253 
Abstract— In 2011, octopuses in the 
Gulf of Alaska were removed from 
the “other species” group and are 
now managed by the North Pacific 
Fishery Management Council as a 
complex that includes all octopus 
species within this region. Manage- 
ment of this complex includes the 
specification of annual catch limits 
and overfishing limits. Understand- 
ing the life history of octopuses is 
important for establishment of ap- 
propriate management strategies. 
The North Pacific giant octopus ( En - 
teroctopus dofleini) is the most abun- 
dant octopus species found on the 
continental shelf and dominates the 
commercial catch of octopuses with- 
in the Gulf of Alaska. Specimens of 
the North Pacific giant octopus were 
obtained from charter operations, 
commercial fishermen, and scientific 
surveys within the Gulf of Alaska. 
This species has a protracted re- 
productive cycle and peak spawning 
occurs from winter to early spring 
months. In the Gulf of Alaska, this 
species matures at weights from 10 
to 20 kg; weight at 50% maturity 
is 13.7 kg (95% confidence interval 
[Cl] = 12.5 — 15.5 kg) for females and 
14.2 kg (95% CI=12.6-15.9 kg) for 
males. Estimates of fecundity for 
this species range from 41,600 to 
239,000 eggs per female and average 
fecundity is estimated at 106,800 
eggs per female. Fecundity was posi- 
tively related to the weight of the fe- 
male {n= 33, PcO.OOl). Determination 
of reproductive parameters is neces- 
sary to assess the vulnerability of 
octopuses within this region to over- 
fishing and to establish appropriate 
management strategies for this spe- 
cies group within the Gulf of Alaska. 
Manuscript submitted 14 May 2013. 
Manuscript accepted 17 July 2014. 
Fish. Bull. 112:253-260 (2014). 
doi:10.7755/FB. 112.4.2 
The views and opinions expressed or 
implied in this article are those of the 
author (or authors) and do not necessarily 
reflect the position of the National 
Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA. 
Aspects of the reproductive biology of the 
North Pacific giant octopus iEnteroctopus 
dofleini) in the Gulf of Alaska 
Christina L. Conrath (contact author ) 1 
M. Elizabeth Conners 2 
Email address for contact author: christina.conrath@noaa.gov 
1 Resource Assessment and Conservation Engineering Division 
Kodiak Laboratory 
Alaska Fisheries Science Center 
National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA 
301 Research Court 
Kodiak, Alaska 99615 
2 Resource Ecology and Fisheries Management Division 
Alaska Fisheries Science Center 
National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA 
7600 Sand Point Way NE 
Seattle, Washington 98115 
Recent changes in the management 
of commercial fisheries in Alaska 
have included increased monitor- 
ing and regulation of several species 
groups that are not directly targeted 
but are incidentally taken in fish- 
eries managed by federal and state 
agencies. An octopus management 
complex, with its own annual catch 
limits and overfishing limits was 
created by the North Pacific Fishery 
Management Council in 2011 in both 
the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska 
regions. There is no fishery that di- 
rectly targets this complex, but octo- 
puses are taken as bycatch in trawl, 
longline, and pot fisheries through- 
out Alaska — the majority of catch 
coming from pot fisheries targeting 
Pacific cod (Gadus macrocephalus) 
(Sagalkin and Spalinger, 2011; Con- 
ners et ah, 2012). At least 8 species 
of octopuses are found within the 
Gulf of Alaska and are members of 
this complex, but the North Pacific 
giant octopus (Enteroctopus dofleini ) 
is the most abundant species in con- 
tinental shelf waters within this re- 
gion (Jorgensen, 2009; Conners et al., 
2012). This species dominates inci- 
dental catch of octopuses in commer- 
cial fisheries managed by the North 
Pacific Fishery Management Council 
and by the state of Alaska (Conners 
et ah, 2012). 
The North Pacific giant octopus is 
found throughout the North Pacific 
Ocean from Japanese waters to the 
Aleutian Islands, Bering Sea, and the 
Gulf of Alaska and in coastal waters 
in the eastern Pacific as far south 
as Southern California (Jorgensen, 
2009). It is the largest species of oc- 
topuss in the world, reaching a maxi- 
mum size of around 50 kg (Roper et 
al., 1984). The life expectancy of this 
species appears to be 4.5 to 5 years 
on the basis of aquarium studies 
conducted within the Puget Sound 
region of Washington state. Like 
most incirrate octopuses, this spe- 
cies is semelparous and, therefore, 
females die after a single batch of 
eggs hatch (High, 1976). This species 
is estimated to have up to 100,000 
eggs per female and a large number 
of planktotrophic larvae (Kanamaru, 
1964; Sato, 1996). Hatchlings have 
been found to be about 3.5 mm in 
length (Kubodera, 1991). It has been 
assumed that females of this spe- 
cies have the ability to store sperm 
(Kanamaru, 1964), and this phenom- 
enon has been documented in an 
aquarium setting (Gabe, 1975). 
