Auke Bay Laboratory (ABL)
Ocean Carrying Capacity Program
Winter Pacific Salmon Survey
Jamal Moss from the ABL Ocean Carrying Capacity program, and Nancy Davis from the High Seas Salmon Research program at the University of Washington School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, participated in a winter North Pacific salmon research cruise during late January-early March 2006. The cruise took place aboard the Fisheries Agency of Japan's 93-m stern-ramp research trawler Kaiyo Maru.
The primary objectives of the research were to 1) estimate spatial distributions and biomass of salmon by species, stocks, and developmental stage, 2) determine salmon habitat characteristics during winter, 3) evaluate winter mortality schedules, trophic conditions, and growth rate, and 4) contrast physical and biological conditions encountered by salmon during winter and summer months.
Survey stations were located from longitude 155.00°E to 145.00°W and latitude 41.00°N to 51.00°N. Oceanographic measurements were made immediately prior to each trawl during morning hours and immediately after each trawl during afternoon hours, and included conductivity, temperature, depth, and oxygen concentration. Fish scales and otoliths were collected for age, growth, survival, isotope, and genetics studies. Disk tags were attached to pink, chum, and sockeye salmon for stock distribution studies.
By Jamal Moss
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