MEPS 239:193-207 (2002)  -  doi:10.3354/meps239193

ABSTRACT: Atka mackerel Pleurogrammus monopterygius were captured and tagged with depth and temperature recording devices (archival tags) on 23 July 2000 in Seguam Pass, Aleutian Islands, Alaska. Nine of the 117 tagged fish were recovered in Seguam Pass during September 2000. Fish were tagged externally just below the dorsal fin. Atka mackerel displayed strong diel behavior, with vertical movements away from the bottom occurring almost exclusively during daylight hours and little to no movement at night. Vertical movements occurred when light levels at 150 m were greater than 7.31 x 10^-5 µmol photons m^-2 s^-1, or approximately between 08:00 and 23:00 h Alaska Daylight Time (ADT; GMT - 8) during August. Daytime vertical movements were correlated with light intensity, time of day and current velocity. The occurrence of vertical movements tended to increase with increasing light during the morning and early afternoon, but then decrease with increasing hour of the day after 13:00 h ADT. The magnitude of surface-directed vertical excursions was reduced during spring tide periods, when current velocities are highest. By comparison, the magnitude of slope-directed excursions was greater during spring tide periods and reduced during neap tide periods. Eight fish were at liberty for 42 to 44 d and 1 for 65 d. Two of the tagged males displayed nest guarding behavior for the majority of their time at liberty. Depths for these 2 males (115 to 117 m) were much deeper than previously observed for Atka mackerel spawning grounds. Given that Atka mackerel are more likely to be on the bottom during the night and less likely during the day, the variance of abundance estimates from bottom trawl surveys may be reduced by accounting for these diel differences.

KEY WORDS: Diurnal migration · Vertical migration · Atka mackerel · Archival tag