386 
Abstract — A 4500-year archaeologi- 
cal record of Pacific cod ( Gadus mac- 
rocephalus) bones from Sanak Island, 
Alaska, was used to assess the sus- 
tainability of the modern fishery and 
the effects of this fishery on the size 
of fish caught. Allometric reconstruc- 
tions of Pacific cod length for eight 
prehistoric time periods indicated 
that the current size of the nearshore, 
commercially fished Pacific cod stocks 
is statistically unchanged from that 
of fish caught during 4500 years of 
subsistence harvesting. This finding 
indicates that the current Pacific cod 
fishery that uses selective harvest- 
ing technologies is a sustainable 
commercial fishery. Variation in rela- 
tive Pacific cod abundances provides 
further insights into the response of 
this species to punctuated changes 
in ocean climate (regime shifts) and 
indicates that Pacific cod stocks can 
recover from major environmental 
perturbations. Such palaeofisheries 
data can extend the short time-series 
of fisheries data (<50 yr) that form 
the basis for fisheries management in 
the Gulf of Alaska and place current 
trends within the context of centen- 
nial- or millennial-scale patterns. 
Manuscript submitted 21 June 2007. 
Manuscript accepted 16 June 2008. 
Fish. Bull. 106:386-394 (2008). 
The views and opinions expressed or 
implied in this article are those of the 
author and do not necessarily reflect 
the position of the National Marine 
Fisheries Service, NOAA. 
A 4500-year time series of Pacific cod 
(Gadus macrocephalus ) size and abundance: 
archaeology, oceanic regime shifts, 
and sustainable fisheries 
Herbert D. G. Maschner (contact author ) 1 
Matthew W. Betts 2 
Katherine L. Reedy-Maschner 1 
Andrew W. Trites 3 
' Department of Anthropology 
Idaho State University 
921 S. 8th Avenue, Stop 8005 
Pocatello, Idaho 83209-8005 
2 Archaeology and History Division 
Canadian Museum of Civilization 
100 Laurier Street, Box 3100, Station B 
Gatineau, Quebec, J8X 4H2 Canada 
3 Fisheries Centre, Room 247 
Aquatic Ecosystems Research Laboratory, 2202 Main Mall 
University of British Columbia 
Vancouver, B C. V6T 1Z4 Canada 
Email address for H. D. G. Maschner: maschner@isu.edu 
Fishing is a size-selective process 
that tends to remove larger fish and 
reduce the life span and mean size 
of individuals, especially in heavily 
exploited systems (Shin et al., 2005; 
Trites et al., 2006). Reductions in 
size-at-age and age-at-maturation 
have been reported for a number of 
heavily exploited species of fish (Trip- 
pel, 1995; Rochet, 1998; Bianchi et 
al., 2000) and may cause evolutionary 
change (Ernande et al., 2004; Hutch- 
ings, 2005; Law, 2007). Knowledge 
of body size is therefore an impor- 
tant metric for fisheries management 
because it can affect market price 
and reflects the spawning potential 
of the fish population (Shin et al., 
2005). 
Most fisheries management and 
conservation research has been re- 
stricted to interpreting trends and 
data sets that span just a few de- 
cades (Pauly et al., 1998; Worm et 
al., 2006), and tend not to incorporate 
the longer-term perspective that can 
be obtained by including palaeoeco- 
logical data (Willis and Birks, 2006). 
Combining palaeoecological data with 
biological data can provide a signifi- 
cantly longer time series for measur- 
ing population and ecosystem health 
for conservation biology and resource 
management, and for understanding 
how current decadal trends fit within 
the context of centennial- or millen- 
nial-scale cycles (Jackson et al., 2001; 
Braje et al., 2006). Humans have been 
sampling species and ecosystems for 
thousands of years and have left rich 
data sets of both natural ecosystem 
dynamics and human interactions 
with animal populations that are 
preserved in archaeofaunal remains 
(animal bones found on archaeologi- 
cal sites). 
Sanak Island is the center of a 
small, low-lying archipelago on the 
edge of the continental shelf in the 
western Gulf of Alaska (Fig. 1). This 
island group was a hub of the North 
Pacific Pacific cod ( Gadus macroceph- 
alus) fishery from the 1870s to the 
1930s (Reedy-Maschner, 2004). Lo- 
cal Aleuts reported that Pacific cod 
disappeared in commercial quantities 
in this region between 1942 and 1975 
but returned and have supported the 
modern Pacific cod fishery since the 
1975 oceanic regime shift. 
