Ted Stevens Marine Research Institute

The Alaska Fisheries Science Center's Auke Bay Laboratories (ABL) conducts scientific research throughout Alaska on fish stocks, fish habitats, and the chemistry of marine environments. Information from this research is widely used by commercial interests such as fishing industries and governmental agencies involved in managing natural resources (click here for a list of data sets). The headquarters of ABL is the Ted Stevens Marine Research Institute (pictured to the right), a "green" office and laboratory building located at Lena Point, north of Juneau, Alaska (driving instructions). The ABL headquarters serves as the focal point for four other ABL facilities. Three ABL facilities are located in the City and Borough of Juneau at Auke Bay, Auke Creek, and downtown Juneau, respectively, and the fourth is at Little Port Walter, on Baranov Island, southeast of Sitka. Auke Bay Marine Station includes fresh and saltwater laboratories, offices, and dive and docking facilities. Auke Creek Research Station is a permanent fish weir and hatchery owned by NOAA that is jointly operated with the University of Alaska Fairbanks School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. The Juneau Subport Dock and Warehouse has berthing and crane facilities for ocean-going vessels, warm dry storage, office space, and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game boat repair and storage facility. Little Port Walter Marine Station has fixed and floating docks, office space, dry storage, bunkhouse and kitchen, and fish weir and hatchery. ABL facility staff also have responsibility for managing the Pribilof Island facilities.

Habitat and Marine Chemistry. Beaufort Sea sampling of coastal fish populations near Barrow, Alaska.

Marine survey data from ABL research on commercially marketable species such as rockfish, sablefish, and salmon, and on non-marketable and/or protected species such as eel grass, plankton, Steller sea lions, and harbor seals are made available to fishing industries, state and federal regulators, and international treaty bodies. Groups involved in managing human activities in coastal environments frequently base their actions on ABL's knowledge of the quantities and qualities of fish habitats in the affected areas. ABL's capabilities in environmental chemistry research contribute to greater understanding of the fate and effects of pollutants in marine ecosystems, genetics of marine animal populations, and the structure and functioning of marine food webs. ABL is organized into five research programs(ABL Organizational Chart): Genetics, Ecosystem Monitoring and Assessment (EMA), Fisheries Ecology, Diet and Zooplankton (FEDZ) , Marine Ecology and Stock Assessment (MESA), and Habitat Assessment and Marine Chemistry (HAMC) .

Marine Ecology and Stock Assessment. ABL sablefish longline survey on Alaskan Leader.

For more information on ABL please contact (907) 789-6000. The ABL Director, Phil Mundy, can be reached at Phil.Mundy@noaa.gov or (907) 789-6001, and the ABL Deputy Director, Steve Ignell, at Steve.Ignell@noaa.gov or (907) 789-6029. For e-mail and telephone contact information on other ABL employees, please visit our personnel page.

News and Research Highlights

	Pink Salmon Forecast for 2012 released The 2012 Southeast Alaska pink salmon forecast is now available. This forecast model has performed well in six of the last 7 years, giving estimates that averaged within 7% of actual harvests.
	New Guide to Deepwater Sponges in the Aleutian Islands released A new guide for 102 species of deep water sponges found in the Aleutian Islands has been published by the NOAA Professional Paper series. This guide addresses bycatch identification challenges by providing fisheries observers and scientists the information necessary to adequately identify sponge fauna.

Featured Research, Publications, Posters, Reports, and Activities

• "Alaska Current Chapter of the "Marine Ecosystems of the North Pacific Ocean 2003-2008" (PICES Spec. Publ. No. 4) by Phil Mundy, Ed Farley, Dana Hanselman, Jon Heifetz, Marcus Janout, Chris Lunsford, Kalei Shotwell, Molly Sturdevant and others
   
• "Evidence of hook competition in longline surveys" by Cara Rodgveller, Chris Lunsford, and Jeff Fujioka
   
• "Density-dependent growth of Alaska sockeye salmon in relation to climate–oceanic regimes, population abundance, and body size, 1925 to 1998" by Ellen Martinson, Jack Helle, Dennis Scarnecchia, and Houston Stokes
   
• "Morphology and molecular phylogeny of Aureophycus aleuticus gen. et sp. nov (Laminariales, Phaeophyceae) from the Aleutian Islands" by Hiroshi Kawai, Takeaki Hanyuda, Mandy Lindeberg, and Sandra C. Lindstrom
   
• Forecasting Pink Salmon Harvest in Southeast Alaska
   
• Auke Bay Laboratories Research Reports and Activities
   
• Effects of maternal age and size on embryonic energy reserves, developmental timing, and fecundity in quillback rockfish (Sebastes maliger).
  RODGVELLER, C. J., C. R. LUNSFORD, and J. T. FUJIOKA. 2012. Effects of maternal age and size on embryonic energy reserves, developmental timing, and fecundity in quillback rockfish (Sebastes maliger). Fish. Bull. 110:36-45. (.pdf, 1.86 MB).  Online.
   
• Habitats and demersal fish communities in the vicinity of Albatross Bank, Gulf of Alaska
  REYNOLDS, J. R., S. C. ROONEY, J. HEIFETZ, H. G. GREENE, B. L. NORCROSS, and S. K. SHOTWELL. 2012. Habitats and demersal fish communities in the vicinity of Albatross Bank, Gulf of Alaska, p. 539-553. In P. T. Harris and E. K. Baker (editors), Seafloor Geomorphology as Benthic Habitat. Elsevier. 
   
• Genetic stock composition analysis of Chinook salmon bycatch samples from the 2010 Bering Sea trawl fisheries.
  GUTHRIE, C. M. III, H. T. NGUYEN, and J. R. GUYON. 2012. Genetic stock composition analysis of Chinook salmon bycatch samples from the 2010 Bering Sea trawl fisheries. U.S. Dep. Commer., NOAA Tech. Memo. NMFS-AFSC-232, 22 p. (.pdf, 673 KB).  Online.
   
• Ocean-going vessels: a possible conduit for the introduction of white-nose syndrome fungus (Geomyces destructans) into bats in Alaska.
  WRIGHT, S. K., and J. R. MORAN. 2011. Ocean-going vessels: a possible conduit for the introduction of white-nose syndrome fungus (Geomyces destructans) into bats in Alaska. Northwest. Nat. 92(2):133-135. 
   
• A Comparison of Trawl Caught Jellyfish in the Eastern Bering Sea
  By:  KRISTIN CIECIEL, JIM MURPHY, LISA EISNER, BRUCE WING
  Conference:  North Pacific Marine Science Organization (PICES) 20th Annual Meeting, Kharbarovsk Russia, Oct 2011
  (2011 poster, .pdf, 662 KB)   Online.
   
• Habitat and Ecological Processes Research (HEPR) Program
  By:  MIKE SIGLER, MANDY LINDEBERG, CRAIG FAUNCE, MICHAEL CAMERON, BEN LAUREL, TOM HELSER
  Conference:  non-conference use
  (2011 poster, .pdf, 1.14 MB)   Online.
   

See the publications and posters databases for additional listings.