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Spatial patterns, environmental correlates, and potential seasonal migration triangle of polar cod (Boreogadus saida) distribution in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas

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Abstract

Polar cod (Boreogadus saida) is a key forage fish in the Arctic marine ecosystem and provides an energetic link between lower and upper trophic levels. Despite its ecological importance, spatially explicit studies synthesizing polar cod distributions across research efforts have not previously been conducted in its Pacific range. We used spatial generalized additive models to map the distribution of polar cod by size class and relative to environmental variables. We compiled demersal trawl data from 21 cruises conducted during 2004–2017 in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas, and investigated size-specific patterns in distribution to infer movement ecology of polar cod as it develops from juvenile to adult life stages. High abundances of juvenile polar cod (≤ 70 mm) in the northeastern Chukchi Sea and western Beaufort Sea were separated from another region of high abundance in the eastern Beaufort Sea, near the US and Canadian border, suggesting possible population structure in the Pacific Arctic. Relating environmental correlates to polar cod abundance demonstrated that temperature and salinity were related to juvenile distribution patterns, while depth was the primary correlate of adult distribution. A comparison of seasonal 2017 abundances of polar cod in the southern Chukchi Sea found low demersal abundance in the spring when compared to the summer. Seasonal differences in polar cod abundance suggest that polar cod migration may follow a classical ‘migration triangle’ route between nursery grounds as juveniles, feeding grounds as subadults, and spawning grounds as adults, in relation to ice cover and seasonal production in the Chukchi Sea.

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Acknowledgements

We thank reviewers Kevin Hedges, Wojciech Walkusz, and Hauke Flores for their insightful and constructive review of this manuscript. We thank the scientists, research vessels’ captains and crew who collected the data compiled in this study. We also thank past and present members of the UAF Fisheries Oceanography lab for their laboratory work processing specimens. Funds were provided by the North Slope Borough and the Arctic Integrated Research Program sponsored by the North Pacific Research Board (NPRB). In addition, this study was funded in part by material sampled under Award Numbers M10AC0004, M12AC00011, and M13PC00019 of the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), Alaska Outer Continental Shelf Region. In-kind support was contributed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Alaska Fisheries Science Center) and the University of Alaska Fairbanks. This paper represents NPRB publication ArcticIERP-15.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, 99775, USA

    Caitlin E. Forster, Brenda L. Norcross, Franz J. Mueter & Andrew C. Seitz

  2. Alaska Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 7600 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, WA, 98115, USA

    Elizabeth A. Logerwell

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  1. Caitlin E. Forster
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  2. Brenda L. Norcross
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Correspondence to Caitlin E. Forster.

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All applicable national and international guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed. Sample collections in US waters were approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) of the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

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This article belongs to the special issue on the "Arctic Gadids in a Changing Climate," coordinated by Franz Mueter, Haakon Hop, Benjamin Laurel, Caroline Bouchard, and Brenda Norcross.

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R files for analysis. Code to reproduce Spatial (Objective I), Environmental (Objective II), and Seasonal (Objective III) analysis for the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas. Files are in RMarkdown format and may be opened using the program RStudio. Electronic supplementary material 1 (RMD 12 kb)

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Additional comparison of model outputs. Electronic supplementary material 6 (DOCX 14 kb)

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Maps of raw CPUE catches. Electronic supplementary material 10 (DOCX 157 kb)

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Forster, C.E., Norcross, B.L., Mueter, F.J. et al. Spatial patterns, environmental correlates, and potential seasonal migration triangle of polar cod (Boreogadus saida) distribution in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas. Polar Biol 43, 1073–1094 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-020-02631-4

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