Movements of Atlantic halibut in the Gulf of Maine based on geolocation

Liu, Chang; Bank, Crista; Kersula, Michael; Cowles, Geoffrey W; Zemeckis, Douglas R; Cadrin, Steven X; McGuire, Christopher

doi:10.1093/icesjms/fsz169

i

Movements of Atlantic halibut in the Gulf of Maine based on geolocation

2019
By Liu, Chang ; Bank, Crista ; Kersula, Michael ; ...

File Language:

Details

Journal Title:

ICES Journal of Marine Science
Personal Author:

Liu, Chang ; Bank, Crista ; Kersula, Michael ; Cowles, Geoffrey W ; Zemeckis, Douglas R ; Cadrin, Steven X ; McGuire, Christopher
NOAA Program & Office:

NMFS (National Marine Fisheries Service)
Description:

Atlantic halibut are a “Species of Concern” in US waters and little is known about their movements and stock structure. Recent stock assessments drew attention to the paucity of information for assessing and managing this stock. To investigate movement patterns and stock structure, halibut were tagged off Massachusetts and Maine within US waters of the Gulf of Maine region using pop-up satellite archival tags and data storage tags. A hidden Markov model (HMM) geolocation method previously developed for other groundfish species was adapted to estimate the movement tracks of the tagged halibut (n = 25) based on the tag-recorded depth and temperature. Total distance travelled based on geolocation ranged from 36 to 1701 km, whereas straight line distance between tagging and end locations ranged from 0.4 to 440.7 km. Estimated movement rates varied between 2.7 and 10 km day−1. Two tagged halibut made long-distance movements to putative spawning habitat in the Northeast Channel off Georges Bank. Thirteen (13) out of 25 geolocated individuals were estimated to have reached Canadian waters. Geolocation results revealed home range, return movement, and seasonal migration movement patterns exhibited by the tagged halibut. The HMM geolocation method could be a useful tool in providing information on halibut movements that can inform stock assessment and management decisions.
Keywords:

Aquatic Science Ecology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior And Systematics Oceanography Ecology, Evolution, Behavior And Systematics Ecology, Evolution, Behavior And Systematics
Source:

ICES Journal of Marine Science, 76(7), 2020-2032
DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsz169
ISSN:

1054-3139 ; 1095-9289
Format:

PDF
Publisher:

Oxford University Press (OUP)
Document Type:

Journal Article
Funding:

Grant no. NA15NMF4270267 ; Grant no. NA16NMF4270248
Rights Information:

Other
Compliance:

Library
Main Document Checksum:

urn:sha256:7c43e326ae1c83c48682fe60d23ad09a5df5599a998ee292b6abddf9f6947bfb
Download URL:

https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/60265/noaa_60265_DS1.pdf
File Type:

[PDF - 1.04 MB ]

File Language:

ON THIS PAGE

Details

The NOAA IR serves as an archival repository of NOAA-published products including scientific findings, journal articles, guidelines, recommendations, or other information authored or co-authored by NOAA or funded partners. As a repository, the NOAA IR retains documents in their original published format to ensure public access to scientific information.