Gulf of Alaska | Fishes and Fish Habitats
Leveraging multiple genomic approaches to investigate population structure and dynamics of Pacific halibut in the northeast Pacific Ocean Presenter: Andrew Jasonowicz , andy.jasonowicz@iphc.int, International Pacific Halibut Commission
Josep Planas , josep.planas@iphc.int, International Pacific Halibut Commission Wes Larson , wes.larson@noaa.gov, NOAA Fisheries, Alaska Fisheries Science Center Ingrid Spies , ingrid.spies@noaa.gov, NOAA Fisheries, Alaska Fisheries Science Center Liz Dawson , Liz.dawson@noaa.gov, NOAA, NMFS, Alaska Fisheries Science Center
The Pacific halibut ( Hippoglossus stenolepis ) is a key flatfish species in the North Pacific Ocean ecosystem that supports important commercial, recreational and subsistence fisheries and that is managed as a single stock by the International Pacific Halibut Commission. The primary objective of the present study is to advance our understanding of Pacific halibut population structure and dynamics in a changing climate through the use of genomic approaches to inform fishery management. To improve our current understanding of stock structure among spawning groups of Pacific halibut in the northeast Pacific Ocean we have generated genomic sequences for 610 adult Pacific halibut collected during the spawning season (winter) from five different areas including the Gulf of Alaska (2), Bering Sea (1), and Aleutian Islands (2) using low coverage whole genome resequencing (lcWGR). By leveraging the recently sequenced Pacific halibut genome, lcWGR is currently being conducted to characterize genomic variation within the Pacific halibut population at the highest resolution possible in order to establish a baseline of Pacific halibut genetic diversity. Future work is planned that will leverage this genomic dataset to identify markers that display high differentiation among the different genetic baseline datasets. With approximately 500 of the identified genome-derived markers we will develop a high-throughput and high- resolution genomic marker panel (GT-seq). Finally, we will test the utility of the GT-seq panel to address management and conservation issues in Pacific halibut by using it in two proof of concept applications: 1) to conduct a pilot mixed stock analysis to estimate the stock composition of commercial fishery landings from two different geographic areas in Alaska, and 2) to investigate distribution of Pacific halibut in the latitudinal extremes of the species’ range in the northeast Pacific Ocean. The results from this study will inform on the delimitation of management units and provide preliminary information on stock composition in the Pacific halibut fishery, as well as provide a tool to monitor changes in distribution associated with climate change.
Alaska Marine Science Symposium 2023 19
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