2013 Assessment of the Other Flatfish Stock Complex in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands

April 22, 2013

The Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands “other flatfish” group have typically included those flatfish besides northern rock sole, yellowfin sole, arrowtooth flounder, Kamchatka flounder and Greenland turbot. Flathead sole (Hippoglossoides elassodon) were part of the other flatfish complex until they were removed in 1995, and Alaska plaice was removed from the complex in 2002, as sufficient biological data exists for these species to construct age-structured population models. In contrast, survey biomass estimates are the principal data source used to assess the remaining other flatfish. Although over a dozen species of flatfish are found in the BSAI area, the other flatfish biomass consists primarily of starry flounder, rex sole, longhead dab, Dover sole and butter sole. A full list of the species in the other flatfish complex are shown in Table 11.1. At present, no evidence of stock structure is evident for these species in the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands region, although no formal genetic or tagging study has been conducted on these species in this region.