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Fishery Bulletin 98(4) 



major recruit pathways. In the GOA, the largest aggre- 

 gation of spawning pollock occurs in Shelikof Strait; and 

 the FOCI recruit-pathway paradigm shows that larvae 

 are carried southwestward from this area (Hinckley et 

 al., 1991; Hermann et al., 1996a, 1996b; Kendall et al., 

 1996). However, the widespread occurrence of age-0 pol- 

 lock throughout the areas surveyed, and probably beyond, 

 indicates that the FOCI recruit-pathway paradigm needs 

 to account for more complex dispersal, multiple spawning 

 areas, and possible geographic differences in mortality. 



The FOCI recruit-pathway paradigm was expanded to 

 the early juvenile stage by Hinckley et al. (1991) with the 

 inclusion of age-0 distribution data. Their study, however, 

 included only data from 1987. It is now apparent that 

 the age-0 distribution during 1987 was more geographi- 

 cally skewed than in other years during 198.5-88. Perhaps 

 this skewed distribution relates to sea surface drift in the 

 greater GOA, which may have been rapid during 1987 



(Ingraham et al., 1998), although larval distributions in 

 the Shelikof Strait vicinity seemed normal (Kendall and 

 Picquelle, 1990; Hinckley et al., 1991; Bailey et al., 1996c). 

 Regardless, the 1985 and 1988 age-0 distribution data 

 suggest that the FOCI recruit-pathway paradigm should 

 include the Kodiak Island vicinity as part of the principal 

 nursery for young pollock in the GOA. 



Deep countercurrent flows (Reed et al., 1987; Stabeno et 

 al, 1995), eddies (Schumacher and Kendall, 19951, reten- 



