Yield per Recruit and Management Recommendations for Alaska Plaice in the Eastern Bering Sea

Abstract

Abstract Adult Alaska plaice Pleuronectes quadrituberculatus are abundant over the continental shelf (40–110-m depths) during the summer, move to the outer shelf during the winter, and return to the shelf in spring. Female Alaska plaice mature at a total length of about 31 cm (6–7 years), and peak spawning occurs during April. Juvenile Alaska plaice are restricted to shallow coastal areas (<25 m deep) and are not encountered in significant numbers in either resource surveys or the commercial fishery. Ratios of body girth to mesh sizes currently used show that recruitment size is determined by the spatial distribution of fishing effort rather than mesh size. The current size at recruitment (31 cm) corresponds to the size at which 50% of females reach maturity. The F 0.1 criterion–the fishing mortality that results in a marginal increase in yield/fishing mortality that is 10% of the value for a lightly exploited stock–provides a reasonable approach to management of the Alaska plaice fishery because, at the ...