Katy Howard EchaveM.S. Student

Thesis Title

Inter-decadal change in sablefish, Anoplopoma fimbria, growth and size at maturity in the northeast Pacific Ocean

Research Overview

I was very fortunate to join the F/V Alaskan Leader crew on Leg Six of the annual NMFS longline survey this past summer. Although this data collected will not be incorporated into my thesis work, the hands on experience was invaluable, especially in helping understand what it is that I’m looking at with my data. And it was fun! Because sampling methods have not been consistent over the years during these surveys, I’m currently overcoming the problem of converting length stratified data into random length sampled data. With this, I will then look for stations throughout the state that have been consistently sampled each year, and apply growth analysis to these various areas to compare different growth rates in different areas. Preliminary results of old data (1981-1996) compared with new data (1997-2003) show significant growth changes in sablefish over this amount of time. It is my goal to have comprehensive growth analysis completed by July 2007 for use in next year’s Alaska Sablefish Assessment.

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