NOAA Technical Memorandum
NMFS-AFSC-88
Catch-per-unit-effort, length, and depth distributions of major groundfish and bycatch species in the Bering Sea, Aleutian Islands, and Gulf of Alaska regions based on groundfish fishery observer data
Abstract
The identification and description of essential fish habitat (EFH) for fish species managed under fishery management plans (FMPs) is a requirement of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1996. Groundfish species off Alaska are managed under two FMPs, one covering the Bering Sea-Aleutian Islands (BSAI) region and another the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This report summarizes data collected by groundfish fishery observers from 1973-96 that may be useful in the identification and description of EFH for adult and juvenile life stages of groundfish and various species caught as bycatch. Length-frequency and depth distributions of groundfish species in commercial catches are provided in graphical form. As an index of relative spatial distribution, groundfish catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE) is displayed on a series of charts covering the BSAI and GOA regions.
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