JAS 1998 Quarterly Rpt. sidebar
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(Quarterly
Report for Jul-Aug-Sept 1998)
Age
and Growth Program
Estimated releases of production
ages for January to September 1998 were 789 flathead sole; 336 rock sole; 566 Dover sole;
466 yellowfin sole; 660 arrowtooth flounder; 7,345 walleye pollock; 1,936 sablefish; 563
Atka mackerel; 1,760 Pacific whiting; and 780 Pacific ocean perch for a total of 15,201
samples. Also, 4,598 were tested; 2,562 were updated; and 300 were examined and
determined to be unreadable.
By Dan Kimura.
Resource Ecology
and Ecosystems Modeling
A total of 6,830 fish stomachs were
collected for the eastern Bering Sea, 693 for the Gulf of Alaska, and 4,948 for the
Washington-Oregon-California region. Laboratory analysis was performed on 1,573
stomachs from the Bering Sea and 423 from the Aleutian Islands region. Five
observers were trained to collect stomachs.
Our main opportunity for collection
of groundfish stomach samples is through the echo-integration/trawl surveys and bottom
trawl surveys of the RACE Division. This quarter, the Resource Ecology and Ecosystem
Modeling Program participated in the RACE Division bottom trawl surveys of the
Washington-Oregon-California shelf and the eastern Bering Sea to collect samples from
dominant groundfish species in those areas. In addition, we participated in the
ADF&G seasonal bottom trawl survey of the Kodiak shelf region to collect samples.
Bering Sea ecosystem research
communication and coordination is ongoing. The second interagency Bering Sea
workshop held this past June in Anchorage provided new research perspectives from a
broader scientific and constituent audience. The comments and perspectives presented
have been summarized in a workshop proceedings and a revised Bering Sea ecosystem research
plan. Both documents are now available on the World Wide Web and can be viewed from the
AFSC website at:
http://www.refm.noaa.gov/reem/
or from NOAAs Bering Sea Theme Page:
http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/bering/pages/inter-agency/
Cooperative work on predator-prey
interactions with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Alaska Maritime Wildlife Refuge
(USFWS/AMWR) has recently begun. Investigators from the USFWS/AMWR have a program
for obtaining stomach samples of groundfish predators in important bird foraging areas in
the Gulf of Alaska and eastern Bering Sea using longlines or landed-commercial or
charter-boat catches, including some of the sites that are part of the Seabird, Marine
Mammal, Oceanography Coordinated Investigations (SMMOCI). Investigators hope to
learn more about food webs and forage fish abundance and utilization in bird foraging
areas. Task personnel are now receiving those groundfish stomach samples and
performing laboratory and data analysis on them. These samples should enhance the
existing groundfish food habits data base maintained by our task by providing more
information about inshore food webs.
Troy Buckley is collaborating with
Jerry Hoff (RACE Division) and Jeff Drazen, a doctoral student at Scripps
Institution of Oceanography, to study the feeding ecology of several species of grenadiers
- giant (Albatrossia pectoralis) and Pacific (Coryphaenoides
acrolepis),
popeye (C. cinereus), smooth (Nezumia liolepis), and California
(N. stelgidolepis). From the eastern Pacific Ocean, the stomach contents of only a
few giant and Pacific grenadier have been described and the food habits of the other
species have not previously been examined. The majority of our stomach samples were
collected during the 1997 groundfish survey of the West Coast upper continental slope.
Additional samples are being collected by Jeff Drazen using specially designed traps.
Laboratory analysis is proceeding and several papers summarizing the results are
planned.
By Patricia Livingston.
STATUS OF STOCKS
AND MULTISPECIES ASSESSMENTS
Feasibility
Study of Using a Single Beam Seabed Classification System to Identify and Quantify Slope
Rockfish Habitats in the Gulf of Alaska
Since rockfish tend to exhibit
preference for particular habitats, precision in abundance estimates could be
significantly improved by implementing survey designs that are stratified by bottom type.
However, doing this requires information about both the distribution and quantity of
habitat in the survey area. Our study explored the use of an acoustic single beam system
known as the QTC View to acquire such data. The objective of the study was to
assess QTC Views classification performance in general, with the specific aim
of determining the feasibility of its use to identify and quantify slope rockfish habitat
in the Gulf of Alaska. It was of particular interest to determine its limitations
with respect to operational parameters such as ship speed, slope, and depth. In
addition, to address the logistical feasibility of using the QTC View to quantify
fish habitat in an area as vast as the continental slope of the Gulf of Alaska, a
line-intercept study based on the substrate heterogeneity was carried out to determine the
transect spacing needed for a given level of precision in the estimates.
Field work was conducted in
Southeast Alaska aboard the NOAA research vessel John N. Cobb during 11 - 20 August
1997. Analysis of the results of the field work indicated that vessel speeds between
3 and 12 knots did not significantly impact the consistency with which the QTC View
classified the seabed, and depths of at least 220 m did not adversely affect
QTC
Views classification performance. However, slope gradient apparently had a
major impact on classification accuracy. Out of 18 validation sites, the
QTC View
classified 14 accurately, and all of the 4 incorrectly classified sites were associated
with relatively steep slopes. The maximum operational slope was estimated to be
between 5 and 8 degrees.
Using line intercept theory, the
spacing requirements between parallel transects of a survey in an area as diverse as the
continental slope of the Gulf of Alaska were highly dependent on the desired level of
detail. In the extreme case where the amount of all acoustically distinct bottom
types are to be estimated with a coefficient of variation (CV) of 0.1, the spacings
between transects cannot be greater than approximately 230 m, implying over 3,000 hours of
ship time to cover the entire continental slope of the Gulf of Alaska between Ketchikan
and King Cove. Considerably greater transects spacings (and time savings) are possible if
two or more bottom types are combined into a single habitat category and if
higher CVs are acceptable.
In conclusion, due to its
limitations in areas of steep slope, the QTC View is not likely to be an effective
tool for quantifying slope rockfish habitat. It should, however, be an excellent
tool for identifying and quantifying many other fish habitats that are found over
relatively flat bottoms. The study was completed by Paul von Szalay, University of
Washington graduate student, under the auspices of the AFSCs Rockfish Working Group.
By Daniel Ito.
Socioeconomic Assessment Program
The Task has been heavily involved
in activities in support of the Pacific and North Pacific Fishery Management Councils
(PFMC and NPFMC) and other cooperative efforts within the Agency and beyond.
Inshore Offshore Allocation III -
The Final Environmental Assessment, Regulatory Impact Review and Initial Regulatory
Flexibility Analysis were reviewed and approved.
Cost Recovery Program for the
Individual Fishery Quota (IFQ) and Community Development Quota (CDQ) Programs - A revised
draft proposal for the IFQ cost recovery program was prepared for the October Council
meeting.
Supplemental Environmental Impact
Statement (SEIS) - Task members assisted in preparing the draft SEIS for the Bering
Sea-Aleutian Islands (BSAI) and Gulf of Alaska (GOA) groundfish fisheries that was
released for public comment in September.
Aleutian Islands Atka Mackerel
Management - The Final Environmental Assessment, Regulatory Impact Review and Initial
Regulatory Flexibility Analysis were reviewed and approved.
PFMC Groundfish Management -
A Task member did the following: a) participated in the stock assessment review for west
coast sablefish and shortspine thornyheads; b) provided technical guidance to the
PFMCs ad hoc allocation committee; c) participated in the Groundfish Management Team
meetings; d) was appointed cochair of the Groundfish Management Team; e) attended the PFMC
meetings; and f) provided reports to the Groundfish Advisory Panel and the Council on
inseason status, harvest guideline recommendations, allocation proposals for lingcod and
bocaccio rockfish, and alternative management options (stacking of permits and reduced
fishing opportunities).
Task members participated in the
following cooperative activities:
development of programs to collect
and model economic data for the Pacific Coast and Alaska commercial fisheries
preparation of information for and
review of Senate Bill 1221, the American Fisheries Act
preparation for and participation
in the NMFS Regulatory Flexibility Analysis Workshop
the review of the Proposed
Implementation of Fishing Vessel Registration and Fisheries Information Management System
the review of a Southeast Region
report on the economics of bycatch management
participation in meeting on the
objectives of the Groundfish Observer Program.
U.S. Groundfish
Observer Program
One hundred and ninety-one observers
were trained, briefed, and equipped for deployment to fishing and processing vessels and
shoreside plants in the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea during the third quarter of 1998.
Thirty-one of the observers were briefed in Seattle at the AFSC Observer Program, 12
in Dutch Harbor and Kodiak at the Observer Programs field offices, and 87 in
Anchorage at the University of Alaska (UAA) observer training center. Another four
were excused from briefing because they had just completed a debriefing and were returning
immediately to the field on another contract. In addition, 35 first-time observers
were trained by the UAA, and 22 were trained in Seattle.
During the third quarter of 1998,
observers sampled aboard 198 fishing and processing vessels and at 15 shoreside processing
plants. Seventy percent of the observers hired in the third quarter had previous
domestic observer experience.
The Observer Program conducted a
total of 71 debriefings during the third quarter of 1998. Fourteen debriefings were
held in Dutch Harbor and Kodiak, and 57 were held in Seattle.
At its June 1998 meeting, the NPFMC
received notification from NMFS and the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission (PSMFC)
that the third-party, joint partnership agreement (JPA) Observer Program structure would
not be implemented. This Observer Program structure would have established the PSMFC
as the sole source through which the fishing industry would obtain observers, thus
correcting the problem of perceived conflict of interest between the fishing industry and
the observer contracting companies. Because of unresolved legal issues pertaining to
contracting and liability, NMFS and PSMFC announced that the JPA could not be established
as originally envisioned. For these reasons, the Council voted to cease work on the
JPA agreement and extend the current Observer Program structure through the year 2000.
During this time, NMFS and Council staff will continue to reexamine the fee-based
funding mechanism which was first developed under the Research Plan, as well as examine
both short- and long-term adjustments to the existing Observer Program. Discussion
of the future structure of the Observer Program is planned for the October 1998 Council
meeting.
The Observer Program has developed a
computer software application (ATLAS) which allows groundfish observers to enter and send
data directly from their assigned vessels and plants to the NMFS office in Seattle.
Electronic reporting of observer sampling data from sea using ATLAS is now occurring on
about 63 at-sea processing vessels, 11 shoreside plants, and 6 shoreside delivery vessels.
Observer Program staff have been
preparing for further expansion of the Community Development Quota (CDQ) program.
The CDQ program began in 1992 with the walleye pollock CDQ fishery. It was
developed for the purpose of allocating fishery resources to eligible Western Alaska
communities to provide the means for starting or supporting commercial fishery activities
that would result in ongoing, regionally based, commercial fishery or related businesses.
The fixed gear halibut and sablefish fisheries were added to the CDQ program in
1995, and now have been further expanded to include other groundfish species and crab
fisheries. In 1999, a multi-species CDQ (MSCDQ) program will combine the existing
pollock, halibut, and sablefish CDQ programs with the groundfish and crab CDQ programs.
NMFS will be responsible for monitoring and enforcing the groundfish (including
pollock and sablefish) and halibut CDQs, and the State of Alaska will be responsible for
monitoring and enforcing the crab CDQs.
MSCDQ catch accounting for
catcher/processor vessels will be based entirely on data collected by observers.
Unlike the open access fisheries where observer data is used to manage a fleet-wide
quota, industry participants in the MSCDQ fisheries will require individual accounting of
fish harvested in each haul or set. This change in expectations placed on observers, their
data, and the Observer Program in general has required much effort by Observer Program
staff in the development of special selection criteria and training requirements for
MSCDQ observers, development of new sampling strategies and regulations to enhance the
observers working environment, and changes to the data collection and data
management software systems. These changes have already begun and will be further
implemented over the next several months.
By Bob Maier.
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