Food and Feeding Relationships in the Benthic and Demersal Fishes of the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea

Publication Title: Food and Feeding Relationships in the Benthic and Demersal Fishes of the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea

Subject: Fisheries and Aquaculture
Fish & Essential Fish Habitat
Gulf of Alaska; Cook Inlet; Kodiak; Shumagin; North Aleutian Basin; St George Basin; St Matthew Hall; Alaska; Biology; Fish; Pollock; Theragra; Sole; Hippoglossoides; Lepidopsetta; Limanda; Plankton; Flounder; Halibut; Cod; Gadus; Crab; Chionoecetes; Feeding; Literature Review; Life History; Yakutat; Bering Sea; Bristol Bay; Pribilof Islands; Alaska Region

CSE Reference: Paulson AC, Rose JR, Smith RL. 1978. Food and feeding relationships in the benthic and demersal fishes of the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea. US Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management. 75 p. Obligation No.: RU-284. URL: https://espis.boem.gov/Final%20Reports/323.pdf

Abstract: This study was conducted as part of the Outer Continental Shelf Environmental Assessment Program, administered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Funding was provided by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (now the Minerals Management Service) through an interagency agreement with NOAA. These agencies are responsible for obtaining data needed to predict environmental impacts resulting from oil and gas activities in Alaskan waters. Commercial fishing has historically been of paramount importance to the State of Alaska. Furthermore, a number of foreign countries, including Japan, Korea, and the U.S.S.R., have also fished in Alaskan waters. It was recognized that the potential impacts associated with oil and gas activities (e.g., exploration, development, transportation) on Alaskan fisheries be understood. Because impacts could be food web-mediated, it was deemed essential that the diets of important food fishes be documented. The present study was undertaken to describe food and feeding relationships of fishes in the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea. Previous studies had indicated that specific geographic areas were seasonally important feeding grounds, but detailed data on fish diets and environmental factors affecting fish trophic relationships were lacking.