Mortality of larval walleye pollock Theragra chalcogramma in the western Gulf of Alaska, 1988–91

Abstract

ABSTRACTMortality rates of larval walleye pollock Theragra chakogramma were estimated from larval survey data from 1988 to 1991. Mortality estimates were based on cohort‐specific losses between occupations of survey grids. Interannually, estimates of early feeding stage larval mortality rates ranged over an order of magnitude, from 0.045–0.43 day‐1, and declined sharply with age. There is some evidence that mortality rates of early feeding larvae tend to be negatively correlated with temperature and postively correlated with wind mixing.