U.S. Department of Commerce / NOAA	/ OAR /  PMEL  / OERD\  \ NMFS / AFSC / RACE/	FOCI
	Fisheries-Oceanography Coordinated Investigations

ATTENDING

Rachael Cartwright (rapporteur), Ned Cokelet, Carrie Hadden, Anne Hollowed, Art Kendall, Allen Macklin, Bern Megrey, Jeff Napp, Ron Reed, Phyllis Stabeno, Gary Stauffer

• Bering Sea meeting -- From 8-10 November 1999, there will be a joint SEBSCC/Inner Front PI meeting in PMEL's Oceanographer Room on the Seattle NOAA campus.  On Monday, November 8, the Inner Front PI meeting is closed to all except Inner Front PI's and their invited guests.  On Tuesday, all Bering Sea enthusiasts are welcome to attend a Symposium on the Status of the Eastern Bering Sea Ecosystem.  On Wednesday morning there will be an open planning meeting for a special journal issue on the eastern Bering Sea ecosystem.  Prospective authors are to supply Allen Macklin with a list of titles, authors, manuscript themes, and data sets to be used prior to the meeting.  On Wednesday afternoon, the SEBSCC PI meeting is closed to all except SEBSCC personnel and their invited guests.  For more details, see http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/sebscc/joint_meeting/agenda.html.

 
• Special journal issue on the eastern Bering Sea ecosystem --  With the maturity of the SEBSCC and Inner Front projects, we are taking the opportunity to plan a special journal issue on the eastern Bering Sea ecosystem.  Participation is open to all authors, not just SEBSCC and Inner Front scientists.   Manuscripts are due July 1, 2000.  A planning meeting will be held in the Oceanographer Room at PMEL on Wednesday, November 10 at 9 a.m.  Prospective authors are to supply Allen Macklin with a list of titles, authors, manuscript themes, and data sets to be used prior to the meeting.  See http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/sebscc/joint_meeting/special_issue.html for more information.

 
•  Meeting aboard NOAA Ship Ron Brown -- FOCI has operations time aboard the  Brown during spring and fall 2000.  Ship's personnel will host an informational meeting on Tuesday, 26 October 1999, beginning at 0900 on board the vessel at PMC.

• FOCI researchers are reminded of the possibility of working with GLOBEC in the Gulf of Alaska in 2001.  In that year, it is expected that GLOBEC will invest several million dollars in process-oriented studies in the Gulf of Alaska.  This presents an opportunity to address the region upstream of Shelikof Strait.  Process-studies in the Gulf of Alaska are to occur every other year. GLOBEC's request for proposals is expected early in 2000.

• Pribilof habitat cruise --  The Pribilof habitat cruise aboard the NOAA Ship Miller Freeman during September 1999 was more successful than the previous year's effort with questionable data and problems with data quality.  This year, instead of separating SEBSCC transects and habitat surveys into two cruises, elements of each were incorporated into this single cruise. The cruise began at M2 where a coccolithophore bloom was noted, then began work at the Pribilof Islands. After that, the cruise surveyed to M4 along the 70-m isobath, and returned to the coccolithophore bloom at M2. Work went quickly and additional science was incorporated.  Here are some early results from the cruise.  The maximum sea surface temperature was 8-9°C (most records show 8-8.1°C), much colder than previous years, with a salinity of 31 psu.  At Line A, acoustic and trawl data indicated a high number of age-0 walleye pollock, greater numbers than those seen in 1997 or 1998, but comparable to those in 1996. The abundance of zooplankton in this area was low. Conversely, when a low abundance of walleye pollock was noted in an area, an increased abundance in zooplankton was seen.  At Line C, feeding fin whales were spotted; the feeding whales were surrounded by shearwaters.  Hydroacoustic surveys revealed a dense layer of copepods at the bottom with euphausiids moving through this layer. Pteropods were noted at the surface.

• Coccolithophores -- Several SeaWiFS images during September from waters less than 80 m were analyzed. Results showed coccolithophores present.  There was a short discussion about how coccolithophore blooms may be related to the availability of ammonia, and the effects of coccolithophores on the food web. A research grant may be sought after next year to address these questions.

• Mooring recovery cruise --  Although all moorings were recovered in September, the percentage of data received from the moorings is small because of various instrument problems, battery failures, lost rotors, and filament/fishing line in the rotors.  At Bering Canyon, fishing line was wrapped around some rotors; and at M6, a mollusc shell grew into the rotor.  Early analysis of data returned indicates deep mixed layers, early fresh water intrusion, late ice development, and prolonged fluorescence. Nearly all measurements were markedly different from those taken during the last five years:  Mixed layers were noted at different depths.  As of September, winds were calm, there was no significant mixing and sea surface features were persistent.  The cold pool was very patchy. This may be attributed to late winter sea ice advance in tongues rather than as a sheet.  There was prolonged fluorescence, different than that of the last five years.

• Satellite-tracked drifters -- Drifters showed weak currents along the shelf early in the field season (late April to early June); but currents sped up in late June through July.

• NOAA Ship Miller Freeman -- The Freeeman will probably depart Seattle sometime during the last ten days in January.  This will enable deployment of FOCI moorings in the Bering Sea before the appreciable ice advance associated with still strong La Niña conditions.  The ship's priority for February is to perform an acoustic survey of the eastern Bering Sea shelf and determine critical habitats of walleye pollock in winter; 17-19 days are needed.  FOCI Bering Sea egg collections will be performed at the end of the Bogoslof acoustic survey in early March.  Later in March would be preferable, but that time is needed for the Shelikof Strait hydroacoustic survey.  After the 2000 field season, the Bogoslof Island and Shelikof Strait surveys will probably be put on a bi-annual schedule. FOCI will again use the ship from April 21 to May 12 for Bering Sea bloom cruises, and during the end of May and early June for the late larval survey south of Shelikof Strait.  Following the late larval cruise, the ship may remain at Kodiak for a Gulf of Alaska survey during June and July.  During August and September, acoustic cruises are scheduled to study walleye pollock reaction to fishing, migration, and Steller sea lion predation.  FOCI will occupy the vessel again in mid September.

• NOAA Ship Ron Brown -- FOCI has use of the Brown for two periods, 23 April to 1 June, and 7 to 27 September  2000.  The former period includes transit from Seattle.  Scientific operations will not be known completely until the federal budget is passed for FY 2000.

• FOCI scientists are communicating with the Ocean Carrying Capacity (OCC) group at Auke Bay. There may be a Seattle meeting to discuss how the programs can exchange information and cooperate, possibly submitting joint proposals for GLOBEC-related work in the Northeast Pacific.

Anne Hollowed presented an anlaysis of 1999 Gulf of Alaska bottom temperatures and adult walleye pollock distribution.  Data were from this summer's echo integration trawl survey that started in the western Gulf and worked eastward along the shelf.  Most fish represented the strong 1994 year class that is presently supporting the commercial industry.  Anne grouped western Gulf bottom temperatures and fish into three shelf domains: Shumagin, Chirikof, and Kodiak.  She noted two results from the analysis and asked for explanations.  First, bottom temperature grew progressively colder over the shelf southwestward from the Kodiak to the Shumagin domain.  Second, adult walleye pollock were aggregated in the Shumagin domain; thirty-five percent of the entire Gulf abundance came from one haul!   Anne questioned why bottom temperatures were colder in the Shumagin region and why the bulk of sampled pollock were found in that domain.  Could this scenario be repeated in the future?  It is typical for the Alaskan Stream to cool as it moves southwestward out of the Gulf mixing with the colder Alaska Coastal Current, so the temperature progression that Anne presented is normal.  Also, the survey began in the Shumagin region at the beginning of summer and worked eastward as summer progressed and the ocean warmed.  Possibly, Bering Sea water may have reached the Shumagin domain and caused cooling.  Also upwelling may have been greater in the Shumagin domain.  As far as the distribution of pollock, possible explanations for why adult walleye pollock moved west to colder water over the shelf and aggregated around the Shumagin Islands might be due to the availability of food.  Also, adult walleye pollock might move west in the spring and then redistribute themselves over the rest of the Gulf during the summer.  Because the survey depends on a single sample at each survey location, and sampling takes the better part of the summer, the resulting distribution is not particularly robust.   As there were no food availability or length/weight data available, and because the pollock survey took place over a three-month period, it was difficult to iterpret the analysis.  Anne will reanalyze her data using suggestions from FOCI PIs.  The group saw no particular reason why ocean conditions observed during 1999 (a la Niña year) should persist.

The next FOCI PI meeting will be moved from Veterans' Day to Thursday, 18 November 1999, in the Cloud Chamber (3/2065). Please submit to Allen Macklin, no later than the day before the meeting, agenda items and fax-ready copies of figures or handouts that you intend to present at the next meeting. Alternately, presentation materials may be posted on the WWW or e-mailed to remote participants before the meeting.

Mail corrections and addenda to the FOCI Coordinator.