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Arrowtooth Flounder Research
Arrowtooth flounder (Atheresthes stomias) are
a relatively large flatfish. At present, data on many basic aspects of arrowtooth
flounder life history such as size and age of sexual maturity are lacking.
However, spawning fish have been observed from December through February. In
Alaska waters, arrowtooth flounder are distributed over the continental shelf
through age 4 and then at older ages disperse to occupy both the continental
shelf and the slope .
Arrowtooth flounder range from central
California to the eastern Bering Sea and currently are the most abundant fish
in the Gulf of Alaska. The huge increase in biomass observed in the 1990s resulted
from strong year-classes produced in the 1980s. Because of their abundance,
arrowtooth flounder are of substantial ecological importance at higher trophic
levels in the Gulf of Alaska food web and have been identified as a significant
food source for Steller sea lions, occurring in their diet 21%-35% of the time
in the area around Kodiak Island. Arrowtooth flounder are also known to be
voracious predators of juvenile walleye pollock.
Little effort has been directed to catching arrowtooth flounder due to the
poor quality of their flesh. Upon landing, a proteolytic enzyme released from
a myxosporean parasite causes softening of the flesh that further limits their
marketability. Recently, several food grade additives have been successfully
used that inhibit enzymatic breakdown. These discoveries have recently enabled
a targeted fishery in the Kodiak Island area for marketable products including
surimi and frozen fillets.
During 2015, pollock made up 67% of the total groundfish catch off Alaska. The pollock catch for 2015 was 1,490,780 metric tons (t), up approximately 3% from 2014.
The 2015 catch of flatfish, which includes yellowfin sole, rock sole and arrowtooth flounder, was 245,860 t or 11% of the total 2015 Alaska groundfish catch, down about 24% from 2014.
Pacific cod accounted for 321,100 t or 14.4% of the total 2015 Alaska groundfish catch. The Pacific cod catch was down about 4% from 2014.
Other important species (% of total 2015 catch and % change from 2014) are: Atka mackerel 54,500 t (2.4%, up 70%),
sablefish 11,690 t (.05%, down 5%), and rockfish 668,660 t (3%, up 6%).
- GUYON, J. R., HV. T. NGUYEN, C.M. GUTHRIE III, J. BONNEY, K. McGAULEY, K. HANSEN, and J. GAUVIN.
2015. Genetic stock composition analysis of Chinook salmon bycatch samples from the rockfish and arrowtooth flounder 2013 Gulf of Alaska trawl fisheries and the Gulf of Alaska salmon excluder device test. U.S. Dep. Commer., NOAA Tech. Memo. NMFS-AFSC-289, 19 p. (.pdf, 816 KB). Online.
- De FOREST, L., J. T. DUFFY-ANDERSON, R. A. HEINTZ, A. C. MATARESE, E. C. SIDDON, T. I. SMART, and I. B. SPIES.
2014. Taxonomy of the early life stages of arrowtooth flounder (Atheresthes stomias) and Kamchatka flounder (A. evermanni) in the eastern Bering Sea, with notes on distribution and condition. Deep-Sea Res. II 109:181-189.
- MARSH, J. M., N. HILLGRUBER, and R. J. FOY.
2012. Temporal and ontogenetic variability in trophic role of four groundfish species -- walleye pollock, Pacific cod, arrowtooth flounder, and Pacific halibut -- around Kodiak Island in the Gulf of Alaska. Trans. Am. Fish. Soc. 141:468-486.
- STARK, J. W.
2012. Female maturity, reproductive potential, relative distribution, and growth compared between arrowtooth flounder (Atheresthes stomias) and Kamchatka flounder (A. evermanni) indicating concerns for management. J. Appl. Ichthyol. 28: 226–230.
- Can Temperature-dependent Egg Development Affect Connectivity Between Spawning Areas and Nursery Grounds for Arrowtooth Flounder (Atheresthes stomias) in the Gulf of Alaska?
By: WILLIAM STOCKHAUSEN, DEBORAH BLOOD, KENNETH COYLE Conference: Alaska Marine Science Symposium, Anchorage, AK, Jan 2015 (2015 poster, .pdf, 3.08 MB) Online. - Energy Allocation of Young of the Year Arrowtooth Flounder in the Gulf of Alaska - a Different Strategy?
By: CASEY DEBENHAM Conference: International Flatfish Symposium (9th), Cle Elum, WA, Nov 2014 (2014 poster, .pdf, 2.2 MB) Online.
- Winter Ichthyoplankton Survey and Arrowtooth Flounder Studies (FOCI, Jan-Mar 2003)
- Incubating
Fertilized Arrowtooth Flounder Eggs (Jan-Mar 2003)
- Additional publications, posters, and reports.
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(Sources:
Groundfish
of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Area: Species Profiles 2001 and the
2005 North Pacific Groundfish Stock
Assessment and Fishery Evaluation Reports for 2006.)
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