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Resource Ecology & Fisheries Management (REFM) Division

AFSC Quarterly
Research Reports
July-Aug-Sept 2008
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Resource Ecology & Ecosystem Modeling (REEM) Program

Fish Stomach Collection and Lab Analysis

During the third quarter of 2008, fisheries observers collected 590 stomach samples from the eastern Bering Sea and 64 stomach samples from the Gulf of Alaska and Aleutian Islands. AFSC scientists collected 9,468 stomach samples on groundfish surveys of the eastern Bering Sea and 366 stomach samples during the Beaufort Sea survey. Stomach samples were not analyzed at sea this summer, but 1,077 stomach samples from the eastern Bering Sea and 344 stomach samples from the Gulf of Alaska and Aleutian Islands region were analyzed in the laboratory. In total, 4,364 records were added to the REFM food habits database.

By Troy Buckley
 

figure1, see caption
Figure 1.  Diagram of the critical components of the FEAST (Forage and Euphausiid Abundance in Space and Time) model.
 
 

Ecosystem Modeling

Resource Ecology & Ecosystem Modeling (REEM) Program staff worked actively on developing FEAST (Forage and Euphausiid Abundance in Space and Time), a spatial dynamic model of the Bering Sea forage community (Fig. 1) for the North Pacific Research Board's Bering Sea Integrated Research Program (BSIERP).

This model will simulate the dynamics between plankton and fish communities on a 10-km scale grid of the Bering Sea, including dynamics for growth, migration, reproduction, and mortality.

This work is closely integrated with a wide range of field studies that are part of the 5-year BSIERP study to predict the response of the Bering Sea to long-term climate variation.

By Kerim Aydin



Ecosystem Indicators

As part of the Ecosystem Considerations for 2009 report, appendix to the Stock Assessment and Fisheries Evaluation, updates were performed for 80 indicators including climate, oceanographic, production, species, community, and ecosystem-level indicators. This updated information can be accessed on the Ecosystem Considerations web site at http://access.afsc.noaa.gov/reem/ecoweb/index.php. A draft of this work was presented at the North Pacific Fishery Management Council's September 2008 Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands and Gulf of Alaska groundfish plan team meetings.

By Kerim Aydin and Jennifer Boldt


Seabird Research: Fourth International Conference on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels

Shannon Fitzgerald and Dr. Ann Edwards participated in the Fourth International Conference on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, held in Cape Town, South Africa, 11-15 August. The conference is held once every 4-5 years. Fitzgerald and Edwards each provided presentations on aspects of albatross conservation in the North Pacific and met with individuals engaged in science, monitoring, and conservation from around the globe. The primary themes of this conference were pelagic movements of albatross and petrel as determined by satellite telemetry, elimination of threats on breeding colonies, and interactions with trawl fisheries. The U.S. contingent held a side meeting to begin planning efforts to improve monitoring of seabird bycatch in U.S. trawl fisheries in the Pacific.

By Shannon Fitzgerald
 

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