Assessment of the recreational harvest and fishery for lingcod in southcentral Alaska
By: by Scott C. Meyer.
Contributors: Alaska. Division of Sport Fish.
Series: Fishery data series -- no. 93-33.
Publisher: Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game, Division of Sport Fish
Published: 1993
Place of publication: Anchorage, Alaska
Language: eng
Number of pages: 50
Subjects: Lingcod -- Alaska.; Fishery resources -- Alaska.
Description: Age, length, and sex data were collected from 1,155 lingcod Ophiodon elongatus harvested by recreational anglers at Kodiak, Homer, Seward, and Valdez in 1992. Eight hundred eighty-seven of the samples were from Seward, the primary port of harvest. Age ranged from 3 to 23 years and length ranged from 58.0 to 130.0 centimeters. Sex ratio varied by port but was not significantly different from 50:50. Age composition was significantly different among ports. The proportion of the harvest under age 7 was highest at Homer (37%) and lowest at Seward (2%). Less than 10% of the Seward harvest was under 80 centimeters, indicating a continued decline in recruitment. Seventy-six percent of the Seward harvest came from the most heavily fished waters near Cape Aialik, the Chiswell Islands, and Seal Rocks. Sex ratio was skewed toward males and fish were smaller in areas closer to the Port of Seward. Anglers at Kodiak and Seward were interviewed to examine the effects of proposed bag limits. Eighty-one percent of Kodiak harvest consisted of creels with fewer than three lingcod per angler. Seventy-one percent of the Seward harvest consisted of creels of one fish per angler. Recently implemented regulations will reduce harvest, but minimum size limits will necessitate fishery-independent sampling to assess relative changes in year class strength.
Notes: "Partially financed by the Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration Act ... under project F-10-8, job no. B-2-1."

"September 1993."

Includes bibliographical references (p. 34-36).

Also issued online.