An experimental bottom longline survey was conducted at depths >1,000 m in the western Gulf of Alaska in August 2008. The objective was to investigate the abundance and biological characteristics of giant grenadier (Albatrossia pectoralis) and sablefish (Anoplopoma fimbria) in deep waters of the Gulf of Alaska that have not been previously sampled in fishery surveys. Several difficulties were encountered during the fishing operations which indicate special problems may occur when fishing longlines at these depths, including substantial gear drift after setting and hang-ups on the bottom that caused the longline to part. Although results were not conclusive because only stations in the western Gulf of Alaska were sampled, there was consistency in the results which provides an indication of fish abundance and distribution in depths >1,000 m. Catch rates of giant grenadier were relatively high, although not as large as those in nearby longline survey stations in depths <1,000 m. Female giant grenadier were much larger in size at the deep-water stations, and their weight averaged 69% greater than females at depths <1,000 m. Males, which comprise a low percentage of the catch in shallower water, were caught in much higher numbers at the deep-water stations. Catch rates for sablefish at the deep-water stations were extremely low, and it appears abundance of sablefish is negligible in the western Gulf of Alaska at depths >1,000 m. Besides giant grenadier, Pacific grenadier (Coryphaenoides acrolepis) was the only other species caught in substantial numbers. At one deep-water station, Pacific grenadier were extremely abundant and were caught on 56% of the longlines hooks.

Diel epipelagic sampling for juvenile Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.), rockfish (Sebastes spp.), sablefish (Anoplopoma fimbria), and associated species was conducted in order to identify factors that may affect year-class success of these commercially important species. Sampling occurred in offshore marine habitats of the coastal northeast Pacific Ocean from 10-20 August 2005 and was conducted with a surface trawl fishing the upper 20 m of the water column along transects up to78 km offshore near 58 N. Three habitats were sampled along each transect over a 24-hr period: the continental shelf (<200 m depth), the continental slope (400-750 m depth), and the abyss (>2,000 m depth). A total of 38,747 fish and squid representing 24 species were sampled in 56 trawl hauls. Of the targeted juvenile fish species, a total of 587 salmon, 11 rockfish, and 70 sablefish were captured. Sampling during day (1500-1900) and night (2200-0200) periods indicated that biomass of fish and squid was 2-4 times higher at night at (each?)all habitat types pooled across transects. No distinct patterns between day or night occurrence were noted for juvenile pink salmon (O. gorbuscha), chum salmon (O. keta), sockeye salmon (O. nerka), or coho salmon (O. kisutch), however, juvenile Chinook salmon (O. tshawytscha) were encountered only at night. Catches of juvenile rockfish and juvenile sablefish were quite low in this study, and larger sample sizes of these fish are needed to adequately determine their diel distribution. Diel differences were apparent with forage species such as Pacific herring (Clupea pallasi), capelin (Mallotus villosus), and eulachon (Thaleichthys pacificus) that were almost exclusively sampled at night. The offshore distribution patterns of target species were distinctly different, with the most common occurrences of juvenile salmon over continental shelf habitats, juvenile sablefish over continental shelf and slope habitats, and juvenile rockfish over slope and abyss habitats. Pacific herring, capelin, eulachon, and Pacific sardines (Sardinops sagax) were found over continental shelf habitats, whereas small squid and myctophids occurred primarily at slope and abyssal habitats. The greatest overall catch biomass was of gelatinous species (jellyfish), which was consistently higher than that of all fish and squid combined, usually by an order of magnitude. Individual fish or squid species with highest average weight per haul were pomfret (Brama japonica), adult coho salmon, Humboldt squid (Dosidicus gigas), and blue sharks (Prionace glauca). The occurrence of the latter two warm-water species and Pacific sardines were of interest because this study occurred during an anomalously warm year and the capture of Pacific sardines and Humboldt squid represent northern range extensions for these species. Stomach content analysis of potential predator species of the target species showed that only adult coho salmon were predating on juvenile salmon and sablefish, and only pomfret were predating on juvenile rockfish. Further sampling of the target species is needed in these habitats during more normal environmental conditions to validate these observations.

The objectives of these Arctic nearshore fish surveys is to measure seasonal changes in the distribution, demographics, trophic position and nutritional status of forage fish during the partial and complete ice-free season near Pt. Barrow, along the nearshore Chukchi and Beaufort Seas including Elson Lagoon, Alaska. These data will be related to biological and physical conditions observed near the Chukchi and Beaufort coasts and Elson Lagoon. Arctic Cod (Boreogadus saida), Saffron Cod (Eleginus gracilis), Capelin (Mallotus villosus), Sand Lance (Ammodytes hexapterus), Coregonids and sculpins will serve as the primary forage species targeted in the proposed work. The physical features to be measured include salinity, temperature, current direction and speed, wind direction and speed and bathymetry, but most importantly we seek a better understanding of how weather (wind) would affect the transport through the multi-inlet Elson Lagoon and its relation to coastal currents. Biological features include the community composition, abundance, distribution and quality of zooplankton prey available to forage fish. The catch data in this database include sampling efforts from 3 complimentary studies using similar gear in similar areas: ACES (Arctic Coastal Ecosystem Survey) and SHELFZ (Shelf Habitat and EcoLogy of Fish and Zooplankton), Ecology of Forage Fishes in the Arctic Nearshore. Data will be comparable to NOAAs previous efforts in the nearshore near Pt. Barrow (e.g. Thedinga et al. 2013). Combining these historical data with the proposed work will lead to an improved understanding of the relationship between forage fish and their nearshore habitats during the partial and complete ice-free period. The information developed by this proposed project is needed by those engaged in predicting impacts of climate change, developing oil and gas resources, managing foraging habitat of marine mammals, and planning for increased marine transportation.

This dataset contains information regarding the sighting and capture of Steller sea lions marked in Alaska from 1987 to 2014. Marks are seen and documented in a variety of ways; remote cameras, dedicated vessel- and land-based surveys, recaptures of Steller sea lions, aerial survey photographs, strandings, and opportunistic sightings sent in from the public.

The scientific objective of the Gulf of Alaska Survey (GOA Survey) is to assess Young of the Year (YOY) groundfish, salmon, plankton, and oceanographic conditions across the coastal, shelf, slope, and offshore waters of the GOA and to provide information on species distribution, ecosystem structure, and marine productivity in response to changes in season, region, and climate. Specific objectives are to 1) observe epi-pelagic fish communities by sampling with a rope trawl towed at the surface; 2) collect electronic oceanographic data including CTD (Conductivity-temperature-depth) vertical profiles of temperature, salinity, light transmission, chlorophyll a fluorescence, and photosynthetic available radiation (PAR); and 3) collect biological oceanographic samples (zooplankton and water) by oblique bongo tows and water sampling.

We studied young of the year sablefish Anoplopoma fimbria to collect basic life history information on their abundance, growth, and diet and to determine whether forecasting year class abundance based on young of the year surveys was practical. Surface gillnet surveys were conducted annually from 1995 to 2004 along the seaward edge of the continental shelf of Alaska. Otoliths were extracted from a random subset of juvenile sablefish sampled by gillnet. This data set includes voucher otoliths from these studies.

Little information has previously been published on the reproductive biology of the salmon shark in the Eastern North Pacific ocean. This data set incorporates basic biological and reproductive information collected from female salmon sharks collected in September 2010 to February 2012.

A total of 70 stations were occupied. The standard FOCI grid and line 8 were samped. At each station we sampled using paired 20 and 60 cm Bongo frames (150 and 500 micron mesh nets, respectively). 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. On line 8 CTD casts were also taken. We left Dutch Harbor at 2300 on May 31 (GMT time) and arrived at our first grid station, GV147, at approximately 0500 on June 2. The deployment and retrieval of both the 60 cm bongo and the neuston gear were successful until the weather conditions became too severe to continue sampling our planned grid stations on the evening of June 2 after station 13 (HH151) was completed. Operations were resumed at GV151 on June 4 at 0200 until another storm made sampling conditions difficult after station 55 (HD 165) on June 7 at 0330. We waited in Alitak Bay on the south end of Kodiak Island to resume sampling. Since so much sampling time had already been lost due to weather, it was decided to abandon the rest of the planned grid stations below Shelikof Strait and steam to Line 8 and resume sampling there. We arrived at the first Line 8 station and began sampling at 2230 on June 7. After all six of the Line 8 stations were completed, we resumed sampling at designated grid stations until it was necessary to head into port on June 9.

The cruise began when the ship departed Dutch Harbor on October 1, 2011 at 1500 ADT. Sampling commenced at collection site 1E, which corresponds to Station 1. Station number reflects the order of site occupation (see Cruise Report Table 1, Figures 1 and 2). All but one of the Semidi grid sites were successfully occupied by 10 October. Site 2B was not occupied successfully because the midwater trawl was torn by bottom contact and we chose to forgo sampling there in favor of running to the next station while the deck crew removed the tangled trawl from the net reel. Unfortunately, removing the net took about 12 hrs because the net became tangled on the reel. Only 17 of the 32 Kodiak grid sites were successfully occupied (Table 1). This was largely due to an overly ambitious cruise plan. Overall, samples were successfully collected to address cruise objectives (no. sites, gear type): time series (n=26 sites, midwater Stauffer trawl), resource selection models (RSM, n=35 sites, 3-m plumb staff beam trawl), potential prey (n=9 sites, 60-cm bongo, epibenthic sled, Van Veen grab infauna), and juvenile fish production (relevant data were collected at all sites). At nine sites, including Station 39, the sea floor was too rough to sample on bottom so only a midwater sample was collected. This additional sampling was to supplement collections made for the GOA-Integrated Ecosystem Research Program (RHeintz, see above Samples Collected) and for a study of otolith element composition. Sampling concluded after three unsuccessful attempts to obtain a sediment composition sample at Site 27G (Station 56) at approximately 03:25 on 14 October 2011.

The NMFS Alaska Fisheries Science Center National Marine Mammal Laboratory (NMML) Marine Mammal Osteology Collection consists of approximately 2500 specimens (skulls and post-cranial skeletons) from 43 species of marine mammals from around the world. Specimens have been collected for life history studies over the past 60 years on projects ranging from pelagic sealing in the 1950s, to collections of marine mammals taken incidentally in commercial fisheries, and those found dead on beaches and rookeries from Alaska to the Antarctic. The NMML Osteology Collection also houses vast numbers of teeth, primarily from northern fur seals taken during the commercial and subsistence harvests on the Pribilof Islands, Steller sea lions taken incidentally in the Alaska fisheries, and sperm whales collected from Pacific coast whaling stations in the 1950s and 60s. The majority of these teeth were initially collected for aging, but many have been used in recent years in stable isotope, nursing and growth layer\growth index studies. This database is an inventory of specimens and associated data contained within the osteological collection.