The Pacific ocean perch
) has a wide distribution in the North Pacific
from southern California
around the Pacific rim
to northern Honshū
, Japan, including the Bering Sea
. The species appears to be most abundant in northern British Columbia
, the Gulf of Alaska
, and the Aleutian Islands
(Allen and Smith 1988).
Habitat and migration
Adults are found primarily offshore on the outer continental shelf
and the upper continental slope
in depths 150-420 m
. Seasonal differences in depth distribution have been noted by many investigators. In the summer, adults inhabit shallower depths, especially those between 150 and 300 m. In the fall, the fish apparently migrate
farther offshore to depths of ~300-420 m. They reside in these deeper depths until about May, when they return to their shallower summer distribution (Love et al.
This seasonal pattern is probably related to summer feeding and winter spawning
. Although small numbers of Pacific ocean perch are dispersed throughout their preferred depth range on the continental shelf and slope, most of the population occurs in patchy, localized aggregations (Hanselman et al.
2001). Pacific ocean perch are generally considered to be semi-demersal
but there can at times be a significant pelagic
component to their distribution. Pacific ocean perch often move off-bottom at night to feed, apparently following diel euphausiid
migrations. Commercial fishing
data in the Gulf of Alaska since 1995 show that pelagic trawls
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