Jackie King

Pacific Biological Station, Nanaimo, British Columbia · Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Background Ecological and physical conditions vary with depth in aquatic ecosystems, resulting in gradients of habitat suitability. Although variation in vertical distributions among individuals provides evidence of habitat selection, it has been challenging to disentangle how processes at multiple spatio-temporal scales shape behaviour. Methods W...

The abundance of many Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) stocks has declined despite reductions in harvest. We used state-space models parameterized with data from 57 Chinook salmon indicator stocks, ranging from coastal Oregon to southeast Alaska, to quantify long-term (since 1972 release year) changes in juvenile marine survival rate and m...

Population-specific spatial and temporal distribution data are necessary to identify mechanisms regulating abundance and to manage anthropogenic impacts. However the distributions of highly migratory species are often difficult to resolve, particularly when multiple populations’ movements overlap. Here we present an integrated model to estimate spa...

The prevalence and intensity of the trematode, Otodistomum hydrolagi, were determined for the first time in Spotted Ratfish, Hydrolagus colliei. Spotted Ratfish specimens were collected during bottom-trawl surveys in Queen Charlotte Sound (QCS, n = 31) and off the west coast of Vancouver Island (WCVI, n = 242). In all instances, the flukes were fou...

“Forecasting and Understanding Trends, Uncertainty and Responses of North Pacific Marine Ecosystems” (FUTURE) is the flagship integrative Scientific Program undertaken by the member nations and affiliates of the North Pacific Marine Science Organization (PICES). A principal goal of FUTURE is to develop a framework for investigating interactions acr...

Pacific Ocean Perch (Sebastes alutus, POP) is a commercially important species of rockfish that inhabits the marine canyons along the coast of British Columbia. The status of POP in Queen Charlotte Sound, British Columbia, is assessed under the assumption that it is a single stock harvested entirely in Pacific Marine Fisheries Commission (PMFC) maj...

Although climate‐induced shifts in fish distribution have been widely reported at the population level, studies that account for ontogenetic shifts and sub‐regional differences when assessing responses are rare. In this study, groundfish distributional changes were assessed at different size classes by species within nine sub‐regions using indicato...

We report the first verified record of a Commander Skate (Bathyraja lindbergi Ishiyama and Ishihara, 1977) from British Columbia, Canada. A female measuring 829 mm in total length was captured by bottom trawl on 2 August 2009 in Queen Charlotte Sound, Canada (51°37'N, 130°6'W). The depth of capture was 449 m. We used physical characteristics as wel...

Using density measurements derived by SCUBA diving, we have verified that research angling catch per unit of effort (CPUE) is a useful measurement of the relative abundance of nearshore reef species when the appropriate habitat is targeted. We found a strictly proportional relationship between lingcod and copper rockfish CPUE and density using a ra...

The bluntnose sixgill shark (Hexanchus griseus Bonnaterre 1788) is a large, deepwater apex predator that, in a few unique locations such as the Strait of Georgia, Canada, occupies shallow, inshore waters as juveniles. The occurrence of pregnant females in the Strait of Georgia suggests that this is an important area for parturition and juvenile rea...

For over 100 years, sharks have been encountered, as either directed catch or incidental catch, in commercial fisheries throughout the Northeast Pacific Ocean. A long-standing directed fishery for North Pacific Spiny Dogfish (Squalus suckleyi) has occurred and dominated shark landings and discards. Other fisheries, mainly for shark livers, have his...

Age and growth estimates based on growth band counts of sectioned vertebrae have been produced for longnose skate (Raja rhina) and big skate (Beringraja binoculata [formerly Raja binoculata]) populations in the Gulf of Alaska, British Columbia and California. Previous growth studies involving estimates from different laboratories in the USA (Alaska...

We report the first verified record of a Pacific Angel Shark (Squatina californica) from British Columbia, Canada. A Pacific Angel Shark, 1.1–1.2 m in total length, was observed on 30 April 2016 in approximately 12 m of water, 30 m from the tip of Clover Point, Vancouver Island, British Columbia (48°24'10"N, 123°20'56"W).

The 3rd International Symposium on the Effects of Climate Change on the World's Oceans was held in Santos, Brazil, in March 2015, convened by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), the North Pacific Marine Science Organization (PICES), and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC), and organized locall...

For many years, fisheries management was based on optimizing yield and maintaining a target biomass, with little regard given to low-frequency environmental forcing. However, this policy was often unsuccessful. In the last two to three decades, fisheries science and management have undergone a shift towards balancing sustainable yield with conserva...

Cosmopolitan pelagic species often show shallow genetic divergence and weak, or no, genetic structure across a species' range. However, there have been few such genetic studies for pelagic sharks. The pelagic blue shark (Prionace glauca) has a broad circumglobal distribution in tropical and temperate oceans. To investigate the population genetic st...

The California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations (CalCOFI) program has been operating for over 60 years and is one of the longest running fisheries oceanography survey programs in the world. CalCOFI has made significant contributions to the knowledge of oceanographic processes in the California Current System and made this ocean region o...

Summarized the coordinated efforts of multiple field programs to collect data related to pelagic ecosystem monitoring

Hollowed, A. B., Barange, M., Beamish, R., Brander, K., Cochrane, K., Drinkwater, K., Foreman, M., Hare, J., Holt, J., Ito, S-I., Kim, S., King, J., Loeng, H., MacKenzie, B., Mueter, F., Okey, T., Peck, M. A., Radchenko, V., Rice, J., Schirripa, M., Yatsu, A., and Yamanaka, Y. 2013. Projected impacts of climate change on marine fish and fisheries....

A bottom trawl survey of the Strait of Georgia was conducted on the fisheries research vessel C.C.G.S. W.E. Ricker between March 14 and March 24, 2012. The Strait of Georgia is the only ecosystem within British Columbia that is not routinely surveyed by the DFO groundfish synoptic bottom trawl survey program. This survey was the first fully compreh...

From October 7 to 15, 2011, a spiny dogfish (Squalus suckleyi) longline survey was conducted in the Strait of Georgia aboard the CCGS Neocaligus. Fishing occurred at nine sites selected in previous surveys to be representative of commercial fishing areas: Active Pass, Porlier Pass, Sturgeon Bank, French Creek, Cape Lazo, Cape Mudge, Grants Reef, Si...

In 1996, a targeted fishery for big skate (Raja binoculata) began in North Hecate Strait (NHS) and Queen Charlotte Sound (QCS) off the coast of British Columbia, Canada. The targeted fishery uses both bottom trawl and longlining gear; currently a 597-tonne soft cap exists on big skate catch in Hecate Strait but no cap exists in Queen Charlotte Soun...

King, J. R., Agostini, V. N., Harvey, C. J., McFarlane, G. A., Foreman, M. G. G., Overland, J. E., Di Lorenzo, E., Bond, N. A., and Aydin, K. Y. 2011. Climate forcing and the California Current ecosystem. –ICES Journal of Marine Science, 68: 1199–1216. The Climate Forcing and Marine Ecosystem (CFAME) Task Team of the North Pacific Marine Science Or...

Spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias) is a small shark that inhabits temperate waters off the east and west coasts of North America. They are ovoviviparous and gestation is 2 years. Females produce 2-16 pups, averaging between 26-27 cm in length at birth. Spiny dogfish are a longlived species with maximum ages in the Pacific population of between 80-90...

Background / Purpose: The Basking Shark is the only extant species in the family Cetorhinidae. The Pacific population of Basking Shark is estimated to have experienced a rate of decline exceeding 90% within <2 generations (approximately sixty years). Basking sharks are particularly vulnerable to human-induced mortality due to their late age of ma...

From 2003 through 2006, 18,180 big skate (Raja binoculata) were tagged in three regions in British Columbia, Canada: northern Hecate Strait, Queen Charlotte Sound and the west coast of Vancouver Island. To date, this is the largest tagging program conducted for skates or rays worldwide. As of December 31, 2008, 7% of the tagged fish (n=1238) have b...

The development of effective ecosystem management requires an understanding of the movements of the species of interest within and between ecosystems. The present study examines the movement of spiny dogfish Squalus acanthias within the Georgia basin (Strait of Georgia and Puget Sound). A total of 51,063 dogfish were tagged in the Strait of Georgia...

Counts of annuli that form on the mantle of the second dorsal spine of 59 spiny dogfish Squalus acanthias that had been at liberty for up to 20 years after marking with oxytetracycline in most cases corresponded to the years at liberty (87% within 1 year). These results confirm the pattern of annual band formation on the second dorsal spine and val...

Spiny dogfish Squalus acanthias have been an important component of the Strait of Georgia fisheries from the late 1800s to the late 1940s, when the fishery collapsed owing to overfishing and changes in market demand. The stock population levels have sustained a commercial fishery of approximately 2,000 metric tons since 1978. Recent concerns regard...

From October 10 to 22, 2008, a spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias) longline survey was conducted in the Strait of Georgia aboard the CCGS Neocaligus. Fishing occurred at ten sites selected in previous surveys to be representative of commercial fishing areas: Active Pass, Porlier Pass, Sturgeon Bank, French Creek, Hornby Island, Cape Lazo, Cape Mudge,...

By reviewing the history of fishery exploitation in the coastal waters of west Canada and east Korea, related with contrasting life history strategies of the dominant species, the fishery management challenges that each country would face in the upcoming decades were outlined. In the ecosystem of the Canadian western coastal waters, the dominant oc...

In this paper we summarize recent trend and management information relevant to the status of Canada's Atlantic and Pacific populations of spiny dogfish Squalus acanthias. Information includes current distribution, migration and movements, biological and abundance trends, status in adjacent jurisdictions, and current commercial catch and management....

The management of marine fisheries is evolving rapidly in response to evidence of overexploitation, climate change impacts, and the recognition of the multiple uses and conservation needs of the marine ecosystem. This chapter reviews the contribution of ecosystem science to this change in vision, and to its implementation through the Ecosystem Appr...

In order to explore mechanistic linkages between low-frequency ocean/climate variability, and fish population responses, we undertook comparative studies of time-series of recruitment-related productivity and the biomass levels of fish stocks representing five life-history strategies in the northern North Pacific between the 1950s and the present....

Basking sharks (Canadian Pacific population) are now suggested for listing as Endangered under the Species at Risk Act. We assessed recovery potential for basking sharks in Canadian Pacific waters by considering current status, potential sources of human-induced mortality, and various strategies to mitigate harm and promote recovery. We used a simu...

Larval Pacific anchovy Engraulis japonicus were sampled from coastal waters off the central west coast of Korea from June to November 1996. Using otolith microstructure analysis (daily growth increments), three cohorts (spring, early summer and late summer) were distinguished based on backcalculated spawning dates. Growth rates differed between coh...

The Strait of Georgia Pacific hake (Merluccius productus) population is a resident population, distinct from the migratory offshore coastal stock. Spawning occurs in the south central strait with peak spawning from February through April. Biological samples were obtained for this main spawning stock during the peak spawning season, from 1981-2005....

Projected shifts in climate forcing variables such as temperature and precipitation are of great relevance to arctic freshwater ecosystems and biota. These will result in many direct and indirect effects upon the ecosystems and fish present therein. Shifts projected for fish populations will range from positive to negative in overall effect, differ...

Arctic freshwater and diadromous fish species will respond to the various effects of climate change in many ways. For wide-ranging species, many of which are key components of northern aquatic ecosystems and fisheries, there is a large range of possible responses due to inter- and intra-specific variation, differences in the effects of climate driv...

Using density measurements derived by SCUBA diving, we have verified that research angling catch per unit of effort (CPUE) is a useful measurement of the relative abundance of nearshore reef species when the appropriate habitat is targeted. We found a strictly proportional relationship between lingcod and copper rockfish CPUE and density using a ra...

From October 18 to 31, 2005, a spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias) longline survey was conducted in the Strait of Georgia aboard the CCGS Neocaligus. Fishing occurred at ten sites selected to be representative of commercial fishing areas: Active Pass, Porlier Pass, Sturgeon Bank, French Creek, Hornby Island, Cape Lazo, Cape Mudge, Grants Reef, Sincla...

Age and growth estimates were determined for big skate (Raja binoculata) and longnose skate (Raja rhina) from British Columbia waters. Vertebrae (centra) were collected from 242 big skate and 174 longnose skate, ranging in length from 166 to 2039 mm, and 186 to 1246 mm, respectively. Male and female big skates ranged in age from 0 to 25 and 0 to 26...

Abstract  It is possible to use an ecosystem-based management approach to incorporate knowledge of climate regime impacts on ecosystem productivity to manage fishery resources. To do so, it requires the development of a coherent framework that can be built using existing stock assessment and management activities: ecosystem assessment, risk analyse...

From October 10 to 26, 1986 and October 15 to 30, 1989 the FIV Velma C was chartered to conduct spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias) longline surveys in the Strait of Georgia. Fishing occurred at fourteen sites selected to be representative of commercial fishing areas: Active Pass, Porlier Pass, Sturgeon Bank, Entrance Island, Halibut Bank, French Cre...

Three independent modeling methods—a nutrient-phytoplankton–zooplankton (NPZ) model (NEMURO), a food web model (Ecopath/Ecosim), and a bioenergetics model for pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha)—were linked to examine the relationship between seasonal zooplankton dynamics and annual food web productive potential for Pacific salmon feeding and grow...

We review studies relevant to the migration of pelagic fishes between the coastal and open-ocean ecosystems off the subarctic coast of North America. We review the life history strategies of these migratory fish and to compare to the life history strategies of major coastal migrants. The oceanography in this region is dominated by north and south c...

Nest site fidelity and serial polyandry were examined in lingcod, Ophiodon elongatus, a teleost fish in which the nest-guarding male parent invests more heavily in parental care than the elusive female parent. Lingcod parental and progeny genotypes were established for fish spawning on a 200 m(2) section of Snake Island reef, British Columbia in tw...

Research fishing methods using handline gear were developed in 1985 to assess near shore reef fish abundance. Several handline surveys for rockfishes and lingcod were subsequently completed between 1985 and 1993. Historical catch per unit of effort (CPUE) data is therefore available in parts of Statistical Areas 18 and 19 from 1993, and part of Sta...

Catch per unit effort (CPUE) data collected from the creel survey program have been used to index lingcod abundance in the Strait of Georgia. Typically, catch per unit effort has been summarized as released lingcod per unit effort or retained lingcod per unit effort. An observed increase in these indices has been interpreted to reflect an increase...

Lingcod, Ophiodon elongatus, is a nest-guarding marine fish of western North America. Breeding occurs in late winter and early spring after males establish territories and guard nest sites therein. Eggs deposited as clutches in the nest site hatch ∼7 weeks after fertilization. We evaluated the level of genetic variation in lingcod spawning in the c...

The life history traits of 42 marine fish species were grouped according to the theoretical classifications of life history strategies. This provides a conceptual framework of management options, because life history strategies are the underlying determinants for population responses to climate and ocean changes, they can be used to classify typica...

From 1978 to 1988, approximately 71,000 spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias) were tagged off the west coast of Canada. This program is the most extensive tagging study conducted for a shark species. Twelve years after the last year of tagging, recaptured tagged spiny dogfish are still being reported. As of December 2000, 2940 tagged fish (4.1%) have b...

for G. A. McFarlane): McFarlaneS@pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca Conventional structures used for tive species of elasmobranchs. They have age determinations of teleost a world-wide distribution and in the fishes (e.g. fin rays, otoliths, scales) north-east Pacific Ocean range from cannot be used for elasmobranchs the Aleutian Islands to Baja, California in whic...

Progress in ecosystem management requires the characterisation of the dynamics of a species's ecosystem and the influences of climatic oscillations on those dynamics. Within the North Pacific, ecosystem dynamics have been described on decadal-scales (regimes) and have been shown to shift abruptly (regime shifts). The year class success of sablefish...

Oxytetracycline (OTC) injections were used in a mark-recapture experiment undertaken to validate the fin-ray method of age determination of lingcod (Ophiodon elongatus). In most cases, the number of annuli that formed beyond the OTC mark corresponded to the number of years at liberty. Expected and interpreted annuli counts from fin rays matched in...

This working paper examines recreational fishing information, nest density survey results and biological data for lingcod within the Strait of Georgia. Annual catch estimates (pieces) from the Strait of Georgia creel survey program are updated from 1999. Biological data on the length (cm) of lingcod retained by recreational fishers is updated from...

Elasmobranch catches in British Columbia (BC) averaged 550t in the 1970s and 1980s and increased to a maximum of 1850t in 1997. The average catch between 1998 and 2000 was 1400t. This trend mirrors the global elasmobranch catches that have risen steadily from an average of 200 000t in the 1940s to over 800 000t in recent years. The increased catche...

Abstract It is generally accepted that a climate shift occurred about 1977 that affected the dynamics of North Pacific marine ecosystems. Agreement on the possibility of further climate shifts in 1989 and the late 1990s is yet to be achieved. However, there have been changes in the dynamics of key commercial fishes that indicate changes in their en...

A fixed survey design with a randomized depth component and a large rope trawl that fished surface waters at a speed of approximately 5 knots was used to estimate the abundance of juvenile coho salmon Oncorhynchus kisutch in the Strait of Georgia. The estimates of 4.2 million juveniles in September 1996, 3.0 million in September 1997, and 3.0 milli...

There was a synchronous and significant decrease in marine survival of coho salmon in the Strait of Georgia, Puget Sound, and off the coast from California to Washington after 1989. This large-scale, synchronous change indicates that trends in coho marine survivals were linked over the southern area of their distribution in the north-east Pacific,...

Climate–ocean regimes in the north-east Pacific translate into decadal-scale patterns in the relative success of sablefish (Anoplopoma fimbria). By combining estimates of year class abundance determined from commercial catches and research surveys for adults and juveniles, we were able to construct an index of year class success. Year classes from...