The objectives of the cruise were to conduct a trawl survey for YOY pollock from Prince William Sound to Unimak Island. PWS stations were not occupied during the survey due to lost time. Two cross shelf lines of CTDs were occupied to provide information on cross shelf flow. A short series of gear comparison tows were conducted in Kalsin Bay to compare catch composition and lengths of fishes collected in the anchovy trawl (Stauffer trawl) and the CanTrawl. Zooplankton was sampled using bongo nets. A SBE 49 was deployed synoptically with Bongo, CalVET and Tucker trawls used to sample icythoplankton and zooplankton at selected stations. Temperature and Conductivity were measured and Salinity and Sigma-T were derived from these measurements. While the SeaCAT measures values on the down and upcasts, only the upcasts are used.

The objectives of this cruise were to conduct an ichthyoplankton survey and process studies in the region between the Shumagin Islands and Shelikof Strait and then from SE Kodiak to the Kenai Peninsula so that we could estimate the abundance, transport, and factors influencing the survival of young walleye pollock larvae. We also occupied six of the stations on Line 8 to continue our 27-year time series of environmental and biological conditions in Shelikof Strait. In addition to this sampling, 43 stations selected from the grid for the GOA-IERP research project were occupied on the shelf break as well as on the NE side of Kodiak Island to acquire larval fish of five target species (sablefish, walleye pollock, Pacific cod, arrowtooth flounder, and Pacific Ocean perch). A SBE 19Plus was deployed synoptically with gear used to sample icythoplankton and zooplankton at selected stations. Temperature and Conductivity were measured and Salinity and Sigma-T were derived from these measurements. While the SeaCAT measures values on the down and upcasts, only the upcasts are used.

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.

The primary objective was to conduct an assessment of eggs and larvae of Walleye Pollock (Gadus chalcogrammus) over the eastern Bering Sea shelf. The data collected will be used to examine the interactions among climate, weather, and ichthyoplankton distribution and abundance. This work is needed to describe larval fish assemblages and determine how physical and biological factors affect the transport and survival of fish larvae. The survey is a collaboration between two Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC) programs, Ecosystems and Fisheries Oceanography Coordinated Investigations (Eco-FOCI), and Ecosystem Monitoring and Assessment (EMA). A SBE 49 was deployed synoptically with Bongo, CalVET and Tucker trawls used to sample icythoplankton and zooplankton at selected stations. Temperature and Conductivity were measured and Salinity and Sigma-T were derived from these measurements. While the SeaCAT measures values on the down and upcasts, only the upcasts are used.

The objectives of this cruise were to conduct an ichthyoplankton survey and process studies in the region between the Shumagin Islands and Shelikof Strait so that we could estimate the abundance, transport, and factors influencing the survival of young walleye pollock larvae. We also occupied six of the stations on Line 8 to continue our 26-year time series of environmental and biological conditions in Shelikof Strait. In addition to this sampling, stations selected from the main grid for the GOA-IERP research project were occupied to deploy the neuston gear to acquire larval fish of five target species (sablefish, walleye pollock, Pacific cod, arrowtooth flounder, and Pacific Ocean perch).

The objectives of this cruise are to conduct an ichthyoplankton survey and process oriented studies in the region between Unimak Pass, the Shumagin Islands, and through Shelikof Strait to Kodiak Island, Alaska, so that we may estimate the abundance, transport, and factors influencing the survival of young walleye pollock larvae. We will also occupy stations on Line 8 to continue our 19 year time series of environmental and biological conditions in Shelikof Strait.

Fisheries-Oceanography Coordinated Investigations (FOCI) is an effort by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and associated academic scientists. FOCI's goal is to understand the effects of abiotic and biotic variability on ecosystems of the North Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea in order to discern the physical and biological processes that determine recruitment variability of commercially valuable finfish and shellfish stocks in Alaskan waters. We will focus our efforts on the physical, chemical, and biological processes occurring in particular areas of this region. These include Portlock Bank, Stevenson Trough, and one of the large offshore eddies, that typically impact this area between April and September and contribute to on and offshore fluxes.

The objectives of this cruise are to conduct an ichthyoplankton survey and process oriented studies in the region between Unimak Pass, the Shumagin Islands, and through Shelikof Strait to Kodiak Island, Alaska, so that we may estimate the abundance, transport, and factors influencing the survival of young walleye pollock larvae. We will also occupy stations on Line 8 to continue our 20 year time series of environmental and biological conditions in Shelikof Strait.

This research area is focused on improving and reducing uncertainty in stock assessment models of important commercial fish species in the Bering Sea through the collection of fisheries oceanographic indices.

We will conduct bottom trawl sampling in Bering Canyon to collect ripe adult Greenland halibut (Reinharditus hippoglossides), and we will conduct an ichthyoplankton survey in the same vicinity to collect ichthyoplankton. This work is needed to describe Greenland halibut spawning ecology, as well as the distribution of eggs and larvae over the slope and in Bering Canyon in winter. The work will also be used in the study of transport and early life history of this species. Data on physical characteristics of the water column will also be collected. We will also deploy 2 oceanographic instrumentation moorings, one in Bering Canyon and one on the EBS shelf in the vicinity to Unimak Island.