FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 84, NO. 1 



were usually <0.1, indicating uniform distributions 

 within the small areas (10-100 m 2 ) and short inter- 

 vals of time (1-2 h) sampled. Variability was higher 

 and coefficients of dispersion sometimes differed sig- 

 nificantly (chi-square, <0.05) from a random (Pois- 

 son) distribution among different sampling depths 

 at the same date (s 2 fx = 0.36-1.65) and among dif- 

 ferent sampling dates within a single depth at Moo- 

 lack Beach (s 2 fx = 1.2-2.31). Coefficients of disper- 

 sion did not significantly differ from randomness 

 either among the grid stations for the same sam- 

 pling dates (s 2 /x = 0.87-1.82) or among different 

 sampling dates at the same station (0.94-1.97). In 

 general, at the scale of sampling we used, juvenile 

 English sole had even, nonpatchy distributions. 



Gear Comparisons 



Tb compare the relative efficiencies of the 1.52 m 

 beam trawl from the Paiute and the 2.72 m beam 

 trawl from the Cayuse, 14 pairs of trials were made 

 at the same time, while the vessels trawled on par- 

 allel courses within 30 m of each other. No signifi- 

 cant differences (P > 0.05; Mann-Whitney "U" tests, 

 Tate and Clelland 1957) were found in the catch/m 2 

 of juvenile English sole <150 mm for any paired 

 trawl comparison. 



No significant differences were found in length- 

 frequency distributions of P. vetulus captured in 10 

 of the 14 comparisons [Kolmogorov-Smirnov (K-S) 

 test, late and Clelland 1957]. In the four pairs of 

 tows that were significantly different (October 1978) 

 the 2.72 m trawl caught more small (~20 mm SL) 

 English sole per m 2 than the 1.52 m trawl, while 

 both trawls caught similar proportions in the 46-100 

 mm size range 



Comparisons were made between the sizes of 

 English sole in beach seine samples and midchan- 

 nel trawl samples in Yaquina Bay on six different 

 dates. Differences were significant (K-S test; P < 

 0.05) for all comparisons because the beam trawl 

 caught a much broader size range of fish, including 

 individuals >40 mm which were rare or absent in the 

 beach seine catches. 



Trends in Catches and 

 Sizes of Fish 



Significant (H-test, P < 0.05) differences in 

 catches/m 2 at different depths at Moolack Beach 

 and the grid stations show that in general the abun- 

 dance of juvenile English sole in offshore waters was 

 greatest in shallow water and decreased with in- 

 creasing depth. Average catches/10 3 m 2 (+1 stan- 



dard deviation) of English sole <150 mm were 16 

 (±20), 61 (±14), 43 (±75), and 10 (±12) at the 9, 9-17, 

 12-18, and 18-31 m stations off Moolack Beach, com- 

 pared with only 3 (±3) and 2 (±3) at the 40 and 64 

 m 1-3 and 1-5 grid stations at about the same latitude 



Newly transformed, benthic English sole (<24 mm) 

 were found at all depths sampled in the Moolack 

 Beach area, but the highest proportion of these 

 recently metamorphosed fish was found at depths 

 <18 m. Within the depth zones sampled the propor- 

 tion of small English sole <30 mm decreased with 

 depth and fish >150 mm were only captured at 

 depths deeper than 18 m (Fig. 2). 



Juvenile English sole <150 mm were found along 

 the entire 222 km coast sampled (Fig. 3). They were 

 usually moderately abundant (^0.01 m 2 ) between 

 Siletz Bay and Alsea Bay, and near the Umpqua 

 River and Tillamook Bay. Average catches, however, 

 were higher off Moolack Beach than any other area, 

 averaging 0.21 juvenile English sole/m 2 , an order of 

 magnitude greater than most other offshore areas 

 or the grid stations. Moolack Beach was apparently 

 a region of the open coast with exceptionally high 

 densities of English sole 



Juvenile English sole were generally most abun- 

 dant at the shallowest depths in these collections, 

 corroborating more intense sampling off Moolack 

 Beach and at the grid stations (Fig. 3). Average 

 catches at depths of 18 m and 36 m decreased about 

 an order of magnitude between May (0.026/m 2 ; SD 

 0.049) and October (0.003/m 2 ; SD 0.003). 



Variations in Abundance of 

 Settling Fish 



In our samples, metamorphosis or transformation, 

 as indicated by migration of the left eye and by body 

 pigmentation, occurred between 14-26 mm. Most fish 

 had completed metamorphosis by 23 mm. In Yaquina 

 Bay, the metamorphosing individuals first appeared 

 in November of 1971 and 1978 (the 1972 and 1979 

 year classes) and in January of 1971 and 1978 (1971 

 and 1978 year classes) (Fig. 4). (In this paper we 

 designate year classes by the year that most juveniles 

 settled to the bottom; eg., products of spawning dur- 

 ing the fall 1978-winter 1979 are called the 1979 year 

 class.) Metamorphosing fish were present in Yaquina 

 Bay until June (1970, 1978, 1979) or July (1971), but 

 none was found after July during the four summer 

 periods sampled. 



Maximum densities of these metamorphosing fish 

 were observed between March and May in 1970, 

 1971, and 1978, but between November and January 

 in 1978-79. Densities were variable Low densities 



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