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Fishery Bulletin 120(1) 
Gulf of Alaska 
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Percentage of hauls with interactions 
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Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands 
Partial coverage 
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© Pacific cod pot fishery 
++ Greenland turbot longline fishery ¥ Pacific cod trawl fishery 
= Sablefish pot fishery (Al) 
Sablefish pot fishery (BS) 
* Pollock trawl fishery 
 Rockfish trawl fishery 
Figure 7 
Percentage of monitored hauls with recorded interactions of killer whales (Orcinus orca) with fishery operations from 2001 through 
2016, by fishery, category of observer coverage (full or partial), and year, in the Gulf of Alaska and in the Bering Sea and Aleutian 
Islands. Fisheries are among those Alaska fisheries defined in the List of Fisheries of the Office of Protected Resources, National 
Marine Fisheries Service. Vertical lines are shown as references for the addition in 2008 of “feeding on discarded catch” to the list of 
interaction types recorded by observers and for the restructuring in 2013 of the North Pacific Observer Program. 
adult female (size was not specified). Two tissue samples 
were also collected from decomposed killer whales that 
were brought on board the vessel. Results of genetic anal- 
ysis indicate that both samples were from juvenile males 
of the resident ecotype. 
Additional samples were available for analysis during 
this study. Staff members of the MML authorized an 
observer to biopsy killer whales by using darts as they fed 
on catch during BSAI sablefish longline operations. Two 
samples were collected; results of genetic analysis confirm 
that the samples are from killer whales of the resident 
ecotype. 
Discussion 
Although fishery interactions with killer whales were 
widespread throughout Alaska, most interactions were 
reported during fishing operations in the southeastern 
Bering Sea, from the Aleutian Islands north along the 
shelf break to areas north and west of St. Matthews Island. 
When comparing this area with locations where interac- 
tions occurred during the 1980s and 1990s (Dahlheim!’; 
Yano and Dahlheim, 1995), we found that the southeast- 
ern Bering Sea continues to be a hotspot for interactions 
of killer whales with fisheries. Recent data indicate that 
interactions have occurred as far north as St. Matthews 
Island and as far west as Agattu Island (just southeast of 
Attu Island, which like Agattu Island is part of the Near 
Islands, a group of islands in the Aleutian Islands), with 
reports from both the Bering Sea and Pacific Ocean sides 
of the Aleutian Islands. Interactions also occurred along 
the south side of the Alaska Peninsula into the western 
GOA near Kodiak, Alaska, with 2 reports as far east as 
Southeast Alaska. Results of the decadal comparisons of 
the locations of these interactions indicate that a range 
expansion could be occurring. 
In previous longline depredation studies, killer whales 
have been reported to consume sablefish (Anoplopoma fim- 
bria), Greenland halibut (Reinhardtius hippoglossoides), 
arrowtooth flounder (Atheresthes stomias), Pacific halibut 
(Hippoglossus stenolepis), and searcher (Bathymaster 
