Seasonal migration and environmental conditions of Pacific halibut Hippoglossus stenolepis, elucidated from pop-up archival transmitting (PAT) tags

Abstract

Pop-up archival transmitting (PAT) tags were used to study the fall migration of halibut in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). We tagged 6 Pacific halibut Hippoglossus stenolepis on summer feeding grounds in the eastern GOA and another 6 in the western GOA from June 13 to August 6, 2002. The tags were programed to be released from the fish on January 15, 2003, at the height of the winter spawning season: 10 tags successfully detached, transmitted archived environmental data (depth and temperature), and generated accurate latitude-longitude coordinates shortly after pop-up; 2 tags deployed off SE Alaska were lost. The tags revealed that 6 fish had moved a considerable distance (> 200 km) between tagging and pop-up, and all of these had moved northward to some extent. The longest of the observed migrations was from the southern Alaska Peninsula to Yakutat Bay, a linear displacement of 1153 km; 4 fish showed little evidence of geographic displacement, exhibiting migrations that ranged only from 30 to 69 km. Although 2 fish had moved inshore by the end of the tagging period, all other fish had moved offshore regardless of their overall migration distance. The precise timing of offshore movements varied, beginning as early as August and as late as January. These observations generally corroborate conventional tagging, indicating migration of halibut toward winter spawning grounds in the northern GOA, and movement of fish to deep water in fall. However, no single stereotypic migration behavior was apparent, and a variety of vertical movement patterns and temperature profiles were observed. Halibut spent most time in waters of 5 to 7°C, but experienced temperatures ranging from 2.6 to 11.6°C. Depth observations ranged from 0 to 736 m, with summertime activity concentrated in depths from 0 to 400 m, and halibut that exhibited offshore movement were typically observed at 300 to 700 m by mid-winter. Vertical movement (short-period changes in depth) varied among fish and over time, with some fish displaying little vertical activity, others displaying short periods of activity, and still others displaying considerable activity throughout their time at liberty.

Depth and temperature preferences of the deepwater flatfish Greenland halibut Reinhardtius hippoglossoides in an Arctic marine ecosystem

“…Each tagging procedure took ~3 to 4 min, following which each tagged fish was kept onboard in a sea water holding tank for 15 min to verify that the tagging was successful and the animal was healthy prior to release. Tags were attached externally to the eyeside of Greenland halibut using a titanium dart and a 15 cm tether (300 lb test monofilament with stainless steel Nicopress sleeves), following the methods of Loher & Seitz (2006) and Loher (2008). The wire and sleeves were covered with polyolefin shrink to minimise the irritation and abrasion of tissue.…”

“…Understanding how the characteristics of Arctic marine ecosystems relate to fish movement patterns (i.e. linking environmental parameters with the distribution and abundance of fishing resources) is of critical importance for the management and conservation of Arctic marine fish stocks (Schick et al 2008).Satellite telemetry has been used to study the movement, behaviour and environmental preferences of a wide range of aquatic species, including sharks (Sims et al 2003, 2008, Teo et al 2004, Brunnschweiler et al 2010) and many teleostei, such as tuna (Block et al 2001, Kitagawa et al 2004, Schaefer & Fuller 2004 and flatfishes (Seitz et al 2003, Loher & Seitz 2006, Loher & Blood 2009). These tags are attached externally to the fish, during which time they record depth, temperature and light, and release after a specified length of time, thus providing insight into horizontal and vertical movements and habitat use over different spatial and temporal scales (Block et al 2001, Wearmouth & Sims 2009, Humphries et al 2010.…”

Pop-up satellite archival tag (PSAT) temporal data resolution affects interpretations of spawning behaviour of a commercially important teleost

“…The increasing application of pop-up satellite archival tags (PSATs) to questions in marine research has expanded from a focus largely on large pelagic species [1][2][3] to include large flatfishes, including Pacific halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepis) [4][5][6][7], Greenland halibut (Reinhardtius hippoglossoides) [8], and Atlantic halibut (Hippoglossus hippoglossus) [9,10]. A recognized advantage of PSATs is their ability to collect data on temperature, depth, and light levels and then transmit those data directly through the Argos satellite system [11] following their programmed release and emergence at the water's surface.…”

Characterizing Pacific halibut movement and habitat in a Marine Protected Area using net squared displacement analysis methods

“…Although halibut are large-bodied fish capable of moving thousands of kilometers during winter spawn ing migrations (Skud 1977, Loher & Seitz 2006, our results suggests that limited dispersion at very small spatial scales may be a common phenomenon for adult female halibut in Glacier Bay during the summer and into the fall. The residential movement state was demonstrated by the majority (27 of 43) of the fish tagged in this study.…”

“…Based on observations of large-scale seasonal and ontogenetic movements during larval, juvenile, and adult life history stages (Valero & Webster 2012), halibut in North America are managed on a large scale (Clark & Hare 2006) where a single stock assessment is conducted for a region that ranges from California to the Bering Sea before the allowable harvest is apportioned into smaller management units (Webster & Stewart 2014). Some proportion of adult halibut conduct seasonal spawning migrations from summer foraging locations in near-shore areas to winter off-shore spawning areas in deeper waters on the continental slope of the Pacific Ocean (Loher & Seitz 2006, Loher 2011, Seitz et al 2011. Recent pop-up satellite archival tagging and conventional tagging research has de monstrated that a large proportion of adult halibut exhibit interannual site fidelity and homing to summer foraging locations (Loher 2008).…”