318 
Fishery Bulletin 99(2) 
Results and discussion 
Our best estimates of depth distributions (Tables 5-8; 
Figs. 2-5) during October-December (when the surveys 
were conducted) confirm ontogenetic migration patterns 
of Dover sole (Jacobson and Hunter, 1993), shortspine 
thornyhead (Jacobson and Vetter, 1995), and sablefish 
(Parks and Shaw, 1990; Saunders et al., 1997; Sigler et 
Table 5 
Average depth distributions, i.e. probabilities of depth given length or p(d\L), and CVs for sablefish (sexes combined) between 
36°00'N and 48°30'N and between 100 and 699 fm during October-December based on eight National Marine Fisheries Service 
bottom trawl surveys. The largest and smallest length groups are “plus” groups (i.e. include larger or smaller fish). Length groups 
(2 cm) are identified by the lower bound (e.g. 30 cm means 30-31.99 cm). For example, the 28-cm group includes all specimens 
<29.9 cm. Four surveys took sablefish 28-30 cm sablefish, three surveys took 32-cm sablefish, six surveys took 34-cm sablefish, 
seven surveys took 36-cm sablefish, and all eight surveys took 38-60 cm sablefish The symbol “ — “ means that CV could not be 
calculated because the average depth distribution was zero. 
Depth intervals (fm) 
Fork length (cm) 
100-199 
200-299 
300-399 
400-499 
500-599 
600-699 
Depth distributions 
28 
0.9506 
0.0000 
0.0000 
0.0000 
0.0000 
0.0494 
30 
1.0000 
0.0000 
0.0000 
0.0000 
0.0000 
0.0000 
32 
0.8150 
0.1850 
0.0000 
0.0000 
0.0000 
0.0000 
34 
0.5963 
0.1334 
0.0000 
0.0664 
0.1667 
0.0372 
36 
0.7767 
0.1999 
0.0234 
0.0000 
0.0000 
0.0000 
38 
0.8191 
0.1405 
0.0304 
0.0090 
0.0010 
0.0000 
40 
0.7886 
0.1764 
0.0303 
0.0047 
0.0000 
0.0000 
42 
0.7707 
0.1654 
0.0550 
0.0079 
0.0000 
0.0011 
44 
0.5380 
0.2904 
0.1490 
0.0174 
0.0048 
0.0004 
46 
0.3941 
0.2965 
0.2361 
0.0500 
0.0194 
0.0040 
48 
0.2301 
0.2761 
0.3361 
0.1073 
0.0401 
0.0104 
50 
0.1421 
0.1845 
0.3947 
0.1685 
0.0858 
0.0244 
52 
0.0653 
0.1239 
0.4071 
0.2015 
0.1301 
0.0722 
54 
0.0344 
0.0784 
0.3697 
0.1922 
0.1908 
0.1346 
56 
0.0300 
0.0675 
0.3007 
0.1509 
0.2034 
0.2476 
58 
0.0258 
0.0567 
0.2464 
0.1256 
0.2051 
0.3404 
60 
0.0333 
0.0614 
0.1679 
0.0806 
0.1719 
0.4848 
CV 
28 
0.05 
— 
— 
— 
— 
1.00 
30 
0.00 
— 
— 
— 
— 
— 
32 
0.23 
1.00 
— 
— 
— 
— 
34 
0.23 
0.64 
— 
1.00 
1.00 
1.00 
36 
0.15 
0.52 
0.96 
— 
— 
— 
38 
0.09 
0.42 
0.98 
0.73 
1.00 
— 
40 
0.12 
0.43 
0.79 
1.00 
— 
— 
42 
0.12 
0.38 
0.64 
0.58 
— 
1.00 
44 
0.19 
0.26 
0.54 
0.47 
0.54 
1.00 
46 
0.19 
0.21 
0.36 
0.22 
0.32 
0.31 
48 
0.21 
0.22 
0.21 
0.14 
0.13 
0.46 
50 
0.22 
0.22 
0.11 
0.12 
0.11 
0.24 
52 
0.23 
0.21 
0.06 
0.13 
0.10 
0.22 
54 
0.28 
0.22 
0.07 
0.13 
0.11 
0.16 
56 
0.17 
0.24 
0.09 
0.15 
0.09 
0.13 
58 
0.26 
0.14 
0.12 
0.14 
0.16 
0.14 
60 
0.28 
0.11 
0.16 
0.25 
0.13 
0.11 
