Bering wolffish COSEWIC assessment and status report: chapter 10

Limiting Factors and Threats

Range and distribution of the species may be severely limited by specific habitat requirements. So little is known about the habitat requirements and reproductive biology of the species that any inferences regarding threats to available habitat in Canadian waters are impossible.

Dunbar(1970) lists the three other wolffish species as worthy of serious consideration for commercial fisheries, but makes no mention of Anarhichas orientalis. The supposed limited area of occurrence of the Bering wolffish as well as the harsh and remote nature of the Arctic coast make it unlikely that it will ever be threatened by a commercial fishery.

Inshore petroleum development may hold the highest risk to Bering wolffish populations of any human activity in the area. These activities are at present concentrated near the Mackenzie Delta in waters that are somewhat brackish, and may not directly threaten undocumented wolffish populations. However, it will be important to monitor future activities as exploration moves east and west from the Mackenzie Delta into areas that may support Bering wolfish populations.

There are reports that Bathurst Inlet has been selected as the site for the development of a deepwater Arctic port (Nunavut Wildlife Management Board, pers. com.). This could pose a substantial threat to the habitat of the Bering Wolffish.

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