Science & Data

Juvenile Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.), ecologically-related species, and associated biophysical data were collected by the Southeast Coastal Monitoring Project along primary marine migration corridors in the southern and northern regions of southeastern Alaska. Up to 17 stations were sampled in four time periods (40 sampling days) from May to August 2005. This survey marked the ninth consecutive year of systematic monitoring of how juvenile salmon interact in marine ecosystems, and was implemented to identify the relationships among biophysical parameters that influence the habitat use, marine growth, predation, stock interactions, and year-class strength of salmon. Typically, at each station, fish, zooplankton, physical profile data, and water samples were collected using a surface rope trawl, conical and bongo nets, a conductivity-temperature-depth profiler, and a water sampler during daylight. Surface (3-m) temperatures and salinities ranged from 9.3 to 15.7 ºC and 13.8 to 31.5 PSU over the season. A total of 6,874 fish and squid, representing 19 taxa, were captured in 92 rope trawl hauls from June to August. Juvenile salmon comprised 96% of the total fish and squid catch in each region. Juvenile salmon occurred frequently in both regions, with pink (O. gorbuscha), chum (O. keta), sockeye (O. nerka), and coho (O. kisutch) occurring in 63-86% of the trawl hauls, and juvenile Chinook salmon occurring in 20-25% of the trawl hauls. Of the 6,651 salmonids caught, over 99% were juveniles. In both regions, only two non-salmonid species represented >1% of the catch: market squid (Loligo spp.) in the southern region (2%) and crested sculpin (Blepsias bilobus) in the northern region (2%). Temporal and spatial differences were observed in the catch rates, size, condition, and stock of origin of juvenile salmon species. Catch rates of juvenile salmon were highest in June for all species except pink salmon, which had the highest catch rates in August. Size of juvenile salmon increased steadily throughout the season; mean fork lengths in June, July, and August were, respectively: 92, 127, and 170 mm for pink; 108, 124, and 191 mm for chum; 115, 123, and 180 mm for sockeye; 184, 207, and 239 mm for coho; and 205, 245, and 255 for Chinook salmon. Coded-wire tags were recovered from 17 juvenile coho, 6 juvenile Chinook, and 2 immature Chinook salmon; all but six of these fish were from hatchery and wild stocks of southeastern Alaska origin. The non-Alaska stocks were juvenile coho and Chinook salmon originating from Oregon and Washington. Alaska enhanced stocks were also identified by thermal otolith marks from 53% of the chum, 18% of the sockeye, 9% of the coho, and 50% of the Chinook salmon. Onboard stomach analysis of 63 potential predators, representing eight species, revealed one predation instance on juvenile salmon by a spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias). Forecasting models using catch-per-unit effort (CPUE) of juvenile pink salmon in strait habitat of the northern region in 2003 and 2004 produced accurate predictions of southeastern Alaska pink salmon harvests in 2004 and 2005. However, the models using 2005 CPUE as a predictor overestimated harvest of pink salmon in 2006, indicating that CPUE alone is not sufficient to consistently predict year class strength. These results suggest that in southeastern Alaska, juvenile salmon exhibit seasonal patterns of habitat use and abundance, and display species- and stock-dependent migration patterns. Long-term monitoring of key stocks of juvenile salmon, on both intra- and interannual bases, will enable researchers to better understand ecological interactions that affect interannual variation in salmon abundance and the role that salmon play in North Pacific marine ecosystems.

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has conducted aerial surveys of the beluga population in Cook Inlet, Alaska, each June and/or July since 1993. Results from 1993 to 2000 were published in Rugh et al. (2000a). The current document is a collection of field reports for the subsequent years, from 2001 to 2004.

The northern fur seal (Callorhinus ursinus) population in the Pribilof Islands Archipelago (on St. Paul and St. George Islands, Figs. 1-3) constitutes approximately 55% of the world population. Smaller breeding colonies are located on the Kuril and the Commander Islands in Russia, Bogoslof Island (Fig. 4) in the southeastern Bering Sea, and San Miguel Island (Fig. 5) off California. The rookeries at San Miguel and Bogoslof Islands probably originated in the late 1950s (DeLong 1982) and 1980 (R.R. Ream, pers. comm.), respectively.

The purpose of the first section, Ecosystem Assessment, is to summarize historical climate and fishing effects on the eastern Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands and Gulf of Alaska ecosystems using information from the other two sections and stock assessment reports. In future drafts, the Ecosystem Assessment section will also provide an assessment of the possible future effects of climate and fishing on ecosystem structure and function.

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 a federal requirement [50 CFR Section 602.12(e)]. The SAFE summarizes the current biological and economic status of fisheries, guideline harvest levels (GHL), and analytical information used for management decisions or changes in harvest strategies. The report is assembled by the Crab Plan Team with contributions from the State of Alaska, Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), and is available to the public and presented to the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) on an annual basis. Additional information on Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands (BSAI) king and Tanner crab is available on the NMFS web page at www.fakr.noaa.gov and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) Westward Region web page at www.cf.adfg.state.ak.us/region4/rgn4home.htm.

NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-AFSC-149

The domestic groundfish fishery off Alaska is an important segment of the U.S. fishing industry. This report contains figures and tables which summarize various aspects of the economic performance of the fishery. Generally, data are presented for the domestic groundfish fishery for 2000 through 2004. Limited catch and ex-vessel value data are reported for earlier years in order to depict the rapid development of the domestic groundfish fishery in the 1980s and to provide a more complete historical perspective on catch. Pacific halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepis) is not included in data for the groundfish fishery in this report because for management purposes halibut is not part of the groundfish complex.

Juvenile Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.), ecologically-related species, and associated biophysical data were collected along a primary marine migration corridor in the northern region of southeastern Alaska. Thirteen stations were sampled over six time periods (31 sampling days) from May to August 2004. This survey marks the eighth consecutive year of systematic monitoring on how juvenile salmon interact in marine ecosystems, and was implemented to identify the relationships among biophysical parameters that influence the habitat use, marine growth, predation, stock interactions, and year-class strength of salmon. Habitats sampled included stations in inshore (Auke Bay and Taku Inlet), strait (four stations each in Chatham Strait and Icy Strait), and coastal (four stations off Icy Point) localities. At each station, fish, zooplankton, surface water samples, and physical profile data were collected using a surface rope trawl, conical and bongo nets, water sampler, and a conductivity-temperature-depth profiler, usually during daylight. Surface (3-m) temperatures and salinities ranged from 6.9 to 17.4 ºC and 9.5 to 31.6 PSU from May to August. A total of 13,460 fish and squid, representing 29 taxa, were captured in 75 rope trawl hauls from June to August. Juvenile salmon comprised 48% of the total catch and occurred frequently in the trawl hauls, with pink (O. gorbuscha) occurring in 75% of the trawls, sockeye (O. nerka) in 73%, chum (O. keta) in 72%, coho (O. kisutch) in 51%, and chinook salmon (O. tshawytscha) in 19%. Of the 6,552 salmonids caught, over 99% were juveniles. Walleye pollock (Theragra chalcogramma) and Pacific herring (Clupea pallasi) were the only non-salmonid species that comprised more than 1% of the total catch. Temporal and spatial differences were observed in the catch rates, size, condition, and stock of origin of juvenile salmon species. Catch rates of juvenile salmon were generally highest in June for all species except coho that had catch rates highest in August. Between habitat types, juvenile salmon catch rates were almost always highest in the strait habitat for each species and in each time period. Size of juvenile salmon increased steadily throughout the season; mean fork lengths in June, July, and August were, respectively: 98, 129, and 163 mm for pink; 104, 139, and 166 mm for chum; 111, 137, and 165 mm for sockeye; 170, 203, and 246 mm for coho; and 199, 228, and 279 for chinook salmon. Coded-wire tags were recovered from 14 juvenile coho, three juvenile and six immature chinook salmon; all but one were from hatchery and wild stocks of southeastern Alaska origin. The non-Alaska stock was a juvenile chinook originating from Oregon. Alaska hatchery stocks were also identified by thermal otolith marks from 74% of the chum, 18% of the sockeye, 9% of the coho, and 45% of the chinook salmon. Onboard stomach analysis of 199 potential predators, representing 10 species, revealed four predation instances on juvenile salmon: three by adult coho salmon and one by an immature chinook salmon. This research suggests that in southeastern Alaska, juvenile salmon exhibit seasonal patterns of habitat use synchronous with environmental change, and display species- and stock-dependent migration patterns. Long-term monitoring of key stocks of juvenile salmon, on both intra- and interannual bases, will enable researchers to understand how growth, abundance, and ecological interactions affect year-class strength and to better understand the role salmon play in North Pacific marine ecosystems.

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) conducted aerial surveys of the beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas) population in Cook Inlet, Alaska, almost monthly between June 2001 and June 2002. The surveys were flown in a twin-engine, high-wing aircraft at an altitude of 244 m (800 ft) and speed of 185 km/hour (100 kt). Tracklines were approximately 1.4 km offshore, and systematic transects were made across the inlet, covering much of upper Cook Inlet. These methods were consistent with NMFS= abundance surveys conducted each June or July since 1993, except that only in June were there multiple surveys (repeat samplings) within a block of days. During the 2001­ 02 monthly surveys, aerial counts of belugas (median counts when more than one observer was counting) generally stayed high from June through October (n = 211 in June, 39 and 152 in July, 205 in August, 185 in September, 162 in October, respectively), but counts dropped from November to April (n = 24 in November, 15 in January, 0 in February, 18 in April, respectively) before rising again the following June (n = 192). Low counts in winter were probably due to ice in the inlet, making it hard to see the white whales. This study provides evidence of the presence of belugas in upper Cook Inlet in nearly every month of the year, but it is not clear what proportion of the population remains in the upper inlet year-round.

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 a federal requirement [50 CFR Section 602.12(e)]. The SAFE summarizes the current biological and economic status of fisheries, guideline harvest levels (GHL), and analytical information used for management decisions or changes in harvest strategies. The report is assembled by the crab plan team with contributions from the State of Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), and is available to the public and presented to the Council on an annual basis.