Through key regional collaborations with the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Alaska Fisheries Science Center, and the fishing industry, the Marine Habitat Ecology Team at the NWFSC has been able to pursue a wide-ranging array of conservation engineering projects relevant to reducing bycatch in the west coast groundfish and ocean shrimp trawl fisheries. Examples of types of research projects pursued during any given year include: 1) Reducing Chinook salmon, eulachon, rockfish, and Pacific halibut bycatch in midwater and bottom trawl fisheries using Bycatch Reduction Devices (BRDs), 2) Examining selectivity characteristics of codends that differ in mesh size and configuration in bottom trawl fisheries, and 3) Testing other novel bycatch engineering modifications to mobile and fixed gears. Much of our current work has been in response to the fishing industries concerns over catches of overfished and rebuilding rockfishes and Pacific halibut allocated in the Pacific coast Groundfish Trawl Rationalization Catch Share Program. The trawl rationalization program, starting in January 2011, established formal Annual Catch Limits (ACLs) and individual catch share quotas. In addition to ACLs, fishing opportunities may also be limited by hard caps or IBQs for non-groundfish species (e.g., Chinook salmon, and Pacific halibut). Bycatch of overfished and prohibited species in the west coast groundfish trawl fishery has the potential to constrain the fishery such that a substantial portion of available harvest may be left in the ocean. Direct species counting and behavioral observations from video data.

The Southeast Fisheries Science Center Mississippi Laboratories conducts standardized fisheries independent resource surveys in the Gulf of Mexico, South Atlantic, and U.S. Caribbean to provide abundance and distribution information to support regional and international stock assessments. The reef fish survey of Madison-Swanson and Steamboat Lumps MPA is conducted primarily on the along topographic features (e.g. reefs, banks and ledges) of the MPA. A two-stage sampling design is used with the first stage or primary sampling units defined by geographic/geoform strata including ridges, pinnacles, rubble and sand flats and the second stage being randomly selected sites within the geoform strata. Sampling is conducted using a video camera array. No biological sampling is coupled with the survey because of the areas status as an MPA. The camera array consists of four housings positioned orthogonally and center mounted at a height of 51 cm above the bottom of the array. Each housing contains a pair of black-and-white Videre stereo cameras along with a color mpeg camera. Sampling of reef sites with video cameras occurs only during daylight hours, with the first gear deployment one hour after sunrise and the last gear retrieval one hour prior to sunset. Video arrays soak for 35 minutes. Habitat mapping was conducted using a multibeam echosounder by USGS. At each site hydrological data is collected using Conductivity Temperature Depth sensor (CTD).

These data arise from a field study of groundfish catch monitoring in Kodiak, AK trawl fisheries. Two monitoring components were included in the study: 1) at-sea sampling methods used by observers to sample species composition of catch and 2) shore-side sampling of delivered catch by observers to validate landings species composition reports. The at-sea portion of the study consisted of a side-by-side comparison (two observers) of a proposed new sampling method and the standard sampling method. Observer data were recorded at-sea on paper and transferred to an Oracle database. The shoreside component of this study consisted of observer species composition sampling in plants for later comparison with landings data. The shore-side data were collected by observers in processing plants, recorded on paper and transferred to an Oracle database. Data collection started in April 2011 and continued through August 2011. Third party landings data (NOAA Fisheries, Alaska Regional Office, Sustainable Fisheries Division) that were used in the analysis are stored in an oracle database. Data for both project components (at-sea and shoreside) were collected during normal fishing activities onboard commercial trawl catcher vessels and during normal processing activities in shore-based processing plants.

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.

NOAA Fisheries and its partners conduct fisheries-independent surveys in 8 regions in the US (Northeast, Southeast, Gulf of Mexico, West Coast, Gulf of Alaska, Bering Sea, Aleutian Islands, Hawai’i Islands). These surveys are designed to collect information on the seasonal distribution, relative abundance, and biodiversity of fish and invertebrate species found in U.S. waters. Over 900 species of fish and invertebrates have been identified in these surveys.

Through key regional collaborations with the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Alaska Fisheries Science Center, and the fishing industry, the Marine Habitat Ecology Team at the NWFSC has been able to pursue a wide-ranging array of conservation engineering projects relevant to reducing bycatch in the west coast groundfish and ocean shrimp trawl fisheries. Examples of types of research projects pursued during any given year include: 1) Reducing Chinook salmon, eulachon, rockfish, and Pacific halibut bycatch in midwater and bottom trawl fisheries using Bycatch Reduction Devices (BRDs), 2) Examining selectivity characteristics of codends that differ in mesh size and configuration in bottom trawl fisheries, and 3) Testing other novel bycatch engineering modifications to mobile and fixed gears. Much of our current work has been in response to the fishing industries concerns over catches of overfished and rebuilding rockfishes and Pacific halibut allocated in the Pacific coast Groundfish Trawl Rationalization Catch Share Program. The trawl rationalization program, starting in January 2011, established formal Annual Catch Limits (ACLs) and individual catch share quotas. In addition to ACLs, fishing opportunities may also be limited by hard caps or IBQs for non-groundfish species (e.g., Chinook salmon, and Pacific halibut). Bycatch of overfished and prohibited species in the west coast groundfish trawl fishery has the potential to constrain the fishery such that a substantial portion of available harvest may be left in the ocean. Temperature and light radiance.

NOAA Fisheries and its partners conduct fisheries-independent surveys in 8 regions in the US (Northeast, Southeast, Gulf of Mexico, West Coast, Gulf of Alaska, Bering Sea, Aleutian Islands, Hawai’i Islands). These surveys are designed to collect information on the seasonal distribution, relative abundance, and biodiversity of fish and invertebrate species found in U.S. waters. Over 900 species of fish and invertebrates have been identified in these surveys.

One type of electronic monitoring of Alaska groundfish catch has been conducted by Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission using an electronic monitoring (EM) system to collect catch accounting data using video and sensor data of selected fishing vessels in Alaska. Video recordings of fish catch composition aboard selected vessels are collected are stored on hard drives in an effort to track vessel catch and discards to accurately debit discarded catch from the individual fishing quota (IFQ) account of each account holder. This information is collected in place of the sampling for species composition of the catch conducted by human at-sea catch monitors or observers. Reviewers of the videos enter data from the drives and maintain data integrity and quality. Raw, reviewed electronic monitoring data collected by Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission must have additional data items added to it to conform to the standard format of data normally collected by Alaska observers in order for the data to be processed by catch accounting of the NMFS Alaska Regional Office. The EM_OBSINT tables contain these transformed data. These data, like data collected by Alaska groundfish observers, and transmitted electronically to the AFSC and are the source data for those interfaces used for fishery management, scientific inquiry and fishing activity monitoring by industry.

A genetic analysis of samples from the chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta) bycatch of the 2009 Bering Sea walleye pollock (Theragra chalcogramma) trawl fishery was undertaken to determine the overall stock composition of the sample set. Samples were genotyped for eleven microsatellite markers and results were estimated using the current chum salmon microsatellite baseline. In 2009, genetic samples were collected opportunistically as part of a special project, but sample biases have the potential to affect stock composition analysis results. Consequently, stock composition estimates apply to the sample set and may not represent the entire chum salmon bycatch. Based on the analysis of 1,437 chum salmon bycatch samples collected throughout the 2009 Bering Sea trawl fishery, North Asian (30%), East Asian (34%), and Eastern Gulf of Alaska/Pacific Northwest (18%) stocks dominated the sample set, with smaller contributions from Western Alaska (13%), Upper/Middle Yukon River (2%), and Southwest Alaska (4%) stocks. The estimates for the 2009 chum salmon bycatch sample set were similar to the 2005 chum salmon bycatch estimates.

A genetic analysis of samples from the chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta) bycatch from the 2012 Bering Sea walleye pollock (Gadus chalcogrammus) trawl fishery was undertaken to determine the overall stock composition of the sample set. A genetic analysis of chum salmon collected during a test of a salmon excluder device was also conducted. Samples were genotyped for 11 microsatellite markers and results were estimated using the current chum salmon microsatellite baseline. In 2012, genetic samples were collected systematically as part of a special project that commenced in 2011 to reduce sample biases that exist in collections from previous years and have the potential to affect stock composition analysis results. One genetic sample was collected for every 31.5 chum salmon caught in the 98% of the midwater trawl fishery that was sampled. Evaluation of sampling based on time, location, and vessel indicated that the genetic samples were representative of the total bycatch. Based on the analysis of 673 chum salmon bycatch samples collected throughout the 2012 Bering Sea trawl fishery, the North Asian stocks dominated the sample set (39%), with moderate contributions from East Asian (20%), Eastern Gulf of Alaska (GOA)/Pacific Northwest (PNW) (18%), and Western Alaska (14%) stocks, and smaller contributions from Upper/Middle Yukon River (7%) and Southwest Alaska (2%) stocks. The estimates for the 2012 chum salmon bycatch sample set differed from the mean of the 20052011 estimates for the two Asian regions, but not for the North American regions. The pattern of changes of regional stock contributions over three time periods in 2012 differed from previous years for some regions. There were some spatial differences in stock distribution; e.g., the East Asian stock contribution was higher in the central Bering Sea than in the southeastern Bering Sea. As with the bycatch samples, the salmon excluder device test samples included fish from all geographic regions despite being collected at small spatial and temporal scales.