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 scientific objective of the survey is to assess Young of the Year (YOY) groundfish, salmonid species, plankton, and oceanographic conditions in the eastern GOA and coastal waters of Southeast Alaska. A chartered fishing vessel will be the sampling platform to provide information on species distribution, ecosystem structure, and marine productivity in response to changes in season, region, and climate. All objectives will be met by collecting data on fish, plankton, and oceanography at the same pre-determined master station locations. A SBE19 Plus 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

We conducted fieldwork to continue a study designed to compare age-0 pollock and their prey field among three separate pollock nursery regions in the western Gulf of Alaska (GOA). Data resulting from the work will also be used to extend a 5-yr time series (2000, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007) of age-0 walleye pollock abundance in one of the nurseries. This work is needed to more rigorously evaluate suitability of three important pollock nurseries, and to evaluate age-0 abundance in the western GOA during late summer (September) as a recruitment predictor.

To recover and deploy several oceanographic moorings. To complete Conductivity, Temperature, and Depth (CTD) profiler casts, California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigation (CalCOFI) Vertical Egg Tow (CalVET) and Marine Assessment Monitoring and Prediction (MARMAP) Bongo tows near the mooring sites and along the 70-meter isobath in the Bering Sea.

We will conduct an ichthyoplankton survey in the Gulf of Alaska in the vicinity of Kodiak Island, Alaska. This area is a known nursery ground for a variety of species of fish - walleye pollock, Pacific cod, rock sole, and Pacific halibut. Work is needed to describe larval fish and zooplankton assemblages in summer, and to examine the movement of water and associated biota from the slope onto the shelf. We will also conduct some trawling to describe abundances of juvenile groundfishes and small forage fishes in selected canyons and in the vicinity of Kodiak Island. Six satellite-tracked drifters will be released to study current trajectories in the vicinity of Port Lock Bank. Conductivity, Temperature, and Depth profiler casts will be made to characterize water column properties, collect nutrient and chlorophyll information, and to use to evaluate the flow field.

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. Leg 1 of the cruise will be in the Gulf of Alaska with the objective of sampling (CTD, Bongos, nutrients, heavy metals) in two deep mesoscale eddies that formed off the continental shelves of British Columbia, Canada, and Southeast Alaska during the winter of 2005, and then move westward across the Gulf of Alaska during the next two to three years.

We will be conducting an ichthyoplankton survey in the waters contiguous to Kodiak Island, Alaska. This work is needed to describe larval fish assemblages on the shelf and slope in late summer and early fall, and to study the transport and early life history of larval forage fishes (ex: capelin). Zooplankton data and data on physical characteristics of the water column will also be collected. Limited trawling activities for juvenile groundfishes (age-0 pollock) and adult forage fishes (capelin) will be conducted as well to study differences in production between offshore banks and troughs and nearshore Kodiak Island.

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.

We will conduct an ichthyoplankton survey in the waters contiguous to Kodiak Island, Alaska. This work is needed to describe larval fish assemblages on the shelf and slope in winter, and to study the transport and early life history of larval fishes, particularly the feeding and zooplankton prey of capelin (Mallotus villosus) and Pacific sand lance (Ammodytes hexapterus). Data on physical characteristics of the water column will also be collected.

The scientific objective of the survey is to assess Young of the Year (YOY) groundfish, salmonid species, plankton, and oceanographic conditions in the eastern GOA and coastal waters of Southeast Alaska. A chartered fishing vessel will be the sampling platform to provide information on species distribution, ecosystem structure, and marine productivity in response to changes in season, region, and climate. All objectives will be met by collecting data on fish, plankton, and oceanography at the same pre-determined master station locations. A SBE19 Plus 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