Science & Data

The primary intent of this assessment is to summarize and synthesize climate and fishing effects (historical and future) on the eastern Bering Sea shelf and slope regions from an ecosystem perspective.

Pacific ocean perch in the Gulf of Alaska are assessed on a biennial stock assessment schedule to coincide with the availability of new survey data.

In 2005, BSAI rockfish were moved to a biennial assessment schedule with full assessments in even years to coincide with the occurrence of trawl surveys in the Aleutian Islands (AI) and the eastern Bering Sea (EBS) slope.

Rockfish are assessed on a biennial stock assessment schedule to coincide with the availability of new survey data. For Gulf of Alaska rockfish in alternate (even) years we present an executive summary to recommend harvest levels for the next two years. Please refer to last year’s full stock assessment report for further information regarding the assessment model. A full stock assessment document with updated assessment and projection model results will be presented in next year’s SAFE report.

Pacific ocean perch (POP, Sebastes alutus) inhabit the outer continental shelf and upper slope regions of the North Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea. Pacific ocean perch were occasionally managed within a species complex with four other associated rockfish species (northern rockfish, S. polyspinis; rougheye rockfish, S. aleutianus; shortraker rockfish, S. borealis; and sharpchin rockfish, S. zacentrus) in the eastern Bering Sea (EBS) and Aleutian Islands (AI) subareas from 1979 to 1990. Known as the POP complex, these five species were managed as a single entity with a single TAC (total allowable catch) for each of these two areas. In 1991, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council separated POP from the other red rockfish in order to provide protection from possible overfishing. Of the five species in the former POP complex, S. alutus has historically been the most abundant rockfish in this region and has contributed most to the commercial rockfish catch.

The goals of the Ecosystem Status Reports are to: (1) provide stronger links between ecosystem research and fishery management and (2) spur new understanding of the connections between ecosystem components by bringing together the results of diverse research efforts into one document. Beginning in 2016, we split the report into four separate documents, one for the Gulf of Alaska, Aleutian Islands, eastern Bering Sea, and the Arctic.

The goals of the Ecosystem Status Reports are to (1) provide stronger links between ecosystem research and fishery management and to (2) spur new understanding of the connections between ecosystem components by bringing together the results of diverse research efforts into one document. Beginning in 2016, we split the report into four separate documents, one for the Gulf of Alaska, Aleutian Islands, eastern Bering Sea, and the Arctic.

The goals of the Ecosystem Status Reports are to (1) provide stronger links between ecosystem research and fishery management and (2) spur new understanding of the connections between ecosystem components by bringing together the results of diverse research efforts into one document. Beginning in 2016, we split the report into four separate documents, one each for the Gulf of Alaska, Aleutian Islands, eastern Bering Sea, and the Arctic.

The goals of the Ecosystem Considerations report are to (1) provide stronger links between ecosystem research and fishery management and to (2) spur new understanding of the connections between ecosystem components by bringing together the results of diverse research efforts into one document. Beginning in 2016, we split the report into four separate documents, one for the Gulf of Alaska, Aleutian Islands, eastern Bering Sea, and the Arctic.

The goals of the Ecosystem Considerations report are to (1) provide stronger links between ecosystem research and fishery management and to (2) spur new understanding of the connections between ecosystem components by bringing together the results of diverse research efforts into one document. Beginning in 2016, we split the report into four separate documents, one for the Gulf of Alaska, Aleutian Islands, eastern Bering Sea, and the Arctic.