The importance of high relief structure containing biotic habitat to rockfish and other species remains largely unknown. This data set was created to examine the importance of this habitat for Pacific ocean perch, northern rockfish, and dusky rockfish. These data were derived from four research cruises that occurred between May 2012 and December 2014. During the cruises, video data was recorded of habitat associations, plankton samples were collected, temperature profiles were recorded, and several types of biological samples were taken from trawl captured rockfish. These data will be recorded in several tables in an access database and video files will also be available.

Many pelagic juvenile rockfish (Sebastes) were collected in juvenile salmonid surveys in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) from 1998 to 2002. Often species identification of rockfish is difficult or impossible at this stage of development (20 to 40 mm), and the juveniles of only a few species indigenous to Alaska waters have been described. These collections are samples of the first large aggregations observed in GOA waters and provided an opportunity to document the occurrence of several species of rockfish. Using mtDNA markers developed to identify rockfish species, we were able to identify unequivocally four species (Sebastes alutus, S. aleutianus, S. borealis, S. reedi) from subsamples of the collections. Other individuals were assigned to groups of two or three species. Using morphological data alone, we identified S. boreaslis, S. crameri, and S. reedi. The other species were initially indistinguishable by their morphology from S. alutus. The combined genetic and morphological data successfully resolved the other species as S. entomelas and probably s. ciliatus/variabilis, although S. polyspinis cannot be ruled out. In addition to documenting the presence of these species in the GOA, the results provide useful information for identifying pelagic juvenile rockfishes in surveys targeting this early life history stage.

This layer is intended to represent the geographic extent of NOAA Fisheries’ Rockfish Recruitment and Ecosystem Assessment Survey stations. The Rockfish Recruitment and Ecosystem Assessment Survey started in 1983 and is led by NMFS Southwest Fisheries Science Center. This survey is a long-term survey that estimates year-to-year variability in young-of-the-year (YOY) rockfish and other groundfish, as well as enumerates krill and many other forage fishes and invertebrates in the California Current. Key objectives include the development of recruitment indices of rockfish (and other groundfish) for use in stock assessments, informing oceanographic studies of groundfish recruitment processes, and supported a number of ecosystem studies, such as helping researchers understand how ecosystem shifts impact ocean biodiversity, seabird reproduction, unusual mortality events, and the rise of whale entanglements. The survey is conducted annually on a NOAA research vessel, in late Spring when most YOY groundfish are pelagic and vulnerable to the gear. Mid-water trawl sampling occurs at night, and samples not only rockfishes, but many additional species including gelatinous zooplankton, mesopelagic fishes, and forage species such as krill, market squid, anchovies, and sardines. The survey also includes conductivity, temperature, depth (CTD) casts to collect environmental data, quantitative marine mammal and seabird observations, fisheries acoustics data collection, and sample collection for collaborative research activities, including eDNA, stable isotopes, and age and growth studies.

This layer is intended to represent the geographic extent of NOAA Fisheries’ Rockfish Recruitment and Ecosystem Assessment Survey. The Rockfish Recruitment and Ecosystem Assessment Survey started in 1983 and is led by NMFS Southwest Fisheries Science Center. This survey is a long-term survey that estimates year-to-year variability in young-of-the-year (YOY) rockfish and other groundfish, as well as enumerates krill and many other forage fishes and invertebrates in the California Current. Key objectives include the development of recruitment indices of rockfish (and other groundfish) for use in stock assessments, informing oceanographic studies of groundfish recruitment processes, and supported a number of ecosystem studies, such as helping researchers understand how ecosystem shifts impact ocean biodiversity, seabird reproduction, unusual mortality events, and the rise of whale entanglements. The survey is conducted annually on a NOAA research vessel, in late Spring when most YOY groundfish are pelagic and vulnerable to the gear. Mid-water trawl sampling occurs at night, and samples not only rockfishes, but many additional species including gelatinous zooplankton, mesopelagic fishes, and forage species such as krill, market squid, anchovies, and sardines. The survey also includes conductivity, temperature, depth (CTD) casts to collect environmental data, quantitative marine mammal and seabird observations, fisheries acoustics data collection, and sample collection for collaborative research activities, including eDNA, stable isotopes, and age and growth studies.

Data are currently limited or lacking for several federally managed rockfish species of the genus Sebastes found within the Gulf of Alaska. This project is related to the core mission of the Alaska Fisheries Science Center as it will provide data which will refine and improve assessment models for these commercially important species. The initial data collection from this project began in 2009 and is on-going. Samples of a variety of rockfish species have been collected from several years and in several locations throughout the Gulf of Alaska. These data are stored in database files (MS Excel or MS Access).

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.

This dataset is from a study examining the use of demersal and pelagic habitats in the southeast Bering Sea by age-0 Pacific cod, based on 4 years of demersal trawl surveys and 1 year of pelagic trawl surveys on the shelf, and 1 year of spatially intensive beam trawl sampling in a nearshore focal area along the central Alaska Peninsula.

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 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 is from field surveys that examined depth distribution, habitat association, and growth of newly settled Tanner crab at 4 sites around the eastern end of Kodiak Island, Alaska.