Low-temperature incubation of walleye pollock (Theragra chalcogramma) eggs from the southeast Bering Sea shelf and Shelikof Strait, Gulf of Alaska

To determine the effect of low water temperature on development, walleye pollock (Theragra chalcogramma) eggs from the Bering Sea were reared at −0.6°C, 0.4°C, 2.0°C, and 3.8°C. One group of eggs was reared at 3.9°C under a diel light cycle (14 h light, 10 h dark) to observe the effect of light on development and hatching. Development was normal for all temperatures except −0.6°C; abnormal development of the tail and lack of development of eyes occurred in some embryos. Time to 50% hatch was 820, 620, and 424 h at 0.4°C, 2.0°C, and 3.8°C. Eggs incubated in diel light at 3.9°C developed at the same rate as eggs incubated in constant dark at 3.8°C, but required an additional 72 h to reach 50% hatch. A piece-wise regression model was generated to predict egg age for incubation temperatures of −0.6°C to 3.8°C. For temperatures recorded in the southeastern Bering Sea 1995–1998, the model predicted incubation periods for walleye pollock eggs that varied by 13 days between the warmest and coldest years.Walleye pollock eggs from Shelikof Strait, Alaska, were incubated at 0.2°C, 1.8°C, and 2.8°C. Development was normal for all temperatures. A piece-wise regression model (as above) was generated for incubation temperatures 0.2–2.8°C. When the regression models were compared, Bering Sea eggs (1.4–1.7 mm in diameter), required more time for development prior to hatch than Shelikof Strait eggs (1.2–1.3 mm in diameter) at 1.8°C and 2.8°C. However, for temperatures 0.2–2.0°C, Bering Sea walleye pollock began hatching earlier and at a developmentally younger age than Shelikof Strait walleye pollock.     

Physical and biological factors influencing the spatial distribution of age-0 walleye pollock (Theragra chalcogramma) around the Pribilof Islands, Bering Sea

The waters around the Pribilof Islands, in the southeast Bering Sea, are a main nursery area for age-0 pollock. Each summer, the islands are surrounded by a well-mixed inshore region, separated from a stratified offshore region by a frontal zone. To study the spatial distribution of age-0 pollock around this frontal structure in relation to physical and biological factors that are likely to influence it, such as advection, age-0 pollock feeding, and predation, samples were collected during September of four consecutive years, 1994–97, along two transects. Samples collected included water column hydrography and currents, acoustic backscatter, and groundfish predator density.Our analysis suggested that different mechanisms may be involved in controlling age-0 pollock distribution north and south of the islands. On the shelf area north of the islands, high age-0 pollock density was significantly associated with areas of high potential for growth only in years or portions of the frontal transect in which predator numbers were relatively low, indicating the importance of predation in controlling fish distribution in this area. In contrast, south of the islands, age-0 pollock distribution was associated more with prey availability, which appeared to be determined by vertical spatial overlap between predators and prey. Moreover, south of the islands, the stronger geostrophic currents, typical of the slope region, were more likely to affect the overall standing biomass of juvenile pollock, by constantly advecting fish away from the area.     

The effect of oceanographic variability and interspecific competition on juvenile pollock (Theragra chalcogramma) and capelin (Mallotus villosus) distributions on the Gulf of Alaska shelf

Results from this study suggest that small-scale variability in the Alaska Coastal Current (ACC) and competition between juvenile pollock and capelin are potential mechanisms affecting the distribution and abundance of fishes in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). Fish distributions in Barnabus Trough, off the east coast of Kodiak Island, were assessed using acoustic data collected with a calibrated echosounder during August–September 2002 and 2004. Trawl hauls were conducted to determine the species composition of the fish making up the acoustic backscatter. Oceanographic data were collected from moorings, conductivity–temperature–depth (CTD) probes, trawl-mounted microbathythermographs (MBT) and expendable bathythermographs (XBT). National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) reanalysis data were used to assess area winds, and information on regional transport was derived from current meters deployed on moorings north and south of Kodiak Island. The distribution of water-mass properties and fish during 2002 showed variability at the temporal scale of weeks. Juvenile pollock (age-1 and age-2) were initially most abundant in warm, low-salinity water on the inner shelf, whereas capelin were distributed primarily on the outer shelf in cool, high-salinity waters. During a 2-week period juvenile pollock distribution expanded with the offshore expansion of warm, low-salinity water, and capelin abundance in outer-shelf waters decreased. We hypothesize that wind-driven pulsing of the ACC resulted in increased transport of warm, low-salinity water through the study area. In 2004, warm, low-salinity water characterized the inner shelf and cool, high-salinity water was found on the outer shelf. However, the distribution of water-mass properties did not show the weekly scale variability observed in 2002. Area winds were consistently toward the southwest during 2004, such that we would not expect to see the wind-driven pulsing of ACC water that occurred in 2002. Age-1 and age-2 pollock were not observed in Barnabus Trough in 2004. Instead, the midwater acoustic backscatter was composed of capelin mixed with age-0 pollock, and these capelin were not restricted to the outer-shelf waters, but were found primarily in warm, low-salinity inner-shelf waters that had been previously occupied exclusively by age-1 and age-2 pollock. We suggest that this is consistent with inner-shelf waters being preferred foraging habitat for juvenile pollock and capelin. Further study of the mechanisms linking climate change with variability in the ACC is needed, as are studies of the potential for competition between juvenile pollock and capelin.     

Amphipod prey of gray whales in the northern Bering Sea: Comparison of biomass and distribution between the 1980s and 2002–2003

The ampeliscid amphipod community in the Chirikov Basin of the northern Bering Sea was a focus of study during the 1980s because they were a major food for the Eastern North Pacific (ENP) population of gray whales Eschrichtius robustus. Information from the 1980s benthic investigations, published accounts of ENP gray whale population trends and the occurrence in 1999–2000 of an unusual number of gray whale mortalities prompted concern that the whale population may have exceeded the carrying capacity of its food base. Therefore, during two cruises per year between June and September, 2002 and 2003, we resampled the 20 stations occupied during the 1980s, to determine if there had been any significant changes in ampeliscid abundance and biomass. During 2002–2003, average ampeliscid dry weight biomass was about 28±10 g m⁻² (95% confidence interval), a decline of nearly 50% from maximum values in the 1980s. Amphipod length measurements indicated that the declines were due mainly to the absence of the larger animals (20–30 mm length). Two hypotheses were considered regarding the amphipod declines: gray whale predation and climate. Ampeliscid production (105 kcal m⁻² yr⁻¹) and gray whale energy requirements (1.6×10⁸ kcal individual⁻¹ yr⁻¹) indicated that as little as 3–6% of the current estimate of the ENP gray whale population could remove 10–20% of the annual ampeliscid production from the study site in 2002–2003, a finding consistent with the hypothesis that top-down control by foraging whales was the primary cause of the observed declines. A 10-yr time series of temperature near the bottom in the Bering Strait and northward transport did not reveal a consistent trend between 1990 and 2001, suggesting that climate influences were not the major cause of the observed declines. Arctic ampeliscids have slow growth rates and long generation times; therefore the ampeliscid community may require decades to recover to densities observed in the 1980s. Predicted warming trends in the northern Bering Sea could impact ampeliscid recovery by lowering primary production or altering the community composition of the benthos.     

Migration dynamics of Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii) and response to spring environmental variability in the southeastern Bering Sea

In the southeastern Bering Sea, Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii) migrate from the Pribilof Islands region where they overwinter, to the Alaska coast where they spawn in spring. The migration sustains a nearshore commercial fishery that targets roe-bearing females just prior to spawning. Herring also are taken as bycatch in groundfish trawl fisheries, where time and area closures in these fisheries are triggered by herring bycatch caps. Using herring bycatch data collected since the 1970s by National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) observers aboard groundfish fishing vessels, a retrospective analysis was conducted to describe the seasonal migration pattern of Pacific herring in the southeastern Bering Sea and to study its spatial and temporal variability. Observed changes in herring catch per unit of effort were compared with variability in climate and oceanographic conditions. The seasonal migration is complex, but annual shifts in migration routes and a possible northward shift of the overwintering grounds was identified. Pre-spawning herring aggregated in different areas depending on whether spawning occurred early or late in spring. The thermal structure of the ocean around the ice edge appears to influence herring migration timing and route as well as spawning date. Thus, on the basis of recent changes in sea-ice extent and duration, we suggest that the herring bycatch savings area that was developed from data collected in the 1980s should be revised to reflect prevailing conditions.     

北白令海夏季冷水团的分布及其年际变化研究

利用1982-2008年间的高分辨率CTD数据,对夏季位于北白令海陆架底层的冷水团性质及其多年变化进行了研究.结果表明,依据该区域水体在温盐性质上的差异可以分为4类:陆架冷水团(BSW_C),白令海陆坡流水(BSCW),混合变性水(MW),陆架表层暖水(BSW_S).以-1℃,2℃和4℃温度等值线指示水团边界,清楚地将...     

白令海陆架区夏季水文分布特征及年际变化

On the basis of the CTD data obtained within the Bering Sea shelf by the Second to Sixth Chinese National Arctic Research Expedition in the summers of 2003, 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2014, the classification and interannual variation of water masses on the central Bering Sea shelf and the northern Bering Sea shelf are analyzed. The results indicate that there are both connection and difference between two regions in hydrological features. On the central Bering Sea shelf, there are mainly four types of water masses distribute orderly from the slope to the coast of Alaska: Bering Slope Current Water(BSCW), MW(Mixed Water), Bering Shelf Water(BSW) and Alaska Coastal Water(ACW). In summer, BSW can be divided into Bering Shelf Surface Water(BSW_S) and Bering Shelf Cold Water(BSW_C). On the northern Bering Sea shelf near the Bering Strait,it contains Anadyr Water(AW), BSW and ACW from west to east. But the spatial-temporal features are also remarkable in each region. On the central shelf, the BSCW is saltiest and occupies the west of 177°W, which has the highest salinity in 2014. The BSW_C is the coldest water mass and warmest in 2014; the ACW is freshest and mainly occupies the east of 170°W, which has the highest temperature and salinity in 2012. On the northern Bering Sea shelf near the Bering Strait, the AW is saltiest with temperature decreasing sharply compared with BSCW on the central shelf. In the process of moving northward to the Bering Strait, the AW demonstrates a trend of eastward expansion. The ACW is freshest but saltier than the ACW on the central shelf,which is usually located above the BSW and is saltiest in 2014. The BSW distributes between the AW and the ACW and coldest in 2012, but the cold water of the BSW_C on the central shelf, whose temperature less than 0°C, does not exist on the northern shelf. Although there are so many changes, the respond to a climate change is synchronized in the both regions, which can be divided into the warm years(2003 and 2014) and cold years(2008, 2010 and 2012). The year of 2014 may be a new beginning of warm period.     

Modelling phytoplankton succession on the Bering Sea shelf: role of climate influences and trophic interactions in generating Emiliania huxleyi blooms 1997–2000

Several years of continuous physical and biological anomalies have been affecting the Bering Sea shelf ecosystem starting from 1997. Such anomalies reached their peak in a striking visual phenomenon: the first appearance in the area of bright waters caused by massive blooms of the coccolithophore Emiliania huxleyi (E. huxleyi). This study is intended to provide an insight into the mechanisms of phytoplankton succession in the south-eastern part of the shelf during such years and addresses the causes of E. huxleyi success by means of a 2-layer ecosystem model, field data and satellite-derived information. A number of potential hypotheses are delineated based on observations conducted in the area and on previous knowledge of E. huxleyi general ecology. Some of these hypotheses are then considered as causative factors and explored with the model. The unusual climatic conditions of 1997 resulted most notably in a particularly shallow mixed layer depth and high sea surface temperature (about 4 °C above climatological mean). Despite the fact that the model could not reproduce for E. huxleyi a clear non-bloom to bloom transition (pre- vs. post-1997), several tests suggest that this species was favoured by the shallow mixed layer depth in conjunction with a lack of photoinhibition. A top-down control by microzooplankton selectively grazing phytoplankton other than E. huxleyi appears to be responsible for the long persistence of the blooms. Interestingly, observations reveal that the high N:P ratio hypothesis, regarded as crucial in the formation of blooms of this species in previous studies, does not hold on the Bering Sea shelf.     

Detecting temporal trends and environmentally-driven changes in the spatial distribution of bottom fishes and crabs on the eastern Bering Sea shelf

This study uses a 30-year time series of standardized bottom trawl survey data (1982–2011) from the eastern Bering Sea shelf to model patterns of summer spatial distribution for various bottom fishes and crabs in response to changes in the areal extent of the cold pool, time lag between surveys, and fluctuations in population abundance. This investigation is the first to include data for the 2006–2010 cold period and to use between-year comparisons of local and shelf-wide spatial indices to test specific responses to three different isothermal boundaries within the cold pool. Distributional shifts in population varied considerably among species and directional vectors for some species were greater in magnitude to the east or west than to the north or south; however, in general, eastern Bering Sea shelf populations shifted southward in response to the increasing cold pool size, and after accounting for differences in temperature and population abundance, there was still a temporal northward shift in populations over the last three decades despite the recent cooling trend. Model results for local and shelf-wide indices showed that survey time lag and cold pool extent had a greater effect on spatial distribution than population abundance, suggesting that density-independent mechanisms play a major role in shaping distribution patterns on the eastern Bering Sea shelf. The area enclosed by the 1 °C isotherm most commonly affects both local and shelf-wide spatial indices suggesting that 1 °C is a more important boundary for describing temperature preferences of eastern Bering Sea bottom fishes and crabs than is the 2 °C isotherm used for designating the physical boundary for the cold pool.     

西白令海狭鳕渔场与环境因子关系研究

根据2013~2018年白令海海域拖网作业的狭鳕( Theragra chalcogramma)渔获数据以及环境数据,利用GAM模型对CPUE进行了标准化,建立了三个基于不同环境因子的剩余产量模型:(1)基于SST因子的剩余产量模型;(2)基于SST和Chl-a因子的剩余产量模型;(3)基于SST、Chl-a和SSHA因子的剩余产量模型,分析了环境因子对西白令海狭鳕资源的影响。研究表明:基于SST和Ch-a因子的剩余产量模型拟合程度最好,表达式为Cm=0. 9343f-0. 0003 fm^2+0.155Tmfm +0.325 4cam fm,狭鳕资源量的变动受捕捞努力量、渔场SST以及Chl-a控制。分析认为:SST是导致西白令海狭鳕CPUE产生月间波动的最重要的环境因子,Chl-a对狭鳕CPUE也有一定的影响,而SSHA的影响则相对较小。建议将SST以及Chl-a作为狭鳕渔场分析与渔情预报研究的重要环境因子。     

The distribution of chlorophyll a and its influencing factors in different regions of the Bering Sea

The distribution of chlorophyll a(Chl a) and its relationships with physical and chemical parameters in different regions of the Bering Sea were discussed in July 2010. The results showed the seawater column Chl a concentrations were 13.41–553.89 mg/m2 and the average value was 118.15 mg/m2 in the study areas. The horizontal distribution of Chl a varied remarkably from basin to shelf in the Bering Sea. The regional order of Chl a concentrations from low to high was basin, slope, outer shelf, inner shelf, and middle shelf. The vertical distribution of Chl a was grouped mainly from single-peak type in basin, slope, outer shelf, and middle shelf, where the deep Chl a maxima(DCM) layer was observed at 25–50 m, 30–35 m, 36–44 m, and 37–47 m, respectively. The vertical distribution of Chl a mainly had three basic patterns: standard single-peak type, surface maximum type, and bottom maximum type in the inner shelf. The analysis also showed that the transportation of ocean currents may control the distribution of Chl a, and the effects were not simple in the basin of the Bering Sea. There was a positive correlation between Chl a and temperature, but no significant correlation between Chl a and nutrients. The Bering Sea slope was an area deeply influenced by slope current. Silicate was the factor that controlled the distribution of Chl a within parts of the water in the slope. Light intensity was an important environmental factor in controlling seawater column Chl a in the shelf, where Chl a was limited by nitrate rather than phosphate within the upper water. Meanwhile, there was a positive relationship between Chl a and salinity. Algal blooms broke out at Sta. B6 of the southwestern St. Lawrence Island and Stas F6 and F11 in the middle of the Bering Strait.     

Temporal and spatial variability of chlorophyll concentrations in the Bering Sea using empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis of remote sensing data

Seasonal and interannual variability of surface chlorophyll concentration in the Bering Sea was examined using Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) analysis of data obtained by the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) from 1998 to 2002. The analysis of normalized monthly fields (removing temporal and spatial monthly means) shows that different temporal and spatial patterns are evident in the eastern and western Bering Sea during the spring bloom period. The first EOF mode explains 30% of the variability and shows how the eastern shelf break region and the western Bering Sea are out of phase during the spring bloom. The second EOF mode (17.6%) indicates a pattern involving the eastern shelf break region and the Kamchatka Basin. This strong east–west signal is linked by both surface winds and light. EOF modes of wind-speed anomalies, derived from Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I), and photosynthetically active radiance (PAR) from SeaWiFS, show a similar dipole feature where the east–west pattern is related to the position and strength of the Aleutian Low pressure system. In years when the Aleutian Low shifts from west to east, weaker wind stress facilitates the development of stratification resulting in a strong spring bloom in the western Bering Sea. The variability of spring chlorophyll has a strong connection with variability in atmospheric forcing in the Bering Sea.     

Recruitment of shrimp (Pandalus borealis) in the Barents Sea related to spawning stock and environment

The shrimp spawn in autumn, and the females carry their eggs as out roe until spring when the larvae hatch. Within a period of 2 months the shrimp larvae settle to the bottom. It has been claimed that the year-class strength probably is determined during the larval phase. Today's assessment and forecast of the shrimp stock productivity and potential fishing yields are weak. This is partly due to poor knowledge on population dynamics from hatching until the shrimp are caught in the fishery at the age of 3 or 4 years. We, therefore, here identify the most important abiotic and biotic factors that affect recruitment in addition to spawning stock biomass. Since 1995, a net attached to the underbelly of the survey trawl used at the annual cruise in the Barents Sea has caught juvenile shrimp. The abundance of settled shrimp larvae varies in time and space. The recruitment to the fishery has been quite stable with the exception of the 1996 year-class, which was observed as 1-year-olds but has not been registered since. The temporal pattern of the three youngest year-classes is studied in relation to abiotic factors such as sea temperature, ice index and North Atlantic Oscillation, as well as biotic factors such as spawning stock biomass and presence of copepods, euphausiids and predating cod. Recruitment indices and factors identified by the Spearmann correlation to be significantly correlated with recruitment were used as input in a principal component analysis (PCA) and a generalized additive model (GAM) was applied. Abundance of 1-year-old shrimp is positively correlated to spawning stock biomass the previous year and to temperature of the previous winter, and negatively correlated with the number of 1-year-old cod. Two-year-old shrimp show significant correlation with temperature, whereas there is a strong negative correlation with euphausiids. Three-year-old shrimp are significantly correlated with the number of 2-year-old shrimp the previous year but negatively correlated to temperature at sampling time. This is probably due to less overlap with the main predator cod when cold. Ricker functions indicate an increased density-dependent mortality with age. When predicting the recruitment of shrimp to the fishery, the spawning stock biomass, the abundance of cod and euphausiids, as well as the temperature should be included.     

Size-dependent, Spatial, and Temporal Variability of Juvenile Walleye Pollock (Theragra chalcogramma) Feeding at a Structural Front in the Southeast Bering Sea

Abstract. The waters surrounding the Pribilof Islands are an important nursery ground for juvenile walleye pollock (Theragra chalcogramma), an important forage fish in the pelagic food web of the productive Bering Sea shelf region. The diet of juvenile pollock was studied in two consecutive years along a transect line crossing from a well‐mixed coastal domain, through a frontal region to stratified water farther offshore. Variability in stomach fullness was high and evidence for increased feeding intensity in the front was weak. Prey diversity and prey size generally increased with increasing fish size, shifting from predominantly small copepods to larger, more evasive prey items such as euphausiids, crab megalopae and fish. The diet of the fish reflected changes in the relative abundance of copepods and euphausiids in the prey fields between years. Juvenile pollock showed increased feeding rates at dusk, and stomach fullness as well as prey condition were generally lowest just before sunrise; however, the proportion of euphausiids increased in the diet of pollock caught at night, suggesting that some food was also ingested during darkness. Juvenile pollock and their euphausiid prey both vertically migrated above the thermocline at night, although each had a different daytime depth.     

Sedimentary and structural evolution of the Eastern South Korea Plateau (ESKP), East Sea (Japan Sea)

The East Sea (Japan Sea) is a semi-enclosed back-arc basin that is thought to preserve a significant record of tectonic evolution and paleo-climatic changes of Eastern Asia during the Neogene. We use here 2-D regional multi-channel seismic reflection profiles and borehole data from Expedition 346 of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) to provide new constraints on the geological history of the Eastern South Korea Plateau (ESKP). The ESKP represents a structurally-complex basement high in the southwestern East Sea which formed during rifting of the back-arc basin. Our new observations show that the ESKP is composed of numerous horsts and grabens controlled by NE-trending normal faults. The acoustic basement is blanketed by Oligocene to recent sediments that have preferentially accumulated in topographic lows (up to 1.5 km thick) and have been cored during Expedition 346 at Site U1430 close to the southern margin of the ESKP. Seismic profiles in the ESKP reveal three units separated by regional unconformities. These seismic units closely correspond to IODP lithostratigraphic units defined at Site U1430, where biostratigraphic data can be used to constrain the timing of three main evolutionary stages of the ESKP. Stage 1 was related to rifting in the late Oligocene and middle Miocene, terminated by a regional uplift leading to an erosional phase in the middle Miocene. Stage 2 was associated with subsidence in the middle and late Miocene and uplift and accompanying erosion or non-deposition in the latest late Miocene. Stage 3 (Pliocene to present) recorded overall uniform hemipelagic-pelagic subsidence of the ESKP with short-lived tectonically-induced uplifts in the late middle Miocene and latest Miocene-early Pliocene. The three stages of evolution of the ESKP closely correlate to sedimentary changes since the Oligocene and suggest a direct control of regional/local tectonics on sedimentation patterns in the southwestern East Sea, with secondary influence of regional climatic and paleo-oceanographic processes.     

Distribution of Trace Bioelements in the Subarctic North Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea (the R/V Hakuho Maru Cruise KH-97-2)

A column concentration-high resolution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) determination was applied to measure the total dissolved concentrations of Fe, Co, Ni, Cu and Zn in seawater collected from the subarctic North Pacific (~45°N) and the Bering Sea in July–September 1997. Total adsorbable Mn was determined on board by column electrolysis preconcentration and chemiluminescence detection. The vertical profiles for Fe, Ni and Zn were nutrient-like. The deep water concentration of Fe was ~0.5 nM in the northeast Pacific (18°-140°W) and increased to ~1 nM in the northwest Pacific (161°E) and ~2 nM in the Bering Sea (57°N, 180°E). The deep water concentrations for Ni and Zn in the Bering Sea were also 1.3–2 times higher than in the North Pacific. The profiles for Co and Cu were examined in the subarctic North Pacific, and results obtained were consistent with previous reports. There was a significant correlation between the concentrations of Co and Mn except for surface mixed layer. The profiles for total adsorbable Mn were similar to the reported profiles for total dissolvable Mn. The deep water concentration of Mn in the Bering Sea was also 4 times higher than in the North Pacific. Iron and zinc were depleted in surface water of the subarctic North Pacific. The relationship between these trace elements and nutrients suggests that these elements could be a limiting factor of phytoplankton productivity. In the Bering Sea, surface water contained ~0.3 nM of Fe. The Zn concentration, which was less than the detection limit in surface water, increased at shallower depths (~30 m) compared with the subarctic North Pacific. These results imply a higher flux of Fe and Zn to surface water in the Bering Sea. This in turn may cause the ecosystem in the Bering Sea characterized by a dominance of diatoms and high regenerated production.