The Ragfish, Icosteus aenigmaticus Lockington, 1880: A Synthesis of Historical and Recent Records From the North Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea

Knowledge of the distribution and biology of the ragfish, Icosteus aenigmaticus, an aberrant deepwater perciform of the North Pacific Ocean, has increased slowly since the first description of the species in the 1880’s which was based on specimens retrieved from a fish monger’s table in San Francisco, Calif. As a historically rare, and subjectively unattractive appearing noncommercial species, ichthyologists have only studied ragfish from specimens caught and donated by fishermen or by the general public. Since 1958, I have accumulated catch records of >825 ragfish. Specimens were primarily from commercial fishermen and research personnel trawling for bottom and demersal species on the continental shelves of the eastern North Pacific Ocean, Gulf of Alaska, Bering Sea, and the western Pacific Ocean, as well as from gillnet fisheries for Pacific salmon, Oncorhynchus spp., in the north central Pacific Ocean. Available records came from four separate sources: 1) historical data based primarily on published and unpublished literature (1876–1990), 2) ragfish delivered fresh to Humboldt State University or records available from the California Department of Fish and Game of ragfish caught in northern California and southern Oregon bottom trawl fisheries (1950–99), 3) incidental catches of ragfish observed and recorded by scientific observers of the commercial fisheries of the eastern Pacific Ocean and catches in National Marine Fisheries Service trawl surveys studying these fisheries from 1976 to 1999, and 4) Japanese government research on nearshore fisheries of the northwestern Pacific Ocean (1950–99). Limited data on individual ragfish allowed mainly qualitative analysis, although some quantitative analysis could be made with ragfish data from northern California and southern Oregon. This paper includes a history of taxonomic and common names of the ragfish, types of fishing gear and other techniques recovering ragfish, a chronology of range extensions into the North Pacific and Bering Sea, reproductive biology of ragfish caught by trawl fisheries off northern California and southern Oregon, and topics dealing with early, juvenile, and adult life history, including age and growth, food habits, and ecology. Recommendations for future study are proposed, especially on the life history of juvenile ragfish (5–30 cm FL) which remains enigmatic.

The Ancillary Harvest of Atlantic Menhaden, Brevoortia tyrannus, Roe on the North Carolina Coast

Gravid Atlantic menhaden, Brevoortia tyrannus, are available along the central coast of North Carolina during the fall and are harvested by the purse-seine fleet from the port of Beaufort. Virtually all of the catch, sexually immature fish included, is reduces to fish meal, fish oil, and fish solubles; however, minor quantities of roe from ripening female menhaden are extracted for local consupmtion. Routine and selective port sampling information was used to characterize the seasonal and biostatistical nautre of the roe menhaden catches at Beaufort. Fishermen recognize two size classes of roe Atlantic menhaden: "forerunners," which are usually the smallest and earliest adult menhaden encountered in the Fall Fishery, and "mammy shad," which are the largest menhaden harvested and produce the greatest roe yields. Roe is extracted from femal fish at various points along the reduction process stream and by several techniques. Vessel cremen and factory personnel extract menhaden roe for personal and local consumption. Undetermined quantities of menhaden roe are channeled into local retail seafood markets. Wholesale prices are about $20 per gallon of roe, while retail prices are about $5 per pound. Carteret County, North Carolina, is probably the only area on the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf coasts where menhaden roe is sold in retail seafood markets. The potential of extracting menhaden roe for foreign markets is discussed

Government-Industry Cooperative Fisheries Research in the North Pacific under the MSFCMA

The National Marine Fisheries Service’s Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC) has a long and successful history of conducting research in cooperation with the fishing industry. Many of the AFSC’s annual resource assessment surveys are carried out aboard chartered commercial vessels and the skill and experience of captains and crew are integral to the success of this work. Fishing companies have been contracted to provide vessels and expertise for many different types of research, including testing and evaluation of survey and commercial fishing gear and development of improved methods for estimating commercial catch quantity and composition. AFSC scientists have also participated in a number of industry-initiated research projects including development of selective fishing gears for bycatch reduction and evaluating and improving observer catch composition sampling. In this paper, we describe the legal and regulatory provisions for these types of cooperative work and present examples to illustrate the process and identify the requirements for successful cooperative research.

An Observed Entanglement of Lagenorhynchus obliquidens in the High Seas Driftnet Area in the North Pacific

In August, 1991, an entanglement event was observed in the High Seas Driftnet area in the North Pacific. This description of an entanglement of Lagenorhynchus obliquidens is the first such documented report of dolphins entangling while bowriding. One of the entangled dolphins was rescued from the driftnet.

Charles Henry Gilbert (1859-1928), Naturalist-in-Charge: the 1906 North Pacific Expedition of the Steamer Albatross

Fishery science pioneers often faced challenges in their field work that are mostly unknown to modern biologists. Some of the travails faced by ichthyologist and, later, fishery biologist Charles Henry Gilbert (1859-1928) during his service as Naturalist-in-Charge of the North Pacific cruise ofthe U.S. Bureau of Fisheries Steamer Albatross in 1906, are described here, as are accomplishments of the cruise. The vessel left San Francisco, Calif., on 3 May 1906, just after the great San Francisco earthquake, for scientific exploration of waters of the Aleutian islands, Bering Sea, Kamchatka, Sakhalin, and Japan, returning to San Francisco in December. Because the expedition occurred just after the war between Japan and Russia of 1904-05 floating derelict mines in Japanese waters were often a menace. Major storms caused havoc in the region, and the captain of the Albatross, Lieutenant Commander LeRoy Mason Garrett (1857-1906), U.S.N., was lost at sea, apparently thrown from the vessel during a sudden storm on the return leg of the cruise. Despite such obstacles, Gilbert and the Albatross successfully completed their assigned chores. They occupied 339 dredging and 48 hydrographic stations, and discovered over 180 new species of fishes and many new species of invertebrates. The expedition's extensive biological collections spawned over 30 descriptive publications, some of which remain today as standards of knowledge.

Biology and Fishery for Atlantic Thread Herring, Opisthonema oglinum, along the North Carolina Coast

Thread herrings, Opisthonema spp., are small, nearshore, pelagic clupeid fishes that form dense, surface schools in tropical to subtropical coastal waters. Ecologically, thread herrings form an important forage base for many large, predatory fishes (Finucane and Vaught, 1986). Commercially, thread herrings are targeted by artisanal to moderate-sized seine fisheries off the coasts of Ecuador and Peru (Patterson and Santos, 1992), Costa Rica (Stevenson and Carranza, 1981), Venezuela, the continental margins of the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico, and near the islands of Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and Trinidad (Reintjes, 1978). Most of the catch is reduced to fish meal and fish oil (Patterson and Santos, 1992), although minor quantities are used for human consumption (Reintjes, 1978).

Population Biology and Life History of the North American Menhadens, Brevoortia spp.

Four recognized species of menhaden, Brevoortia spp., occur in North American marine waters: Atlantic menhaden, B. tyrannus; Gulf menhaden, B. patronus; yellowfin menhaden. B. smithi; and finescale menhaden, B. gunteri. Three of the menhaden species are known to form two hybrid types. Members of the genus range from coastal waters of Veracruz, Mex., to Nova Scotia, Can. Atlantic and Gulf menhaden are extremely abundant within their respective ranges and support extensive purse-seine reduction (to fish meal and oil) fisheries. All menhaden species are estuarine dependent through late larval and juvenile stages. Depending on species and location within the range, spawning may occur within bays and sounds to a substantial distance offshore. Menhaden are considered to be filter-feeding, planktivorous omnivores as juveniles and adults. Menhaden eggs, immature developmental stages, and adults are potential prey for a large and diverse number of predators. North American menhadens, including two hybrids, are hosts for the parasitic isopod, Olencira praegustator, and the parasitic copepod, Lemaeenicus radiatus. Although the data are quite variable, a dome-shaped Ricker function is frequently used to describe the spawner-recruitment relationship for Atlantic and Gulf menhaden. Each of these species is treated as a single stock with respect to exploitation by the purse-seine reduction fishery. Estimates of instantaneous natural (other) mortality rates are O.45 for Atlantic menhaden and 1.1 for Gulf menhaden.

Blue Marlin, Makaira nigricans, Movements in the Western North Atlantic Ocean: Results of a Cooperative Game Fish Tagging Program, 1954-88

Blue marlin, Makaira nigricans, tag and recapture data are summarized for 1954-1988. During this period, 8,447 fish have been tagged and only 30 (0.35 percent) have been returned. Results of the tagging program indicate that blue marlin not only travel considerable distances (7,OOO km from the U. S. Virgin Islands to the Ivory Coast of West Africa), but have remained at large for up to 8 years. Seasonal movements, however, are difficult to determine accurately.

U.S. Fisheries Management and Foreign Trade Linkages: Policy Implications for Groundfish Fisheries in the North Pacific EEZ

The groundfish resources of the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) off Alaska, dominated by Alaska or walleye pollock, Theragra chalcogramma, Pacific cod, Gadus macrocephalus, and flatfishes, Pleuronectidae, can sustain annual commercial harvests well in excess of 2 million metric tons (t). As recently as 1979, foreign fisheries took 99 percent of the annual harvest supported by these resources. This has changed dramatically during the 1980's. The foreign fisheries have received rapidly decreasing allocations, first as joint venture fisheries expanded and, more recently, as the domestic fisheries have grown. Joint venture fisheries are fisheries in which domestic fishing vessels deliver their catch directly to foreign processing vessels in the EEZ. By 1986, the joint venture and domestic fisheries accounted for 66 percent and 8 percent, respectively, of the annual harvest. The preliminary corresponding figures for 1987 are 78 and 18 percent.

North Cumbria Fisheries Advisory Committee 26th June, 1979.

This is the report from the North Cumbria Fisheries Advisory Committee meeting, which was held on the 26th June 1979. The report contains sections on rod and line regulations of Yorkshire Water Authority, incomes from sale of rod and line licences 1978, fishing offences and prosecutions for 1978/1979, and a draft of netting rights in River Ehen. Also covered is the report by the area fisheries officer which looks at conditions and fishing at Rivers Eden and Esk, fish distribution, stock and general comments for Holmwrangle hatchery, re-stocking by angling associations, predators, and research work carried out on the Eden. The Fisheries Advisory Committee was part of the Regional Water Authorities, in this case the North West Water Authority. This preceded the Environment Agency which came into existence in 1996.

North Cumbria Fisheries Advisory Committee 24th June, 1980

This is the report from the North Cumbria Fisheries Advisory Committee meeting, which was held on the 24th June, 1980. It includes the report by the area fisheries officer on fisheries activities which comments on river conditions and fishing, migratory fish movements, and an update on Holmwrangle Hatchery. The report also includes fish mortalities, fish diseases, management work, poaching, the pipeline project with the British Gas Corporation and the plotting of the 'Alter Stone' on the Solway Estuary to assist the bailiffs in identifying the charter area boundary. The Fisheries Advisory Committee was part of the Regional Water Authorities, in this case the North West Water Authority. This preceded the Environment Agency which came into existence in 1996.

North Cumbria Fisheries Advisory Committee 16th October, 1979.

This is the report from the North Cumbria Fisheries Advisory Committee meeting, which was held on the 16th October 1979. The report contains the minutes of the last meeting along with the minutes of the Regional Fisheries Advisory Committee meeting held on 12th July 1979, information on the cormorant population, and draft netting rights for the River Eden. Also included is the report by the area fisheries officer which looks at river conditions and fishing of salmon, sea/brown trout and coarse fish, migratory fish movements, an update on Holmwrangle Hatchery, pollution incidents and fish mortalities, and biological work carried out investigating salmonid fish populations. The Fisheries Advisory Committee was part of the Regional Water Authorities, in this case the North West Water Authority. This preceded the Environment Agency which came into existence in 1996.

North Cumbria Fisheries Advisory Committee 8th January, 1980.

This is the report from the North Cumbria Fisheries Advisory Committee meeting, which was held on the 8th January 1980. The report contains sections on the net and fixed engine licence duties and the EEC Directive on the quality of freshwaters. It also includes the report by the area fisheries officer which looks at river conditions and fishing, an update on Holmwrangle Hatchery, stocking carried out by the Water Authority, fish mortalities and fish transfers. The Fisheries Advisory Committee was part of the Regional Water Authorities, in this case the North West Water Authority. This preceded the Environment Agency which came into existence in 1996.

North Cumbria & Lune, Wyre and Furness Fisheries Advisory Committee 14th February, 1980.

This is the report from the North Cumbria and Lune, Wyre and Furness Fisheries Advisory Committee meeting, which was held on the 14th February 1980. The report contains a review of net and fixed engine licence duties where the two Advisory Committees met for their final consideration of the review. The Fisheries Advisory Committee was part of the Regional Water Authorities, in this case the North West Water Authority. This preceded the Environment Agency which came into existence in 1996.

North Cumbria Fisheries Advisory Committee 1st April, 1980.

This is the report from the North Cumbria Fisheries Advisory Committee meeting, which was held on the 1st April 1980. The report contains the minutes of previous meetings, draft netting rights on the River Eden, rod an line licence duties, a pipeline project by British Gas Corporation, fisheries byelaw on baiting, and information on a survey of goosanders and mergansers. It also contains the report by the area fisheries officer which looks at river conditions and fishing, general comments on fish stocks at Holmwrangle hatchery, a fish mortality on the River Wiza, salmon spawning and monthly salmon and sea trout catches for the 1979 season. The Fisheries Advisory Committee was part of the Regional Water Authorities, in this case the North West Water Authority. This preceded the Environment Agency which came into existence in 1996.