Science & Data

The goal of the Ecosystem Considerations report is to provide stronger links between ecosystem research and fishery management and to spur new understanding of the connections between ecosystem components by bringing together many diverse research efforts into one document.

The annual stock assessment and fishery evaluation (SAFE) report is a requirement of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council's Fishery Management Plan for Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands King and Tanner Crabs (FMP), and is a federal requirement [50 CFR Section 602.12(e)]. The SAFE report summarizes the current biological and economic status of fisheries, total allowable catch (TAC) or Guideline Harvest Level (GHL), and analytical information used for management decisions. Additional information on Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands (BSAI) king and Tanner crab is available on the NMFS web page at http://www.fakr.noaa.gov and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) Westward Region Shellfish web page at: http://www.cf.adfg.state.ak.us/region4/shellfsh/shelhom4.php.

Stock assessment and fishery evaluation reports archive from 1998–2012.

Steller sea lion survey data and memos completed in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska.

Northern fur seal pup production numbers estimated for Bogoslof Island during August 2011.

In 1953, the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) (43 USC 1331-1356) charged the U.S. Secretary of the Interior with the responsibility for administering minerals exploration within and development of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). The Act empowered the Secretary to formulate regulations so that its provisions could be met. The OCSLA Amendments of 1978 (43 USC 1802) established a policy for the management of oil and natural gas in the OCS and for protection of the marine and coastal environments. The amended OCSLA states that the Secretary of the Interior shall conduct studies in areas or regions of sales to ascertain the “environmental impacts on the marine and coastal environments of the Outer Continental Shelf and the coastal areas which may be affected by oil and gas development” (43 USC 1346).

Logbook summary reports for the 2011 calendar year.

Logbook summary reports for the 2011 calendar year.

Aerial survey to assess western DPS Steller sea lion pup production.

The domestic groundfish fishery off Alaska is an important segment of the U.S. fishing industry. With a total catch of 2.07 million metric tons (t), a retained catch of 1.99 million t, and an ex-vessel value of $991 million in 2011, it accounted for 55.4% of the weight and 21.9% of the ex-vessel value of total U.S. domestic landings as reported in Fisheries of the United States, 2010 (FUS 2011 was not yet available at the time of this draft). The value of the 2011 groundfish catch after primary processing was $2,520 million (F.O.B. Alaska).