Estimated production figures for 1 January
through 31 March 2008. Total production
figures were 5,679 with 2,033 test ages and
126 examined and determined to be unageable.
Species
Specimens
Flathead sole
1,080
Northern rock sole
465
Yellowfin sole
317
Bering flounder
58
Kamchatka flounder
112
Walleye pollock
1,334
Rougheye rockfish
652
Shortraker rockfish
199
Dusky rockfish
507
Warty sculpin
683
Yellow Irish lord
272
Tree Rings and Fish Otoliths
The analogy between tree rings and rings in fish otoliths is often used to explain how fish can be aged from otoliths. However, it is often not realized that the methods that have evolved for ageing tree rings can also be applied to otoliths. This realization was clarified when Oregon State University Professor Bryan Black explained the application of "dendrochronology," or the science of ageing from tree rings, in an AFSC seminar and miniworkshop given to the Age and Growth Program.
Bryan Black is working with AFSC age readers and the Status of Stocks Program in a collaboration that we hope will eventually assist in the ageing of some difficult to age rockfish species (e.g., shortspine thornyhead and shortraker rockfishes). Among the interesting things brought out in his talks, was how dendrochronology used unusually poor growth years as a kind of barcode to build time chronologies. Impressively, the bristlecone pine chronology extends back nearly 10,000 years. Bryan Black also explained how marine chronologies from rockfish and shellfish (geoduck), can be correlated with those found in mountain trees.
These interesting findings broaden our view of the ecosystem in which we live, play, and study.