Otolith data are collected to measure age and growth of larval pollock. They are used to determine whether growth rate, hatch data and/or temperature influence fish size.

The dataset contains records of fish eggs and larvae collected during FOCI assessment surveys. Records include all data pertinent to identify where specimens were collected (lat, lon, date, gear used, max depth of gear, water depth). Specific data on specimens includes scientific name, stage of development, number collected (whole numbers and CPUE), lengths of larvae, and diameters and stages of eggs. In addition, there are comments that explain any irregularities that may have occurred during sample collection; depending on the reason data is being extracted, comments may indicate a sample is not suitable for consideration.

These data are part of a ocean observation study by Stabeno, Napp, and Whitledge sponsored, in part, by the North Pacific Research Board (Project 410; http://doc.nprb.org). The grant was titled "Long-term observations on the Bering Sea shelf (2004-2005): biophysical moorings at sites 2 and 4 as sentinels for ecosystem change." Moorings were maintained on the southeastern Bering Sea shelf at M2 (56.9B0N, 164.1B0W), and at M4 (57.9B0N, 168.9B0W). Shipboard measurements of temperature, salinity, nutrients, chlorophyll, fluorescence and zooplankton were collected around the moorings on two cruises (3MF04 - April 2004 and 8MF04 - September 2004) to ground truth in situ sensors on the moorings. This long-term monitoring supported major findings: (1) The timing of the spring phytoplankton bloom is determined by the presence of ice, with an early bloom occurring if ice is present after mid-March and later bloom occurring if there is no sea-ice after mid-March; (2) During the last decade, the southeastern Bering Sea shelf has undergone a marked warming (~3B0C) that is closely associated with a marked decrease of sea ice over the southeastern shelf; (3) Nutrients supply and summer salinity over the shelf has not significantly changed during the last three decades; (4) There is an indication that cold water zooplankton species (e.g Calanus marshallae ) are occurring in reduced abundance in association with the warming. While the warming over the southeastern shelf is primarily related to the reduction of ice extent, a combination of other mechanisms are important: the presence over the eastern shelf of a relatively mild air mass during winter since 2000; a shorter ice season caused by a later fall transition and/or earlier spring transition; increased flow through Unimak Pass during winter introducing warm Gulf of Alaska water onto the shelf; and a thermal feedback mechanism whereby warmer, summer ocean temperatures delay the southward advection of sea ice during winter.

Data collected on this cruise included the following: We conducted a juvenile fish and benthic fish prey survery in the eastern Bering Sea (61 3-meter beam trawls, 64 modified tucker epibenthic plankton sled tows, 54 van veen benthic grab collections).

The trawl database contains multiple tables of data. The ‘haul’ table contains the location, date, time and depth of the trawl haul. The ‘catch’ table contains the numbers and weights of the taxa in each haul. The ‘length’ table contains the lengths of selected taxa in each haul. There is data for the eastern Bering Sea for 2008, 2010, 2012, and 2014. There is Gulf of Alaska trawl data from 1993 to 2015.

These data are part of a ocean observation study by Stabeno, Napp, and Whitledge sponsored, in part, by the North Pacific Research Board (Project 517; http://doc.nprb.org). The grant was titled "Sentinels for Bering Sea ecosystem change." Moorings have been maintained on the southeastern Bering Sea shelf at four sites: M2 (56.9B0N, 164.1B0W) since 1995, M4 (57.9B0N, 168.9B0W) since 1996; M5 (59.9B0N, 171.7B0W) and; M8 (62.2B0N 174.7B0W) since 2004. Shipboard measurements of temperature, salinity, nutrients, chlorophyll, fluorescence and zooplankton were collected around the moorings and along the 70-m isobath on 3 cruises (3MF05, 16 April b?? 7 May; 3TT05, May 12 - 28; 8MF05, 21 September b?? 4 October) to groundtruth the in situ sensors on the moorings. This long-term monitoring supports major findings: (1) Over the southeastern shelf, the timing of the spring phytoplankton bloom is determined by the presence of ice, with an early bloom occurring if ice is present after mid-March and a later bloom if there is no sea-ice after mid-March; (2) during 2001-2005, the southeastern Bering Sea shelf underwent a marked warming (~3B0C) that was closely associated with a decrease of sea ice; with shifts in the atmospheric forcing, colder conditions returned to the Bering Sea shelf in the winter 2006 and continued into winter/spring 2007; (3) nutrients supply and summer salinity over the shelf has not significantly changed during the last three decades; (4) in association with the warming there is an indication that the abundance of cold-water zooplankton species (e.g. Calanus marshallae ) has been reduced; (5) from hydrography collected in May and September 2005 along the 70 m isobath starting at M2 in the south and ending at M8 in the north, it is evident that the structure of southern shelf is dominated by temperature, while the northern shelf is dominated by salinity. In addition, the location of the boundary between the southern shelf and northern shelf appears to vary from one year to the next and is mainly, but not completely dependent upon maximum ice extent during the spring.

The data set focuses on the diets of young of the year Gadus chalcogrammus from the Eastern Gulf of Alaska and the South Eastern Bering Sea. Diet data is available in select years and locations for year one Gadus chalcogrammus and juvenile Mallotus villosus, Thaleichthys pacificus, Lepidopsetta polyxystra, Limanda aspera, Gadus chalcogrammus, Atheresthes stomias, Hippoglossoides elassodon and Atheresthes evermanni. Diet data currently in EcoDAAT are from 1993-2010. The early 1990’s ,except for 1993, are focused on transects extending of the Pribilof islands. From 2000-2010 sampling occurred in the Eastern Gulf of Alaska, except for 2008 when sampling occurred in the South Eastern Bering Sea. Currently there are 166 prey taxa or groups identified within the diets of all fish. The majority of identifications being: large copepod, small copepod, and euphausiid.

A total of 105 stations were occupied. There were two sample grids (southeast Alaska and Yakutat Bay) and two transects in the vicinity of Kayak Island. At each station we sampled using paired 20 and 60 cm Bongo frames (150 and 500 micron mesh nets, respectively) and a Sameoto neuston sampler (500 micron mesh net) to estimate the abundance of zoo- and ichthyoplankton. A SeaBird SeaCat (SBE 19 plus) was used with the bongo frames to determine the depth of the samplers in real time and to measure temperature and conductivity. At a few selected stations depth-stratified plankton were obtained with a 1 meter squared MOCNESS (500 micron mesh nets) and at other selected stations microzooplankton were sampled with vertical tows of a CalVET net (53 micron mesh).

A total of 105 stations were occupied. There were two sample grids (southeast Alaska and Yakutat Bay) and two transects in the vicinity of Kayak Island. At each station we sampled using paired 20 and 60 cm Bongo frames (150 and 500 micron mesh nets, respectively) and a Sameoto neuston sampler (500 micron mesh net) to estimate the abundance of zoo- and ichthyoplankton. A SeaBird SeaCat (SBE 19 plus) was used with the bongo frames to determine the depth of the samplers in real time and to measure temperature and conductivity. At a few selected stations depth-stratified plankton were obtained with a 1 meter squared MOCNESS (500 micron mesh nets) and at other selected stations microzooplankton were sampled with vertical tows of a CalVET net (53 micron mesh).

Data collected on this cruise included the following: We conducted a juvenile fish and benthic fish prey survery in the eastern Bering Sea (61 3-meter beam trawls, 64 modified tucker epibenthic plankton sled tows, 54 van veen benthic grab collections).