"Habitat"

The Arctic ecosystem is changing rapidly, yet information on nearshore fish assemblages for the northeastern Chukchi Sea is extremely limited. To address this information gap, we sampled nearshore fish assemblages with a beach seine and a small bottom trawl at six stations in the northeastern Chukchi Sea in August 2007, 2008, and 2009, and in September 2009. Catch and species composition differed by gear type and between sample periods, including the two in 2009. A total of 16039 fish representing 18 species were captured in 24 beach seine hauls, and 3108 fish representing 24 species were captured in 48 trawl tows. Beach seine catch was dominated by capelin (83%), and trawl catch was dominated by Arctic cod (56%). Species that were good discriminators between gear types were capelin (seine) and slender eelblenny (trawl), and unidentified small sculpins were the most common taxa caught with both gear types. Capelin and Arctic cod captured by either gear type were mostly juveniles (judging by size). Variability among sampling periods in catch and species composition within gear types can likely be attributed to annual variations in environmental conditions, including differences in water temperature (range: 2 ̊ – 9 ̊C). The shallow nearshore environment of the northeastern Chukchi Sea provides important habitat for many fish species and is extremely vulnerable to disturbance. Loss of sea ice from global warming may open up formerly inaccessible areas to oil and gas exploration, vessel traffic, and commercial fishing. Thus, long-term monitoring of nearshore fish assemblages in the Alaskan Arctic is necessary for managers to make informed decisions in this fragile environment.

Final Report prepared for the Kenai Peninsula Borough on the historical habitat use of Cook Inlet beluga whales in Cook Inlet

We used longline surveys to quantify the shark assemblage at French Frigate Shoals (FFS) atoll from May to August 2009. Fishing effort consisted of 189 longline sets totaling 6,862 hook hours of soak time.

Information on fish in coastal waters of the Alaskan Arctic is outdated or nonexistent, especially in areas targeted for oil exploration and increased transportation activities. To address this information gap, we sampled fish in nearshore waters...

The importance of a particular habitat to nearshore fish can be best assessed by both diurnal and nocturnal sampling. To determine diel differences in fish assemblages in nearshore eelgrass and under-story kelp habitats, fish were sampled diurnally and nocturnally at six locations in western Prince William Sound, Alaska, in summer 2007. Abundance of fish between day and night were similar, but species composition and mean size of some fish changed. Species richness and species diversity were similar in eelgrass during the day and night, whereas in kelp, species richness and species diversity were greater at night than during the day. In eelgrass, saffron cod (Eleginus gracilis) was the most abundant species during the day and night. In kelp, the most abundant species were Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii) during the day and saffron cod at night. Diel differences in fish size varied by species and habitat. Mean length of saffron cod was similar between day and night in eelgrass but was greatest during the day in kelp. Pacific herring were larger at night than during the day in kelp. Diel sampling is important to identity nearshore habitats essential to fish and help manage fish stocks at risk.

The North Pacific right whale (Eubalaena japonica) was heavily exploited by both nineteenth century whaling and recent (1960s) illegal Soviet catches. Today, the species remains extremely rare especially in the eastern North Pacific.

We equipped individual tiger (Galeocerdo cuvier Péron and Lesueur, 1822) and Galapagos (Carcharhinus galapagensis Snodgrass and Heller, 1905) sharks with both acoustic and satellite transmitters to quantify their long-term movements in the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument (Northwestern Hawaiian Islands).

High female mortality due to male aggression in Hawaiian monk seals led us to investigate the role of habitat use and social structure on sex ratios and aggression at Laysan Island, Hawaii.

We are collecting data and investigating the potential environmental impacts of the upcoming Elwha River dams removal.

For information contact: Jim Milbury 562-980-4006.