"MMS 97-0046." "April 1998." "This study was funded in part by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Minerals Management Service (MMS), through cooperative agreement no. 14-35-001-30661, task order no. 11980, between the MMS, Alaska Outer continental Shelf Region, and the University of Alaska Fairbanks"--Page 2 of cover. Includes bibliographical references (pages I-60-67).

Volume I. Final report -- Volume II. Appendices. Seasonal and interannual abundance and distribution of juvenile groundfishes were addressed through studies in Chiniak Bay, Kodiak Island, and Kachemak Bay, Lower Cook Inlet. Sampling three times a year over two years (1994-1996) in Kachemak Bay provided insight into short term interannual variability and seasonal variability. Physical habitat parameters of the two most abundant flatfishes in Kachemak Bay, flathead sole (Hippoglossoides elassodon) and rock sole (Pleuronectes bilineatus) were quantified in a location separate from Kodiak Island. August sampling was conducted for six years (1991-1996) in Chiniak Bay. The first four years located and defined nursery grounds of juvenile flatfishes and provided the background necessary to design and test new sampling designs for abundance estimation. During 1995-1996, we used stepwise sampling strategies designed to increase the precision of abundance estimates. The interannual variability of the four most abundant flatfishes in Chiniak Bay, flathead sole, Pacific halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepis), yellowfin sole (Pleuronectes asper) and rock sole, was assessed over six years. For the two periods that Kachemak and Chiniak Bays were sampled simultaneously (August 1995 and August 1996), the groundfish community composition, distribution and abundance were compared. Depth was the most important factor related to distribution and abundance of groundfishes in these two locations. The taxonomic compositions of benthic invertebrates and flatfish diets were contrasted at one site in Kachemak Bay.