The specific objectives of this retrospective study are 1) to establish a time series of juvenile sablefish growth beginning in the 1940s, using otoliths that have been collected from sablefish in the Gulf of Alaska and off the west coast since the early 1980s. 2) To evaluate the correspondence between juvenile growth and subsequent recruitment to the adult stocks of sablefish, and the relation of these factors to year class strength in west coast and Gulf of Alaska salmon stocks. 3) To compare and contrast growth rates and recruitment indices between the Gulf of Alaska and west coast stocks of sablefish. 4) To develop preliminary models of the interannual and interdecadal response in growth and recruitment to past environmental conditions. 5) To provide these data to other researchers to allow development of more comprehensive models and help refine subsequent process and monitoring studies. 6) To provide training for graduate students.

To date, we have examined 999 archived otoliths from the Gulf of Alaska stock and 375 otoliths from the west coast stock. The oldest fish examined to date was 88 years old. Although we have many more otoliths to examine, we currently have a continuous time series of first year growth of Alaskan sablefish extending back to the 1953 birth year. The average coefficient of variation of growth within a year is 0.125. Growth rate varies greatly among years (ANOVA, p < 0.00001). Time series of first year growth, as inferred from otoliths, of both Alaskan and West coast sablefish are negatively correlated with sablefish recruitment indices in both areas (Alaska: r² = 0.595, p = 0.0005, n = 16. West Coast: r² = 0.905, p = 0.051, n=6) (Figures 1 & 2). These results suggest that sablefish growth in the first year is density dependent.