Basin‐scale reproductive segregation of Pacific halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepis)

Abstract

AbstractPacific halibut Hippoglossus stenolepis (Schmidt) is presently considered to consist of a single spawning population extending from California through the Bering Sea. However, this satellite tagging investigation suggests that geographic landforms and discontinuities in the continental shelf appear to limit the interchange of mature Pacific halibut among large marine ecosystems and delineate the boundaries of potential spawning components in the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea, with smaller components along the Aleutian Islands. The geographic segregation of these spawning components may be reinforced by regional behavioural adaptations and different temperature regimes in each area. These results suggest that the Pacific halibut population may be segregated into somewhat discrete spawning units among which less mixing is likely than that which occurs within them. As such, future stock assessment metrics may be most effective in preserving population function if spawning ecology is treated as a basin‐scale process.