168 
Abstract— Shortraker and rougheye 
rockfish ( Sebastes borealis and S. aleu- 
tianus) have been an independent man- 
agement subgroup of the Gulf of Alaska 
slope rockfish assemblage since 1991. 
Special concerns are proposed for the 
management of these species because 
they are very slow growing, long-lived, 
and commercially important. 
Marine reserves (harvest refugia) 
have often been proposed as a valuable 
management tool for mitigating over- 
fishing and maintaining species and 
habitat diversity. Their effectiveness 
in fisheries management, however, is 
poorly understood and concepts regard- 
ing their use are largely untested. 
Our study investigated the potential 
role of harvest refugia in the manage- 
ment of these two species by using a 
Geographic Information System (GIS) 
application to design harvest refugia 
networks of varying spatial extent. 
Twenty-year projections employing a 
population dynamics model were used 
to compare ending biomass and fishing 
mortality under the current manage- 
ment system with biomass and fishing 
mortality under refuge management 
systems. The results indicate that har- 
vest refugia can be used to greatly 
reduce discards and serial overfishing 
of substocks without reducing current 
catch levels. 
Manuscript accepted 24 July 2000. 
Fish. Bull. 99:168-179 (2001). 
The potential role of marine reserves in the 
management of shortraker rockfish 
(Sebastes borealis) and rougheye rockfish 
(S. aleutianus ) in the Gulf of Alaska 
SungKwon Soh 
School of Fisheries, mail stop 357980 
University of Washington 
Seattle, Washington 98195 
Present address: Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries 
139 Chungjong-No 3 
Seodaemun-Gu 
Seoul, 120-715, Republic of Korea 
E-mail address: sksoh@hotmail.com 
Donald R. Gunderson 
School of Fisheries, mail stop 357980 
University of Washington 
Seattle, Washington 98195 
Daniel H. Ito 
Alaska Fisheries Science Center 
National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA 
7600 Sand Point Way NE 
Seattle, Washington 98115-0070 
Over 70 species of rockfish (genus 
Sebastes) inhabit the geographic region 
between the Gulf of California and 
the Bering Sea, and many of these 
species are important components in 
the groundfish fisheries in this region. 
Rockfish are viviparous, and several 
species mature slowly (>5-10 years), 
have long life spans (50-140 years), and 
are particularly vulnerable to overfish- 
ing. Several species off the Pacific coast 
currently subsist at dangerously low 
levels (Murray et al., 1999), and it is 
anticipated that rebuilding these stocks 
will require long periods of time (sev- 
eral decades in some cases). Many ecol- 
ogists and fishery managers see marine 
reserve (or no-take refuge) networks 
as an attractive supplement to current 
management systems in the conser- 
vation and management of rockfish 
stocks (Murray et al., 1999). Our study 
explores the potential use of harvest 
refugia in the specific case of shortraker 
iS. borealis ) and rougheye (S. aleutia- 
nus) rockfish in the Gulf of Alaska. 
We review the current management 
system for shortraker and rougheye 
rockfish in the Gulf of Alaska, describe 
problems confronted under this system, 
and suggest refuge management as a 
supplement to the current management 
regime. The comparison of future bio- 
mass and fishing mortality between the 
current system and the refuge system 
will be discussed on the bassis of twenty- 
year projections from a population dy- 
namics model. The potential impacts of 
harvest refugia on other Gulf of Alaska 
fisheries will also be discussed. 
Current management system 
Groundfish in the Gulf of Alaska are 
currently managed by the North Pacific 
Fishery Management Council (NPFMC). 
Scientists on the Gulf of Alaska ground- 
fish plan team compile a Stock Assess- 
ment and Fishery Evaluation report 
every year. This report includes rec- 
ommended acceptable biological catch 
(ABC) levels for each stock and stock 
complex (including the shortraker- 
rougheye complex) under the Fishery 
Management Plan. The NPFMC then 
