Continental shelf residency by adult Atlantic halibut electronic tagged in the Gulf of Maine

In the Northwest Atlantic, emerging evidence suggests that different stocks of Atlantic halibut (Hippoglossus hippoglossus) exist in Canadian and U.S. waters. To examine the movement of Atlantic halibut that occupy the Gulf of Maine in U.S. waters during the summer, two types of electronic tags were...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Northwest Atlantic fishery science 2016-01, Vol.48, p.33-40
Main Authors: Seitz, A C, Evans, M D, Courtney, M B, Kanwit, J K
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal behavior
Continental shelves
Continental slope
Deep water
Fish
Fisheries management
Fishing
Hippoglossus hippoglossus
Hypotheses
Marine
Marine fishes
Physical growth
Population dynamics
Researchers
Satellites
Stocks
Summer
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Summary:In the Northwest Atlantic, emerging evidence suggests that different stocks of Atlantic halibut (Hippoglossus hippoglossus) exist in Canadian and U.S. waters. To examine the movement of Atlantic halibut that occupy the Gulf of Maine in U.S. waters during the summer, two types of electronic tags were attached to large adult fish (n = 70) in 2007–2009. None of the recovered tags (n = 12) provided evidence that the fish occupied the relatively deep waters of the continental slope during the winter, where Canadian Atlantic halibut have been shown to spawn. This observation provides additional evidence for the hypothesis that different stocks of Atlantic halibut exist in Canadian and U.S. waters. Furthermore, this observation requiresreexamination of the long-standing assumptions made by fisheries scientists that all Atlantic halibut spawn in deep water on the continental slope and that the majority of mature Atlantic halibut spawn annually. This information may be important for understanding the population dynamics of Atlantic halibut in U.S. waters.
ISSN:0250-6408
1682-9786
1813-1859
DOI:10.2960/J.v48.m713