The Graduate Studies Committee would like to invite everyone to the MSC ESC Thesis defense for Travis James. His Thesis is titled " Migration patterns of Atlantic Halibut from the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence".

Abstract: The seasonal mobility of Atlantic halibut of the Southern Gulf of St. Lawrence was evaluated using pop-up satellite arrival (PSAT) and Floy tags. Atlantic halibut were captured in the coastal waters of Prince Edward Island, Canada; Twenty Atlantic halibut were tagged with 20 PSAT tags and 667 with Floy tags. PSATs were programed to release after approximately one year. Atlantic halibut took either distinct eastern or western migratory coastal migratory routes. Atlantic halibut overwintered in the deepest waters of the Laurentian Channel or along the slope of the Laurentian Channel. Atlantic halibut in the deepest waters of the Laurentian Channel exhibited rapid, ~ 100m depth rises associated with spawning in January to March. Floy and PSAT tagging showed that Atlantic halibut exhibited fidelity to late summer range, with a median distance between capture and recapture locations of 16 km. Out of 123 Floy tag recaptures over five years, only eight Atlantic halibut exhibited dispersive behavior outside of the observed migratory routes. The dispersive fish migrated to the Northern Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Scotian Shelf.

The presentation and examination will be presented via a web conference.  Those who wish to “attend” should contact the examination committee chair, Barry Linkletter, at gsc@upei.ca for the information to connect.