Research conducted by the Southeast Alaska Coastal Monitoring (SECM) project focuses on habitat and ecology of juvenile salmon in waters adjacent to the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) ecosystem. This Auke Bay Laboratories project addresses key objectives of the NOAA Fisheries Strategic Plan and international science programs including the North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission (NPAFC) and Global Ocean Ecosystem Dynamics (GLOBEC).

Primary SECM goals are to:

• Understand the early marine ecology and habitat utilization of juvenile salmon and associated species
• Build a time series of oceanographic indices for the coastal waters of Southeast Alaska
• Identify factors affecting salmon survival (e.g., climate change, prey, abundance)
• Produce data sets to evaluate hatchery and wild stock interactions, and forecast adult salmon returns to the region

Juvenile Pacific salmon sampled in late summer in Icy Strait, Southeast Alaska

SECM research was initiated in the spring of 1997, just prior to the onset of a strong El Niño event, and has continued annually. Within Southeast Alaska, SECM sampling occurs around Icy Strait (58°N, 136°W) in the northern region, and sampling has also occurred in Clarence Strait (55°N and 132°W) in the southern region (2005-07). These localities are principal migration corridors for salmon transiting to offshore waters as juveniles and returning to inshore waters as adults. These migration corridors contain dynamic tidal and oceanographic features that salmon must navigate through to reach other productive waters on the continental shelf in the eastern GOA.

Sea surface temperature anomalies from an El Niño event are shown here to affect the eastern GOA in 1997 (http://www.nesdis.noaa.gov)

Primary migration corridors studied in the marine waters of the northern and southern regions of Southeast Alaska

SECM research has compiled a 12-year time series of biophysical data associated with juvenile salmon from monthly sampling intervals in May, June, July, and August. Juvenile salmon and ecologically-related species are sampled with a surface trawl and associated oceanographic measurements are taken. This time series includes data on:

• Temperature and salinity profiles
• Surface nutrients and chlorophyll
• Zooplankton (upper 20-m and integrated)
• Size, abundance, and origin of salmon
• Potential predators of juvenile salmon

Some of these biophysical data are being used to forecast pink salmon returns to Southeast Alaska and to evaluate chum salmon regional data for trends in commercial harvest and ocean survival. These analyses indicate that large-scale, climate-driven processes impact salmon year-class strength.

Contact:
Joe 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