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Prey preference of lingcod (Ophiodon elongatus), a top marine predator: implications for ecosystem-based fisheries management

ScholarsArchive at Oregon State University

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Title Prey preference of lingcod (Ophiodon elongatus), a top marine predator: implications for ecosystem-based fisheries management
Names Tinus, Craig A. (creator)
Date Issued 2012-04 (iso8601)
Note To the best of our knowledge, one or more authors of this paper were federal employees when contributing to this work.
This is the publisher’s final pdf. The published article is copyrighted by NMFS Scientific Publications and can be found at: http://spo.nwr.noaa.gov/.
Abstract Many highly exploited ecosystems are managed on the basis of single-species demographic information. This management approach can exacerbate tensions among stakeholders with competing interests who in turn rely on data with notoriously high variance. In this case study, an application of diet and dive survey data was used to describe the prey preference of lingcod (Ophiodon elongatus) in a predictive framework on nearshore reefs off Oregon. The lingcod is a large, fast-growing generalist predator of invertebrates and fishes. In response to concerns that lingcod may significantly reduce diminished populations of rockfishes (Sebastes spp.), the diets of 375 lingcod on nearshore reefs along the Oregon Coast were compared with estimates of relative prey availability from dive surveys. In contrast to the transient pelagic fishes that comprised 46% of lingcod diet by number, rockfishes comprised at most 4.7% of prey items. Rockfishes were the most abundant potential prey observed in dive surveys, yet they were the least preferred. Ecosystem-based fisheries management (EBFM) requires information about primary trophic relationships, as well as relative abundance and distribution data for multiple species. This study shows that, at a minimum, predation relative to prey availability must be considered before predator effects can be understood in a management context.
Genre Article
Topic Species accumulation curves
Identifier Tinus, C. (2012). Prey preference of lingcod (ophiodon elongatus), a top marine predator: Implications for ecosystem-based fisheries management. Fishery bulletin, 110(2), 193-204.

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