Southeast Alaska Coastal Monitoring (SECM)
Joseph A. Orsi
Auke Bay Laboratories
Alaska Fisheries Science Center, NOAA Fisheries
Ted Stevens Marine Research Institute
17109 Pt Lena Loop Rd
Juneau AK 99801
(907) 789-6034
Joe.Orsi@noaa.gov
The primary goal of the Southeast Alaska Coastal Monitoring (SECM)
research is to build and maintain a time series of biophysical
oceanographic indices related to the seasonal growth, distribution,
abundance, and habitat utilization of juvenile salmon stocks, associated
fishes, and other co-occurring marine species.
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
A secondary goal is to examine
relationships between juvenile salmon and ecologically-related
species. Long-term sampling over varying environmental and changing
climatic conditions will provide a better understanding of
relationships between early marine growth and survival of salmon and
transitional habitat utilization by salmon and other associated
fishes and marine organisms. SECM research focuses on habitat and ecological
process studies by the Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC), and addresses objectives of the
following international science
programs:
North
Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission (NPAFC), and
Global Ocean Ecosystem Dynamics (GLOBEC).
|
|
|
|
|
SECM research was initiated in the spring of 1997, just prior to
the onset of an El Nino
event, and has continued annually through 2005. Sampling centers
around Icy Strait (58.25oN, 135.50oW) in the
northern region of Southeast Alaska and will expand to include the
Clarence Strait area (55.30oN and 132.0oW)
in 2005. These localities are principal migration corridors for
salmon transiting to offshore areas as juveniles and returning to
inshore waters as adults. They are also major transition
regions and important nursery areas providing habitat links for a
host of other fishes and marine species between inshore coastal and
offshore waters.
|
|
 |
 |
|
Sampling is conducted
monthly during up to six intervals from May to October, and at up to 24 stations
spanning 250 km from inshore habitats near large glacial rivers to
coastal habitats 65 km offshore in the Gulf of Alaska. Juvenile salmon
and ecologically-related species are sampled with a surface trawl
from the NOAA
Ship John N. Cobb. A suite of other biophysical samples
and data are also collected at each station with a variety of
oceanographic instruments and plankton nets. SECM research is
scheduled to continue with increased focus on process studies and an
emphasis on bioenergetics of predator-prey food webs, including
lower trophic levels and interactions of hatchery and wild stocks of
juvenile salmon.
|
|
2005
Cruise Reports:
2004 Cruise Reports:
|
|
Annual Reports:
See also:
 Diel epipelagic distribution of juvenile salmon, rockfish, sablefish, and ecological interactions with associated species in offshore habitats of the northeast Pacific Ocean.
- Comparisons of the size of juvenile pink and
chum salmon caught during surface rope and pair trawling in the
marine waters of southeastern Alaska, June 2004
|
To view and print some of these documents, Adobe
Acrobat Reader freeware must be installed. Adobe also offers
free tools for the visually disabled.
|
