Application of the concentration hypothesis to English sole in nursery estuaries and potential contribution to coastal fisheries |
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| Authors: | Email author" target="_blank">Christopher?N?RooperEmail author Donald?R?Gunderson David?A?Armstrong |
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| Institution: | (1) National Marine Fisheries Service, Northwest Fisheries Science Center, 2725 Montlake Blvd E, Seattle, WA 98112-2097, USA |
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| Abstract: | Resources in nursery areas can be important determinants of recruitment for juvenile fishes. Most young-of-the-year English
sole (Pleuronectes vetulus) appear to rely on estuaries on the U.S. Pacific Northwest coast as nursery areas. Trawl surveys were conducted in four nursery
estuaries, and the results show consistent densities were found across all estuaries in August. In June densities were higher
and more variable. Application of the average August density to estuaries along the entire Oregon and Washington coasts resulted
in an estimated total estuarine abundance of 45.8 million age 0+ English sole. Estimated coast-wide recruitment of age 4+
female English sole based on age 0+ abundance ranged from 3.7 to 4.9 million individuals from 1998–2000, with an average value
of 4.3 million. A simple population model was constructed to determine if production from the combined Oregon and Washington
estuaries was consistent with the estimates of the adult stock, and the observed catch from 1956–1997. The observed commercial
catch has declined over this time period, and the trend could be fit using an availability-gear efficiency of 21% and an exploitation
rate of 0.094. The results suggest that the English sole population on the Oregon-Washington shelf could potentially be supported
solely by estuarine production, and this production appears to be stabilized by the size of available nursery areas. |
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