Innovative Science: Technology Enhancement and More

We are always looking for more efficient ways to explore the ocean environment and to track fish catches. We collaborate with fishermen, engineering companies and academic institutions to design and test new technologies and better, more cost-effective methods for gathering data. Through these efforts, we are able to explore areas of the ocean that are difficult or costly to survey with traditional research methods.

2016 Highlights

Advancements in Electronic Monitoring Technologies in Alaska Fisheries

Our North Pacific Observer Program continued to develop and test new and innovative electronic monitoring technologies by deploying stereo and chute camera systems on fishing industry and government survey vessels. We made considerable headway testing hardware and developing the necessary applications to automate species identification and estimate their length. These same technologies are simultaneously being developed for underwater identification and length determination of fish in assessment surveys.

Developing electronic monitoring technologies (standard cameras) on the small hook and line halibut fleet make it possible to collect valuable biological data on small fishing vessels where placing human observers poses challenges. The goal is not to replace observers, but rather to collect data on small vessels where data are currently lacking. Staff also participated in the International Seabird conference illustrating challenges and opportunities of electronic monitoring for seabird identification. The goal is to perfect electronic monitoring technologies so that costs to the industry and the nation can be reduced without sacrificing data quality.

Saildrone: Charting New Course for Ocean Research

This summer two unmanned wind- and solar-powered Saildrones were launched to learn more about critically endangered North Pacific right whales, track feeding behavior and the relationship between northern fur seals and their prey species and to determine the effectiveness of new low-power fisheries acoustic transducers (echo sounders) in monitoring fish populations in the Bering Sea. Low energy technologies can help augment our vessel surveys and enable us to gather needed information on commercial fish stock abundance in areas that are costly or hazardous to survey year-round.

The project represents a partnership among the Alaska Fisheries Science Center, NOAA Research???s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory; Saildrone, Inc.; Simrad AS/Kongsberg Maritime; Greeneridge Sciences, Inc.; and the U.S. Marine Mammal Commission. To announce the start of the survey, NOAA Fisheries hosted its first-ever live YouTube broadcast.

Underwater Acoustics to Enhance Fish Survey Capacity

We successfully expanded the use of bottom-mounted upward-looking echosounders to augment ship-based, acoustic-trawl surveys (where we use sound waves to estimate fish abundance). The moored echosounders provide information to determine timing of peak spawning for walleye pollock, which will help optimize timing for our pre-spawning pollock assessment surveys via research vessels. Our ongoing research with the moored sounders suggests that it may be possible to generate survey-comparable estimates of walleye pollock abundance and that we might be able to use this technology successfully in important walleye pollock spawning grounds, such as the Shelikof Strait area in the Gulf of Alaska.

Novel Life History Tags and eDNA to Study Marine Mammals

In conjunction with a research cruise to study harbor seals in the western Aleutian Islands, where the species??? numbers have declined dramatically in the past three decades, the Center conducted a collaborative project with the Alaska SeaLife Center and SeaWorld. We deployed novel life-history transmitter tags on wild harbor seals to investigate rates and causes of mortality and female reproductive rates. The Center also added new information to its long time-series of data on the abundance and distribution of harbor porpoise from two Southeast Alaska surveys during July and September. We also implemented a project using environmental DNA to increase our understanding of the population structure of harbor porpoise. This information is of particular interest to commercial fisheries operating in the region.

Next Generation Autonomous Underwater Vehicles

We used ???smart??? robotic submarines to follow acoustically-tagged marine animals (salmon and crab) to collect information about their environment and behavior. Working with Rutgers University, the Center has been field-testing and refining protocols for tracking animals. The information gained may provide a cost-effective means for studying of a variety of marine populations in habitats that are difficult to survey.

NOAA Administrator???s Award

The Center???s Scott McEntire was awarded a NOAA Administrator Award for the development of practical underwater cameras and sensors for conservation engineering and cooperative research in support of fisheries management. NOAA Administrator Awards recognize employees who have demonstrated exceptional leadership, skill and ingenuity in their significant, unique, and original contributions that bring unusual credit to NOAA, Department of Commerce and the Federal Government.