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The role of flatfishes in the organization and structure of the eastern Bering Sea ecosystem

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An Erratum to this article was published on 20 April 2010

Abstract

We evaluated the role of flatfishes in the organization and structure of the eastern Bering Sea ecosystem using the Ecopath/Ecosim approach. As basic input data for the Ecopath/Ecosim model, we used estimates of biomass from bottom trawl surveys and age-structured population models, production/biomass (P/B) ratio, consumption/biomass (Q/B) ratio, diet composition (DC), and fisheries harvests for each component of species or species groups. We estimated the trophic level of each component, niche overlaps among flatfishes, and the impacts of competition and predation on flatfish species in the eastern Bering Sea ecosystem. Based on those estimates, we developed the tropho-dynamic structure of the ecosystem, and the model was used to simulate ecological effects of fishery exploitation patterns. No single flatfish species appeared to have a profound and uniquely important role in the organization and structure of the ecosystem. Instead, the most important component among the guild of flatfish species appeared to be yellowfin sole Pleuronectes asper, which had greater biomass than other flatfish and a relatively diverse diet among the small flatfish species. Pacific halibut Hippoglossus stenolepis, Greenland turbot Reinhardtius hippoglossoides, and arrowtooth flounder Atheresthes stomias were important keystone predators in the eastern Bering Sea ecosystem together with some groups of marine mammals and sea birds. Intra flatfish complex cannibalism was not observed, however, substantial diet overlaps were common in the flatfish guild system.

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Acknowledgments

This work is funded by a grant from the National Fisheries Research and Development Institute (RP-2009-FR-019) and a joint project between Korea and U.S. for scientific and technical cooperation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. East Sea Fisheries Research Institute, National Fisheries Research and Development Institute, Gangnung, 210-861, Korea

    Sung Il Lee

  2. Alaska Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, 7600 Sand Point Way NE, Bldg. 4, Seattle, WA, 98115, USA

    Kerim Y. Aydin, Paul D. Spencer & Thomas K. Wilderbuer

  3. Pukyong National University, Daeyeon 3-dong, Nam-gu, Busan, 608-737, Korea

    Chang Ik Zhang

Authors
  1. Sung Il Lee
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  2. Kerim Y. Aydin
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  3. Paul D. Spencer
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  4. Thomas K. Wilderbuer
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  5. Chang Ik Zhang
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sung Il Lee.

Additional information

An erratum to this article can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12562-010-0240-8

Appendix

Appendix

Table 9 presents the time series data for the years 1926–2005.

Table 9 Time series data of the eastern Bering Sea for use in Ecosim, 1926–2005
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Lee, S.I., Aydin, K.Y., Spencer, P.D. et al. The role of flatfishes in the organization and structure of the eastern Bering Sea ecosystem. Fish Sci 76, 411–434 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12562-009-0201-2

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