Variations in age-0 pollock distribution among eastern Bering Sea nursery areas: A comparative study through acoustic indices

Cohort abundance of walleye pollock (Theragra chalcogramma) is subject to strong interannual variation in the eastern Bering Sea, and this variation is known to be determined largely at the age-0 stage. We estimated the spatial distributions and densities of age-0 walleye pollock in five nursery areas around the eastern Bering shelf in three successive years (1997–1999) from acoustic survey data. Concurrently, we calculated estimates of the spatial distribution of euphausiids, a major prey of age-0 walleye pollock, and estimates of spatial overlap of groundfish predators with the age-0 walleye pollock. The analyses showed that all nursery areas had low densities of age-0 walleye pollock in 1997, which ultimately produced the weakest adult year-class. In the intermediate year of 1998, age-0 densities were low to medium, and in 1999, which produced the strongest of the three adult year-classes, all nursery areas had medium to high age-0 walleye pollock densities. Euphausiid distributions had a consistently positive spatial relationship with age-0 walleye pollock. Groundfish predator density ratios were positively related to age-0 walleye pollock density when age-0 walleye pollock were displaced relatively northward. Our results suggest that abundance of age-0 walleye pollock, and hence of adult cohorts in the eastern Bering Sea, can be predictable from a concise set of indicators: the densities of age-0 walleye pollock at nursery areas in mid- to late-summer, their spatial relationship to euphausiids and groundfish predators, and the latitudinal trend of their distributions. The 3 years 1997–1999 had significant differences of physical conditions in the eastern Bering Sea, and represent an advantageous framework for testing these hypotheses.     

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.     

Micro- and macronutrients in the southeastern Bering Sea: Insight into iron-replete and iron-depleted regimes

Surface transects and vertical profiles of macronutrients, dissolved iron (D-Fe), and dissolved manganese (D-Mn) were investigated during August 2003 in the southeastern Bering Sea. We observed iron-limited, HNLC surface waters in the deep basin of the Bering Sea (15-20 μmol/kg nitrate, ∼0.07 nmol/kg D-Fe, and ?1.0 nmol/kg D-Mn); nitrate-limited, iron-replete surface waters over the shelf (<0.1 μmol/kg nitrate, 0.5-4 nmol/kg D-Fe, and 2-33 nmol/kg D-Mn); and high biomass at the shelf break (“Green Belt”), where diatoms appeared to have been stressed by low D-Fe concentrations (<0.3 nmol/kg). Sources of nitrate and iron to the Green Belt were investigated. A mixture of Aleutian North Slope Current water (with elevated, but non-sufficient iron concentrations relative to its high nitrate concentrations) and surface waters from the vicinity of the Bering Canyon (with lower nitrate concentrations, but similar dissolved iron concentrations) was carried along the shelf break by the Bering Slope Current. This water mixture provided macro- and micronutrients at the southern end of the shelf break. The oceanic domain supplied additional macronutrients to Green Belt waters, while the bottom layer of the outer shelf domain supplied additional macro- and micronutrients through enhanced vertical mixing at the shelf break. Surface waters near the Pribilof Islands, where the highest surface D-Fe concentrations were observed (∼5-6 nmol/kg), represent a potential source of additional iron to Green Belt waters. During summer, the subsurface water of the middle shelf domain is a potential source of nitrate to the nitrate depleted waters of the shelf. In this subsurface cool pool, we observed evidence of substantial denitrification with lower than expected nitrate concentrations.     

On the recent warming of the southeastern Bering Sea shelf

During the last decade, the southeastern Bering Sea shelf has undergone a warming of 3 °C that is closely associated with a marked decrease of sea ice over the area. This shift in the physical environment of the shelf can be attributed to a combination of mechanisms, including the presence over the eastern Bering Sea shelf of a relatively mild air mass during the winter, especially from 2000 to 2005; a shorter ice season caused by a later fall transition and/or an earlier spring transition; increased flow through Unimak Pass during winter, which introduces warm Gulf of Alaska water onto the southeastern shelf; and the feedback mechanism whereby warmer ocean temperatures during the summer delay the southward advection of sea ice during winter. While the relative importance of these four mechanisms is difficult to quantify, it is evident that for sea ice to form, cold arctic winds must cool the water column. Sea ice is then formed in the polynyas during periods of cold north winds, and this ice is advected southward over the eastern shelf. The other three mechanisms can modify ice formation and melt, and hence its extent. In combination, these four mechanisms have served to temporally and spatially limit ice during the 5-year period (2001–2005). Warming of the eastern Bering Sea shelf could have profound influences on the ecosystem of the Bering Sea—from modification of the timing of the spring phytoplankton bloom to the northward advance of subarctic species and the northward retreat of arctic species.     

日本海、鄂霍次克海和白令海的古海洋学研究进展

边缘海的存在使大陆和大洋之间的物质和能量交换变得相当复杂。在构造运动和海平面升降的控制下,边缘海和大洋之间时而连通时而隔绝,各种古气候变化信号都在一定程度上被放大。基于近期有关西北太平洋边缘海的古海洋学研究成果,简要概述了日本海、鄂霍次克海、白令海以及北太平洋地区自中新世以来的古气候和古海洋环境演化特征,并认为它们与全球其它地区一样也受控于因地球轨道参数变化引起的太阳辐射率的变化,大尺度的气候变化具有与地球轨道偏心率周期相对应的100ka周期,而41ka的小尺度周期则受地球自转轴斜率变化的控制。一些突发性的气候变化则是由气候不稳定性、海峡的关闭与开启和其它一些地球气候系统的非线性活动所驱动。但同时作为中高纬度边缘海,它们的古海平面、古海水温度、古洋流等古海洋环境因子的变化特征还受到冰盖扩张和退缩、构造运动、冰川性地壳均衡补偿、东亚季风等因素的影响,具有一定的区域特点。     

白令海夏季浮游细菌和原生动物生物量及分布特征

1999年7月21日至8月1日在我国首次北极科学考察期间,考察了白令海中部的浮游细菌和原生动物,分析了其丰度、分布、生物量及其生态作用,结果显示,浮游细菌表层生物量为1.5～20.2μg/dm3,平均为浮游植物生物量的30%,100m以上水柱柱总生物量(720～3123mg/m2)平均为浮游植物柱总生物量的67%,因而是白令海夏季与浮游植物处同等量级的优势类群;原生动物表层生物量为1.2～27.4μg/dm3,100m以上水柱柱总生物量为189～1698mg/m2,平均为浮游植物柱总生物量的21%,其中粒径小于5,5～20μm和大于20μm的原生动物分别占其柱总生物量的13%,47%和40%;作为主要类群的异养腰鞭毛虫占原生动物柱总生物量的39%.浮游细菌和原生动物生物量的总体分布趋势从西部向东北和东部递减、从表层向深层衰减,20～25m水层温跃层和表层海流的存在对这一分布特性可能有较大的影响.原生动物受潜在的大、中型浮游动物捕食压力的制约,维持了一个相对较低的生物量水平,在一定程度上限制了微食物环(microbial food loop)在该海域夏季生态系统营养中的作用.     

The size-fractionated chlorophyll a and primary productivity in the Bering Sea during the summer of 2003

1Introduction Thephytoplanktonistheprimaryproducerofor- ganicsubstancesintheoceanandplaysanimportant roleinthesubstancecycleandenergyconversionof marineecosystem.Chlorophyllaconcentration(Chla) isanimportantindexmanifestingthelightenergy-au- totrophicbiomassinthesea.Primaryproductivityre- flectstheabilitytoconvertinorganiccarbonintoor- ganiccarbonbythephytoplanktonintheocean.Both Chlaandprimaryproductivityaretheimportantcon-tentsbeingstudiedinthemarineecosystemaswellas theimportantfoundationa…     

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。     

Sound velocity and related properties of seafloor sediments in the Bering Sea and Chukchi Sea

The Bering Sea shelf and Chukchi Sea shelf are believed to hold enormous oil and gas reserves which have attracted a lot of geophysical surveys. For the interpretation of acoustic geophysical survey results, sediment sound velocity is one of the main parameters. On seven sediment cores collected from the Bering Sea and Chukchi Sea during the 5th Chinese National Arctic Research Expedition, sound velocity measurements were made at 35, 50, 100, 135, 150, 174, 200, and 250 k Hz using eight separate pairs of ultrasonic transducers. The measured sound velocities range from 1 425.1 m/s to 1 606.4 m/s and are dispersive with the degrees of dispersion from 2.2% to 4.0% over a frequency range of 35–250 k Hz. After the sound velocity measurements, the measurements of selected geotechnical properties and the Scanning Electron Microscopic observation of microstructure were also made on the sediment cores. The results show that the seafloor sediments are composed of silty sand, sandy silt, coarse silt, clayey silt, sand-silt-clay and silty clay. Aggregate and diatom debris is found in the seafloor sediments. Through comparative analysis of microphotographs and geotechnical properties, it is assumed that the large pore spaces between aggregates and the intraparticulate porosity of diatom debris increase the porosity of the seafloor sediments, and affect other geotechnical properties. The correlation analysis of sound velocity and geotechnical properties shows that the correlation of sound velocity with porosity and wet bulk density is extreme significant, while the correlation of sound velocity with clay content, mean grain size and organic content is not significant. The regression equations between porosity, wet bulk density and sound velocity based on best-fit polynomial are given.     

2008年夏季白令海陆架区微微型浮游植物分布及环境相关性分析

利用2008年夏季我国第3次北极科学考察资料,基于流式细胞技术,对白令海北部陆架区的微微型浮游植物丰度、细胞大小(碳含量)、色素浓度的分布特征进行了分析,并对该类群的环境适应性进行了研究.结果表明,微微型浮游植物中仅含聚球藻和真核藻,其丰度范围分别为0.14×106～2.69×106和0.23×106-12.49×10...     

Phytoplankton community characteristics in the coastal waters of the southeastern Arabian Sea Phytoplankton community characteristics in the coastal waters of the southeastern Arabian Sea

Remote sensing applications are important in the fisheries sector and efforts were on to improve the predic-tions of potential fishing zones using ocean color. The present study was aimed to investigat...     

黄河口及附近海域鱼卵和仔鱼种类组成及分布特征

根据2009年5月和8月2个航次对黄河口及附近海域18个站位的鱼卵和仔鱼调查资料,对该水域鱼卵仔鱼的种类组成和数量分布特征进行了分析和探讨.结果表明,鱼卵仔鱼的种类组成和数量分布呈现明显的季节变化特征;春季鱼卵仔鱼种类数高于夏季,平面分布范围大于夏季,主要优势种季节更替明显;与历史同期资料相比,鱼卵仔鱼种类和数量大幅下...     

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.     

白令海北部悬浮体含量分布及其颗粒组分特征

对中国第四次北极科学考察期间在白令海北部获取的海水样品进行悬浮体含量及其颗粒组分特征的分析。结果表明,白令海陆架海区悬浮体含量大体呈现出表层浓度低而底层浓度高的特点。表层海水悬浮体含量在白令海峡西侧和陆架东侧靠近阿拉斯加沿岸含量较高,而底层海水中悬浮体含量则在白令海峡西侧,以及白令海陆架西南部的圣马修岛西北侧较高。陆架流系对底床物质的再悬浮作用致使白令海悬浮颗粒物浓度的高值区多位于近底层海水中。受白令陆坡流沿陆架坡折带输运作用,研究区西南部悬浮体浓度较高。白令海陆架水以及阿纳德尔流携带悬浮颗粒向北输运,使得底层悬浮体浓度呈现出自南向北逐渐减弱的模式。圣劳仑斯岛以北靠近楚科奇半岛一侧海域,受高营养盐的阿纳德尔流的影响,悬浮颗粒物以藻类为主;东侧阿拉斯加沿岸流区悬浮颗粒则以陆源的碎屑矿物为主。