Use of Climate-Growth Relationships of Bering Sea Yellowfin Sole to Improve Stock Assessments

Recent applications of dendrochronology (tree-ring techniques) have been used to develop biochronologies from the otolith growth increments of northern rock sole (Lepidopsetta polyxystra), yellowfin sole (Limanda aspera), and Alaska plaice (Pleuronectes quadrituberculatus) in the eastern Bering Sea. These techniques ensure that all growth increments are assigned the correct calendar year, allowing for estimation of somatic growth by age and year for chronologies that span approximately 50 years.  The analysis indicates that yellowfin sole somatic growth is positively correlated with May bottom water temperature in the Bering Sea.  These results for yellowfin sole were used to explore climate impacts on growth by incorporating the temperature-dependent growth into an age-structured stock assessment model and then comparing the results with the base model that uses time-invariant growth.  The updated model is then used to forecast yellowfin sole stock condition into the future using IPCC climate scenarios.