The Catch Accounting System (CAS) creates total catch estimates for the groundfish fisheries in the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands and Gulf of Alaska. Each year, quotas are established in the CAS that match the annual harvest specification tables for federally managed groundfish fisheries off Alaska. The output of the CAS is the total amount of groundfish that is retained and the amount that is discarded at sea. In addition, the system creates estimates of the total amount of non-groundfish species -- both prohibited species and non-target species -- that are caught in the groundfish fisheries. Prohibited species catch (PSC) consists of salmon, halibut, and several species of crab. All the PSC species have economic value in non-groundfish fisheries and therefore cannot be retained in the groundfish fisheries. Non-target catch are species like coral, sponges, etc., and catch of these species needs to be calculated in order to evaluate the impact of the groundfish fisheries on the ecosystem. The CAS uses a combination of industry reports and onboard observer information to provide an estimate of total catch and bycatch. Industry reported data consists of catch (landing reports) and processed product amounts (production reports), and these reports are electronically recorded and submitted to NMFS via eLandings. The observer data are collected by the Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC) using a stratified sampling design. Other sources of information come from the Alaska Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission (CFEC), which issues permits and vessel licenses, and Vessel Monitoring Systems (VMS), which collect the position, time at a position, and course and speed of fishing vessels.

Groundfish vessels fishing in federal waters off Alaska are either in the "full coverage", "partial coverage", or "zero coverage" categories according to the monitoring specifications outlined each year in the Annual Deployment Plan. Vessels in the Partial Coverage (PC) category are subject to random selection for observer coverage or electronic monitoring on a trip-by-trip basis. PC vessels are typically catcher vessels using longline, pot, or trawl gear and are required to log each trip into the Observer Declare and Deploy System (ODDS) prior to departure to determine if the trip is "selected" for observer coverage or electronic monitoring. If a trip is selected vessels must comply with all monitoring requirements on that trip. Broadly speaking, the Observer Declare and Deploy System is the data system that houses all trip logging data and the associated monitoring rates, and provides a user interface for vessel owners to log trips and for the contracted observer provider(s) to assign observers to selected trips.

The GOA/AI Bottom Trawl Estimate database contains abundance estimates for the Alaska Biennial Bottom Trawl Surveys conducted in the Gulf of Alaska and the Aleutian Islands in alternate years. The estimates build upon raw and summary data available from the RACEBASE database and include calculated catch-per-unit-effort (cpue)s for principal species of groundfish and key invertebrates for each survey region. The cpues are averaged by survey strata, and then average cpues are multiplied by stratum areas which results in estimates of biomass and numerical abundance. Length and age data are combined with abundance to estimate the population at length and sex and population at age and sex.

Data collected by the ATLAS Client and transmitted electronically or by fax to the AFSC are loaded into production transaction tables which are the source data for those interfaces used for fishery management, scientific inquiry and fishing activity monitoring by industry.

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 Catch-In-Areas database integrates catch data from the Catch Accounting System (which has the spatial resolution of a NMFS Reporting Area) into a database that resolves the GIS data into polygons of approximately 7.5 km. In unrestricted outside waters, sixty four grid IDs fit inside one state statistical area. A state statistical area is = degree in latitude and one degree in longitude block. The 7.5 km grid size was picked for two reasons 1) we were likely to pick up at least one 30 minute VMS ping for a vessel running at fishing speed; and 2) the size (.125 degree latitude) is perfectly divisible in geographic coordinates so they fit perfectly inside a state statistical area. The grid polygons are often further divided into smaller polygons by the boundary of state statistical areas, the boundary of state and federal waters, or by the boundary of Steller sea lion critical habitat (broken out at 3, 6, 10, and 20 nautical miles from each of the 154 Steller sea lion rookeries and haulouts). Where confidentiality and mapping is an issue, seven-kilometer polygon are pre-coded for grouping into (3x3) 23km polygons. Each grid-id can queried individually or by sets of pre-coded attributes, such as reporting area and distance from Steller sea lion sites.

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.

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.

The dataset contains trawl and seine catches from Southeast Alaskan estuaries sampled from 1995 to 2008. The data also include physical variables (temp, salinity, turbidity), and shorezone shoreline classifications.

The Southeast Alaska Coastal Monitoring (SECM) project in Alaska was initiated in 1997 by the Auke Bay Laboratory, National Marine Fisheries Service, to study the habitat use and early marine ecology of juvenile (age-0) Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) and associated epipelagic ichthyofauna. This research has been conducted to meet several needs identified in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries 2006-2011 Strategic Plan, the North Pacific Anadromous Fisheries Commission (NPAFC) 20062010 Science Plan, and the Gulf of Alaska Global Ocean Ecosystem Dynamics (GLOBEC) Program. A primary goal of the 2006-2011 NOAA Fisheries Strategic Plan is to Protect, Restore, and Manage the Use of Coastal and Ocean Resources Through an Ecosystem Approach to Management. SECM research addresses the five fundamental activities identified under this goal, which include: Monitor and observe the land, sea, atmosphere. Understand and describe how natural systems work together, Assess and predict the changes in natural systems, Engage, advise, and inform individuals, partners, communities, and industries, and, Manage coastal and ocean resources SECM research emphasizes long-term monitoring of coastal marine habitats used by juvenile salmon and associated epipelagic fishes, to understand how environmental variation affects the sustainability of these marine resources in an ecological context. The study of juvenile anadromous stocks of salmon in ocean ecosystems is an important component of the NPAFC 2006-2010 Science Plan. This component recommends studies directed at understanding: seasonal distribution and migration route/timing of juvenile salmon; hydrological characteristics, primary production, and prey resources in the habitats; trophic linkages, growth rates and predation rates of juvenile salmon; and population size, survival rate and survival mechanism of juvenile salmon. SECM research focuses on each of these elements of this component. In particular, SECM examines the relationships among habitat use, marine growth, hatchery and wild stock interactions, year-class strength, and ocean carrying capacity of key juvenile salmon stocks in the Eastern Pacific rim. Research under the GLOBEC program incorporates basin-scale studies to determine how plankton productivity and the carrying capacity for high-trophic level, pelagic carnivores in the North Pacific Ocean change in response to climate variations, and incorporates regional-scale ecosystem studies to compare how variations in ocean climate affect species dominance and fish populations in the coastal margins of the Pacific Rim. SECM research addresses the regional-scale component of the GLOBEC program by 1) collecting biological data on juvenile Pacific salmon and ecologically related fish species from surface rope trawl samples, 2) monitoring physical and biological oceanographic indices at sampling stations in marine habitats, and 3) conducting process studies focusing on bioenergetics, prey fields, and trophic relationships of juvenile salmon and associated fishes.