Survey codend being brought to sorting table in NE Bering Sea

The Ecosystem Monitoring and Assessment Program’s overall goal is to improve and reduce uncertainty in stock assessment models of commercially important fish species through the collection of observations of fish and oceanography. Observations for fish include abundance, size, distribution, diet and energetic status. Oceanographic observations include conductivity-temperature at depth, nutrient levels, and estimates of the composition and biomass of phytoplankton and zooplankton (includes jellyfish) species. These fish and oceanographic observations are used to connect climate change and variability in large marine ecosystems to early marine survival of commercially important fish species in the Gulf of Alaska, Bering Sea, and Arctic.

Pelagic trawl (surface trawl and mid water acoustics) and oceanographic data collected during the Northern Bering Sea survey are used to improve understanding of the pelagic ecosystem and assist efforts aimed at reducing uncertainty in harvest management of fishery resources important to Alaskan commercial and subsistence fisheries.  The survey addresses how species distribution and marine food webs are altered by climate and seasonal loss of Arctic sea ice in the Bering Sea.  The survey also provides key information on the distribution and abundance of forage fish species (capelin, herring, sandlance, and rainbow smelt), allowing scientists to understand how forage fish population dynamics affect the food chain to apex predators and harvested fish populations that prey on forage fish.  Additionally, the survey the North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission with important information on the status of juvenile salmon populations in the Bering Sea. 

NE Bering Sea sample stations (above 60 degrees north)

Recent closures of commercial and sport fisheries and restricted subsistence harvests of Yukon River salmon have underscored the need for additional information on the production dynamics and for reduced uncertainty in pre-season assessments of Yukon River salmon.  Juvenile salmon data are currently used as an early indicator of brood-year strength in order to reduce uncertainty in the pre-season assessment of Yukon River salmon stocks by the Yukon River Panel and the Yukon River Joint Technical Committee.  The survey leverages AFSC resources through partnerships in regional research programs such as NPRB, FATE, the North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission's Bering Aleutian Salmon International Survey (BASIS), the Bering Sea Fisherman’s Association, the Alaska Sustainable Salmon Fund, and the Arctic Yukon Kuskokwim Sustainable Salmon Fund.

Contact:
Lisa Eisner and Jim Murphy
Auke Bay Laboratories
Alaska Fisheries Science Center, NOAA Fisheries

Ted Stevens Marine Research Institute
17109 Pt Lena Loop Rd
Juneau AK 99801
(907) 789-6602 and (907) 789-6651
Lisa.Eisner@noaa.gov and Jim.Murphy@noaa.gov