Pacific Hake (Growth and natal origin of Pacific hake from the Georgia Basin DPS)

Pacific hake (Merluccius productus) is an abundant species residing along the Pacific coast from the Gulf of California to the Strait of Georgia. In Puget Sound, however, Pacific hake populations have declined dramatically in the past three decades, leading to a closure of the fishery in 1990 and a designation by NOAA Fisheries as a Species of Concern in 1999. Because Pacific hake feed on a variety of fishes and invertebrates, and are an important prey item (for sea lions, small cetaceans, and dogfish sharks), the decline of this mid-trophic level component has important ramifications for the functioning of the Puget Sound ecosystem.

In response to a petition to protect Pacific hake under the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA), a biological review team (BRT) concluded that the Puget Sound and Strait of Georgia stocks constitute a distinct population segment (referred to as the Georgia Basin DPS) under ESA. The BRT also concluded that the Georgia Basin DPS was not in danger of extinction, nor likely to become extinct in the foreseeable future because the Strait of Georgia stock has not declined in terms of biomass, fish size, or age at maturity. However, the species was listed as a species of concern by state and federal agencies because of the declines in the Puget Sound stock, the shift in key demographic traits, and uncertainties in the extent of mixing between stocks of the Georgia Basin DPS.

The issue of the magnitude of mixing between stocks is important because if mixing is limited, then the problems faced by the Puget Sound stock are more important for its potential recovery. The goals of this project are to use otolith microstructure and microchemistry to examine patterns of stock mixing and growth of Pacific hake within the Georgia Basin. Specifically, we aim to address the following questions:

1) What is the difference in size-at-age between Puget Sound and Strait of Georgia due to differences in early juvenile growth?

2) What is the rate of mixing between Strait of Georgia and Puget Sound hake?

Age, somatic growth, otolith chemistry

Data and Resources

Field Value
accessLevel public
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catalog_describedBy https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
identifier gov.noaa.nmfs.inport:18610
language {en-US}
modified 2012-12-31
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programCode {006:056}
publisher (Point of Contact)
resource-type Dataset
source_datajson_identifier true
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source_schema_version 1.1
spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": [[[-123.504638672, 47.9864657], [-122.268676758, 47.9864657], [-122.268676758, 49.278771597], [-123.504638672, 49.278771597], [-123.504638672, 47.9864657]]]}
temporal 2009-09-01T00:00:00/2012-12-31T00:00:00
Groups
  • AmeriGEOSS
  • National Provider
  • North America
Tags
  • amerigeo
  • amerigeoss
  • bc
  • biological
  • ckan
  • doc-noaa-nmfs-nwfsc-northwest-fisheries-science-center
  • fe-fish-ecology-division
  • geo
  • georgia-strait
  • geoss
  • growth
  • movement
  • national
  • national-marine-fisheries-service
  • noaa-u-s-department-of-commerce
  • north-america
  • otolith
  • population-surveys
  • port-susan
  • united-states
  • wa
isopen False
license_id notspecified
license_title License not specified
maintainer Chittaro, Paul
maintainer_email Paul.Chittaro@noaa.gov
metadata_created 2025-11-22T10:24:00.528979
metadata_modified 2025-11-22T10:24:00.528983
notes Pacific hake (Merluccius productus) is an abundant species residing along the Pacific coast from the Gulf of California to the Strait of Georgia. In Puget Sound, however, Pacific hake populations have declined dramatically in the past three decades, leading to a closure of the fishery in 1990 and a designation by NOAA Fisheries as a Species of Concern in 1999. Because Pacific hake feed on a variety of fishes and invertebrates, and are an important prey item (for sea lions, small cetaceans, and dogfish sharks), the decline of this mid-trophic level component has important ramifications for the functioning of the Puget Sound ecosystem. In response to a petition to protect Pacific hake under the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA), a biological review team (BRT) concluded that the Puget Sound and Strait of Georgia stocks constitute a distinct population segment (referred to as the Georgia Basin DPS) under ESA. The BRT also concluded that the Georgia Basin DPS was not in danger of extinction, nor likely to become extinct in the foreseeable future because the Strait of Georgia stock has not declined in terms of biomass, fish size, or age at maturity. However, the species was listed as a species of concern by state and federal agencies because of the declines in the Puget Sound stock, the shift in key demographic traits, and uncertainties in the extent of mixing between stocks of the Georgia Basin DPS. The issue of the magnitude of mixing between stocks is important because if mixing is limited, then the problems faced by the Puget Sound stock are more important for its potential recovery. The goals of this project are to use otolith microstructure and microchemistry to examine patterns of stock mixing and growth of Pacific hake within the Georgia Basin. Specifically, we aim to address the following questions: 1) What is the difference in size-at-age between Puget Sound and Strait of Georgia due to differences in early juvenile growth? 2) What is the rate of mixing between Strait of Georgia and Puget Sound hake? Age, somatic growth, otolith chemistry
num_resources 2
num_tags 21
title Pacific Hake (Growth and natal origin of Pacific hake from the Georgia Basin DPS)