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.

This layer is intended to represent information collected during NOAA Fisheries’ California Current Ecosystem Survey. The California Current Ecosystem Survey started in 2006 and is led by NMFS Southwest Fisheries Science Center. This survey monitors West Coast coastal pelagic fish species (CPS) including the northern and central sub-populations of Northern Anchovy, the northern subpopulation of Pacific Sardine, Jack Mackerel, Pacific Mackerel, Pacific Herring, their prey items, and the biotic and abiotic environments of the California Current Ecosystem. These data are used to estimate the distribution, biomass, and demographics of species of interest to inform stock assessments. The CCES survey typically occurs annually between July and September on the West Coast of the U.S. and Canada, with a recent expansion into Mexico thanks to a collaboration with the Instituto Mexicano Investigación en Pesca y Acuacultura Sustentables (IMIPAS, formerly INAPESCA). During the day multifrequency, scientific echosounders, a continuous underway fish egg sampler (CUFES), and an underway conductivity-temperature-depth (UCTD) probe are all used to collect data. At night, surface trawls are conducted in locations where coastal pelagic species were observed acoustically during the day. The trawls serve to estimate the species composition and demographics of the fishes sampled acoustically during the day. In recent years, sampling from NOAA ships has been augmented with acoustic sampling by unmanned surface vehicles (Saildrone USVs), and with acoustic and purse-seine sampling from industry fishing vessels off WA, OR, and CA. The sampling from fishing vessels expands the survey into areas that are inhabited by CPS but are too shallow for the NOAA ships to safely navigate.

1. The purpose of this project is to measure and monitor impacts on ESA-listed populations and to estimate overall Chinook salmon stock composition in bycatch associated with the hake fisheries (including tribal and non-tribal, shoreside, and at-sea). The work is carried out by NOAA staff. 2. Fin clips collected by NOAA observers are characterized genetically allowing allocation of the mixture to source populations. 3. Written reports are produced regularly and forwarded to the NWR and interested parties. 4. The NWR is the primary management audience in facilitation of NOAA's MSA obligations to measure and monitor ESA impacts. 5. This is an ongoing project (see also Historical Salmon Genetic Stock Composition Estimates). 6. This is a stand-alone project in one sense, but is closely coordinated with stock composition studies in directed harvest as well as similar studies of historical bycatch using archival scale material. 7. There are no specific hard deadlines associated with this project. Chinook genetics bycatch in hake.

1) The purpose of this project is to measure changes in juvenile salmon habitat occurrence and health following restoration activities at the Mirror Lake Complex and Horsetail Falls in the Lower Columbia River and estuary. Parameters measured include habitat conditions such as vegetation, water temperature, and dissolved oxygen; salmon diet and prey availability; weight, length, growth rate, lipid content, genetic stock, and chemical contaminant exposure. 2) Lyndal Johnson (NWFSC FTE) is the project lead, and other primary staff involved are Sean Sol and Paul Olson (NWFSC FTEs) and Kate Macneale (NWFSC term employee), but the project also involves other NWFSC FTEs, other term employees, contractors, and staff from other programs (Environmental Chemistry) and Divisions (FE, CB), as well as staff from collaborating agencies (e.g., the Lower Columbia River Estuary Partnership). 3) The project involves field surveys in which parameters measured include habitat conditions such as vegetation, water temperature, and dissolved oxygen; salmon diet and prey availability; weight, length, growth rate, lipid content, genetic stock, and chemical contaminant exposure. 4) Specific products to be produced include annual reports for the Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership, and manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals. 5) Specific audiences include (but are not limited to) the Bonneville Power Administration and other federal, state, and local agencies involved with salmon recovery and environmental management in the Columbia Basin (e.g., EPA, Washington Department of Ecology, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, the City of Portland), the NMFS regional office, and other agency and academic scientists. 6) This is a stand-alone project, but it is also a component of a larger action effectiveness monitoring program overseen by the Estuary Partnership. 7) This is an ongoing project with a soft completion deadline; however, there are specific tasks to be completed on a yearly basis. Catch composition and salmon density.

Throughout the Pacific Northwest, stream habitat degradation has been cited as a factor contributing to the decline and ESA listing of of Pacific Salmon. Thus, stream habitat restoration is a major component of recovery plans as a method to increase salmon population productivity. Over 10 years after the majority of salmon listings we now have many datasets available to evaluate salmon habitat restoration placement, including our restoration projects database (Pacific Northwest Salmon Habitat Project Database), habitat assessments, salmon recovery plans, and spatial habitat mapping. By creating data dictionaries and metrics to standardize and analyze currently available datasets (e.g., restoration data, recovery plans, monitoring data, population abundance data) evaluations can be made to determine whether the right types of habitat actions are going in where they are most valuable. Further, a quantitative framework can be developed to link habitat conditions to fish population condition through stream restoration actions. This information can them be provided to local groups and agencies involved in salmon recovery to help inform the adaptive management process. Pacific Northwest Salmon Habitat Project Oracle Database.

Under the National Fish Habitat Partnership, scientists at the NEFSC, NWFSC, and Silver Spring Headquarters are compiling information on the nation's estuarine and coastal habitats and the species they support in order to assess their current potential for restoration and protection. National project headed up by F/ST. Jihong Dai documents InPort metadata. Geographic data on the nation's coasts and estuaries.

The National Marine Mammal Laboratory (NMML) a division of NOAA's Alaska Fisheries Science Center (Seattle, WA) and Cascadia Research Collective (Olympia, WA) conducted aerial and small boat line transects to estimate the abundance of harbor porpoises in waters of Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia, Canada. This dataset contains line transect survey data with effort (line length) and sighting data (species, group size, distance/angle) and associated covariate data.

Bycatch in net fisheries is recognized as a major source of mortality for many marine species, including seabirds. Few mitigation solutions, however, have been identified. We assessed the effectiveness of illuminating fishing nets with green light emitting diodes (LEDs) to reduce the incidental capture of seabirds. Experiments were conducted in the demersal, setnet fishery of Constante, Peru and compared 114 pairs of control and illuminated nets. We observed captures of a total of 49 seabirds (Phalacrocorax bougainvillii and Sula variegata), with 39 caught in control nets and 10 caught in illuminated nets. Illuminated nets had a statistically significant 73.5% decline in seabird interactions when compared with non-illuminated nets. This study showed that net illumination reduces seabird bycatch. In addition, we deployed light emitting diodes (LEDs) - a visual cue - on the floatlines of paired gillnets (control vs illuminated net) during 864 fishing sets on small-scale vessels departing from three Peruvian ports between 2015 and 2018. Standardized bycatch probability for sea turtles and cetaceans as well as standardized catch per unit effort (CPUE) of target species were analysed for illuminated and control nets using a generalised linear mixed-effects model (GLMM). For illuminated nets, bycatch probability was reduced by up to 80% for sea turtles and small cetaceans in comparison to non-illuminated, control nets. Target species CPUE was not negatively affected by the presence of LEDs. These studies highlight the efficacy of net illumination as a multi-taxa BRT for small-scale gillnet fisheries in Peru. These results are promising given the global ubiquity of small-scale net fisheries, the relatively low cost of LEDs and the current lack of alternate solutions to bycatch.

This layer is intended to represent the geographic extent of NOAA Fisheries’ California Current Ecosystem Survey. The California Current Ecosystem Survey started in 2006 and is led by NMFS Southwest Fisheries Science Center. This survey monitors West Coast coastal pelagic fish species (CPS) including the northern and central sub-populations of Northern Anchovy, the northern subpopulation of Pacific Sardine, Jack Mackerel, Pacific Mackerel, Pacific Herring, their prey items, and the biotic and abiotic environments of the California Current Ecosystem. These data are used to estimate the distribution, biomass, and demographics of species of interest to inform stock assessments. The CCES survey typically occurs annually between July and September on the West Coast of the U.S. and Canada, with a recent expansion into Mexico thanks to a collaboration with the Instituto Mexicano Investigación en Pesca y Acuacultura Sustentables (IMIPAS, formerly INAPESCA). During the day multifrequency, scientific echosounders, a continuous underway fish egg sampler (CUFES), and an underway conductivity-temperature-depth (UCTD) probe are all used to collect data. At night, surface trawls are conducted in locations where coastal pelagic species were observed acoustically during the day. The trawls serve to estimate the species composition and demographics of the fishes sampled acoustically during the day. In recent years, sampling from NOAA ships has been augmented with acoustic sampling by unmanned surface vehicles (Saildrone USVs), and with acoustic and purse-seine sampling from industry fishing vessels off WA, OR, and CA. The sampling from fishing vessels expands the survey into areas that are inhabited by CPS but are too shallow for the NOAA ships to safely navigate.

This layer is intended to represent the geographic extent of NOAA Fisheries’ Integrated West Coast Pelagics Survey. The Integrated West Coast Pelagics Survey started in 2025 and is a jointly led effort by the Northwest and the Southwest Fisheries Science Centers. The Pacific hake and coastal pelagics fisheries rely on data collected through NOAA surveys and the fisheries. These data are essential for tracking our changing environment and creating accurate stock assessments that ensure these fisheries remain productive and sustainable today and in the future. Previously, two fishery independent surveys were conducted to gather data on these crucial West Coast fisheries, the Joint U.S.-Canada Integrated Ecosystem and Pacific Hake Acoustic Trawl Survey and the California Current Ecosystem Survey. Combining these two surveys into the Integrated West Coasts Pelagics Survey is an opportunity to ensure we collect the data we need and improve how we survey, including accounting for evolving oceanic/ecosystem conditions. Notably, an integrated survey maintains the integrity of the CPS and Pacific hake biomass time series to help meet industry needs.