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Fishery Bulletin 105(3) 



of Okhotsk (5 years of age, Rovnina et al., 1997) and 

 Sea of Japan (4 years of age, Hattori et al., 1992) 

 female Pacific cod. Results from previous studies 

 support the between-area differences in female Pa- 

 cific cod length-at-maturity found during the present 

 study. Like Gulf of Alaska Pacific cod, female Pacific 

 cod from Canadian waters were estimated to mature 

 at a smaller Lj.^^ (median 450 mm during the 1970s 

 and 550 mm during the 1960s; Welch and Foucher, 

 1988) than Bering Sea Pacific cod. The Bering Sea 

 estimate of L^ was within the range estimated for 



the Sea of Okhotsk female Pacific cod (550 mm Lj 

 to 600 mm Lj.; Rovnina et al., 1997). In the pres- 

 ent study, no significant differences were found in 

 female Pacific cod L^-g^ or Agg for any of the months 

 sampled, within either the Gulf of Alaska or Bering 

 Sea areas. The temporal agreement for female Pacific 

 cod Ago and Lj.^^ estimates indicates they are reliable. 

 Results were also similar between the two histology- 

 based methods of classifying mature female Pacific 

 cod, indicating that either method could be used to 

 define Agg or Lj,^ 



