Health & Environmental Research Online (HERO)


Print Feedback Export to File
3326880 
Journal Article 
A 4500-year time series of Pacific cod (Gadus macrocephalus) size and abundance: archaeology, oceanic regime shifts, and sustainable fisheries 
Maschner, HDG; Betts, MW; Reedy-Maschner, KL; Trites, AW 
2008 
1 
Fishery Bulletin
ISSN: 0090-0656 
106 
4 
386-394 
English 
WOS:000260868000005 
A 4500-year archaeological record of Pacific cod (Gadus macrocephalus) bones from Sanak Island, Alaska, was used to assess the sustainability of the modern fishery and the effects of this fishery on the size of fish caught. Allometric reconstructions of Pacific cod length for eight prehistoric time periods indicated that the current size of the nearshore, commercially fished Pacific cod stocks is statistically unchanged from that of fish caught during 4500 years of subsistence harvesting. This finding indicates that the current Pacific cod fishery that uses selective harvesting technologies is a sustainable commercial fishery. Variation in relative Pacific cod abundances provides further insights into the response of this species to punctuated changes in ocean climate (regime shifts) and indicates that Pacific cod stocks can recover from major environmental perturbations. Such palaeofisheries data can extend the short time-series of fisheries data (<50 yr) that form the basis for fisheries management in the Gulf of Alaska and place current trends within the context of centennial- or millennia]-scale patterns. 
Marine & Freshwater Biology; southern new-zealand, foraging efficiency, atlantic cod, resource; depression, north-america, indexes, morhua, age, population, maturation