Fishery Bulletin articles from October 2002

Fishery Bulletin archives from October 2002

Hybridization between two serranids, the coney (Cephalopholis fulva) and the creole-fish (Paranthias furcifer), at Bermuda *.
October 1, 2002... Abstract--Intergeneric hybridization between the epinepheline serranids Cephalopholis fulva and Paranthias furcifer in waters off Bermuda was investigated by using morphological and molecular characters. Putative hybrids, as well as members of...

Effects of experimental harvest on red sea urchins (Strongylocentrotus franciscanus) in northern Washington.
October 1, 2002... Abstract--Commercial harvest of red sea urchins began in Washington state in 1971. Harvests peaked in the late 1980s and have since declined substantially in Washington and other areas of the U.S. west coast. We studied effects of experimental...

Age and growth of the smooth dogfish (Mustelus canis) in the northwest Atlantic Ocean.
October 1, 2002... Abstract--The northwest Atlantic population of smooth dogfish (Mustelus canis) ranges from Cape Cod, Massachusetts, to South Carolina. Although M. canis is seasonally abundant in this region, very little is known about important aspects of its...

Bycatch of billfishes by the European tuna purse-seine fishery in the Atlantic Ocean.
October 1, 2002... Abstract--Billfishes are a component of offshore ecosystems; thus it is important to quantify the impact of the tuna fishery on these species in the world's ocean. The aim of this study was to assess the bycatch of billfishes generated by the...

Life history of South African snoek, Thyrsites atun (Pisces: Gempylidae): a pelagic predator of the Benguela ecosystem.
October 1, 2002... Abstract--Snoek (Thyrsites atun) is a valuable commercial species and an important predator of small pelagic fishes in the Benguela ecosystem. The South African population attains 50% sexual maturity at a fork length of ca.73.0 cm (3 years)....

Length and age at maturity of female petrale sole (Eopsetta jordani) determined from samples collected prior to spawning aggregation.
October 1, 2002... Abstract--The problem of bias in female petrale sole age and length-at-maturity relationships caused by sampling from spawning aggregations was investigated. Samples were collected prior to aggregation, and histological methods were used to...

The measurement error in marine survey catches: the bottom trawl case.
October 1, 2002... Abstract--We have formulated a model for analyzing the measurement error in marine survey abundance estimates by using data from parallel surveys (trawl haul or acoustic measurement). The measurement error is defined as the component of the...

The reproductive biology of the porbeagle shark (Lamna nasus) in the western North Atlantic Ocean.
October 1, 2002... Abstract--Reproductive organs from 393 male and 382 female porbeagles (Lamna nasus), caught in the western North Atlantic Ocean, were examined to determine size at maturity and reproductive cycle. Males ranged in size from 86 to 246 cm fork...

Integration of submersible transect data and high-resolution multibeam sonar imagery for a habitat-based groundfish assessment of Heceta Bank, Oregon *.
October 1, 2002... Abstract--In the face of dramatic declines in groundfish populations and a lack of sufficient stock assessment information, a need has arisen for new methods of assessing groundfish populations. We describe the integration of seafloor transect...

An examination of spatial and temporal genetic variation in walleye pollock (Theragra chalcogromma) using allozyme, mitochondrial DNA, and microsatellite data *.
October 1, 2002... Abstract--We used allozyme, microsatellite, and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) data to test for spatial and interannual genetic diversity in walleye pollock (Theragra chalcogramma) from six spawning aggregations representing three geographic...

Movements, behavior, and habitat selection of bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus) in the eastern equatorial Pacific, ascertained through archival tags.
October 1, 2002... Abstract--Ninety-six bigeye tuna (88-134 cm fork length) were caught and released with implanted archival (electronic data storage) tags near fish-aggregating devices (FADs) in the equatorial eastern Pacific Ocean (EPO) during April 2000....

An evaluation of back-calculation methodology using simulated otolith data.
October 1, 2002... Abstract--I simulated somatic growth and accompanying otolith growth using an individual-based bioenergetics model in order to examine the performance of several back-calculation methods. Four shapes of otolith radius-total length relations...

Sustainability of elasmobranchs caught as bycatch in a tropical prawn (shrimp) trawl fishery.
October 1, 2002... Abstract--The bycatch of Australia's northern prawn fishery (NPF) comprises 56 elasmobranch species (16 families). The impact of this fishery on the sustainability of these species has not been addressed. We obtained estimates of catch rates...

Age and growth of the swordfish (Xiphias gladius L.) in the waters around Taiwan determined from anal-fin rays.
October 1, 2002... Abstract--Age and growth of the swordfish (Xiphias gladius) in Taiwan waters was studied from counts of growth bands on cross sections of the second ray of the first anal fin. Data on lower jaw fork length and weight, and samples of the anal...

Distribution and co-occurrence of rockfishes (family: Sebastidae) over trawlable shelf and slope habitats of California and southern Oregon.
October 1, 2002... Abstract--The rockfishes of the sebastid genus Sebastes are a very important fishery resource off the coasts of California and southern Oregon. However, many of the 54 managed stocks of west coast rockfish have recently reached historically low...

Properties of the residuals from two tag-recovery models *.
October 1, 2002... Researchers often use multiyear tag-recovery studies to assess fish populations; yet deriving useful stock assessment parameter estimates from the resulting data can be difficult. The reliability of those parameter estimates generally depends...

Preliminary study on the use of neural arches in the age determination of bluntnose sixgill sharks (Hexanchus griseus).
October 1, 2002... Conventional structures used for age determinations of teleost fishes (e.g. fin rays, otoliths, scales) cannot be used for elasmobranchs in which these structures are cartilaginous. However, vertebral centra with systematic deposits of calcium...

Re-identification of a lamnid shark embryo.
October 1, 2002... In August 1903, a 400-500 kg pregnant female lamnid shark was caught in the Strait of Messina, Mediterranean Sea. She was reported to contain 25-30 embryos, one of which was saved and taken to the local Marine Institute, where it was...

Necropsy findings in sea turtles taken as bycatch in the North Pacific longline fishery.
October 1, 2002... Concern about interactions between fisheries and marine turtles has increased in recent years, particularly since East Pacific leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) may become extinct (Spotila et al., 2000). However, relatively little...