The AFSC hosted a workshop in Anchorage, Alaska, on 14-15 September 2010, as part of NOAA’s Deep Sea Coral Research and Technology Program. The goal of the workshop was to develop a 3-year exploration and research action plan for deep-sea corals and sponges in Alaska that addresses resource management needs. Program funding is expected to be available for research in Alaska beginning in 2012.
Twenty scientists, managers, and resource stakeholders attended the 2-day workshop. A workshop report is in preparation and will be available in March 2011. The workshop steering committee included Robert Stone (chair, AFSC Auke Bay Laboratories), John Tomczuk (NOAA Oceanic and Atmospheric Research ), Jennifer Reynolds (University of Alaska Fairbanks & NOAA Oceanic and Atmospheric Research), John Olson (NMFS Alaska Regional Office), and Dave Witherell (North Pacific Fishery Management Council).
