Description
The Alaska Fisheries Science Center's Resource Ecology and Fisheries Management (REFM) Division conducts research and data collection to support an ecosystem approach to management of Northeast Pacific and eastern Bering Sea fish and crab resources. More than twenty-five groundfish and crab stock assessments are developed annually and used by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council to set catch quotas. In addition, economic and ecosystem assessments are provided to the Council on an annual basis. Division scientists evaluate how fish stocks, ecosystem relationships and user groups might be affected by fishery management actions and climate.
REFM scientists in the Status of Stocks and Multispecies Assessments (SSMA) program use biological and oceanographic information coupled with numerical simulation techniques to study the interaction of fish populations, fisheries, and the environment. The Fishery Interaction Team of SSMA conducts field studies to examine potential commercial fishery impacts on prey including reduction in the abundance or availability of prey at local scales and disturbance of prey fields. Ecosystem assessments and information and multispecies and ecosystem models on the relationship between predators and prey developed by the Division's Resource Ecology and Ecosystem Modeling staff also contribute to management advice. The Age and Growth program is primarily focused on providing age data that contributes to a basic understanding of a species, whether it is in the context of sustainable fisheries, species conservation, or species biology. These age data are critical to development of age-structured models and fishery management advice. The Socioeconomic program staff provides economic information to NMFS, industry and other agencies to assist with such projects as evaluating the economic effects of the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound, developing guidelines for valuing commercial and recreational fisheries, or evaluating economic impacts of fisheries rationalization programs. Sociocultural information on Alaskan communities and traditional ecological knowledge is also compiled and evaluated.
