AFSC/RACE/GAP/McConnaughey: South Arctic Reconnaissance-2012-Reson

Polyline depicting the extent along the transit where multibeam sonar data were acquired using the Reson 7111 and 8160 mulltbeam sonar systems. Multibeam echosounder data were acquired and processed according to NOAA OCS hydrographic standards.

The broad scope of the Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) mandate requires an efficient process for describing and mapping the habitat needs of federally managed species. For example, research indicates surficial sediments affect the distribution and abundance of many groundfish species, yet traditional sampling with grabs and cores is impractical over areas as large as the Bering Sea shelf. Acoustic tools are suitable for large-scale surveying and show great promise as a substitute for direct-sampling methods, but they have not been proven useful for EFH purposes. Acoustic seafloor surveys using different sonar systems were conducted along strong gradients of groundfish abundance, as determined from many years of RACE bottom trawl survey catches at fixed stations. Ultimately, the value of acoustic backscatter as a habitat defining character will be judged based on the statistical association between normalized backscatter and fish density. The benefits and costs of the different acoustic systems will be compared with data from multiple passes along the survey tracklines. Sediment samples, video and infauna collected along each trackline will provide additional biological and geological information for the analyses. Immediately following the Fishpac project during the summer of 2012, a single trackline was made between Dutch Harbor and Kotzebue Sound and various types of data were collected along the transit to get a glimpse at the seafloor habitat along the way.

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