomass, and included 161 species representing 40 families. Nineteen species made up over 90% of the total available biomass. Accounting for 23% of the available biomass, walleye pollock (Theragra chalcogramma) with a similar biomass estimate each year was the most abundant species. Giant grenadier (Albatrossia pectoralis), a non-utilized species was the second most abundant species with an increasing biomass which accounted for 18% of the available resource. The other abundant species were Atka mackerel (Pleurogrammus monopterygius), Pacific ocean perch (Sebastes alutus), and Pacific cod (Gadus macrocephalus), accounting for 16, 8, and 7% of the resource, respectively.
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