Species: Merluccius productus

There is an ongoing concern that human activities can cause reductions in the amount of oxygen available to fish and other marine species. In Puget Sound, scientists are working to evaluate when and where some of these reductions could have an adverse ecological impact. As part of a series of workshops on Puget Sound water quality, the Puget Sound Institute asked Dr. Tim Essington of the University of Washington School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences to describe how low dissolved oxygen affects species like salmon or Dungeness crabs. The following text is adapted from a video presentation by Essington in 2023.

Bentho-pelagic fish utilize both bottom habitats and shallower portions of the water column, often feeding in shallow water at night and moving to deeper water to form schools during the day.