Paralichthodidae (measles flounders) Poecilopsettidae (bigeye flounders) Rhombosoleidae (rhombosoleids) Achiropsettidae (southern flounders) Samaridae (crested flounders) Achiridae (American soles) Soleidae (true soles) Cynoglossidae (tonguefishes)Ī flatfish is a member of the ray-finned demersal fish order Pleuronectiformes, also called the Heterosomata, sometimes classified as a suborder of Perciformes. Scophthalmidae (turbots) Paralichthyidae (large-tooth flounders) Pleuronectidae (righteye flounders) Bothidae (lefteye flounders) Superfamily Soleoidea Suborder Pleuronectoidei Superfamily CitharoideaĬitharidae (largescale flounders) Superfamily Pleuronectoidea This has reduced contact with the seafloor by 90 per cent, helping reducing the impact on seabed habitats and non-target species such as crab.Suborder Psettodoidei Psettodidae (spiny turbots) In 2011, the fishery introduced new gear that uses bobbins or spindles to raise the trawl net off the seafloor. Fishing cooperatives have been formed, and the quotas are allocated between them, enabling individual vessels to make the most of their time at sea while preventing overharvesting. There are strict quotas in place for the various flatfish species the fishery targets (yellowfin, flathead and northern rock sole, Alaska plaice, arrowhead and Kamchatka flounder) as well as bycatch species such as crab and halibut. But careful management since has seen flatfish make a spectacular recovery, and the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands flatfish fishery has become a model of sustainable fishing.Ĭonservative management has increased flatfish biomass to unprecedented levels: in recent years, the actual catch in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands of 200,000-250,000 tonnes has been just 20-25 per cent of the annual catch limits established by scientists. In the 1970s, many flatfish stocks in the Bering Sea had collapsed or becoming depleted following overfishing by foreign vessels in the 1950s and 1960s.

Northern rock sole ( Lepidopsetta polyxystra) Kamchatka flounder ( Atheresthes evermanni)

Alaska plaice ( Pleuronectes quadrituberculatus)Ħ1 (Pacific, Northwest), 67 (Pacific, Northeast)Īrrow-tooth flounder ( Atheresthes stomias)įlathead sole ( Hippoglossoides elassodon)

Flat fish