Manned submersible Delta.

Adult sablefish.

The Auke Bay Laboratories’ Marine Ecology and Stock Assessment (MESA) Program is at the center of ABL's two key functions; stock assessment and habitat assessment. MESA supports the NMFS mission and especially NOAA’s Mission Goal: Protect, Restore, and Manage the use of Coastal and Ocean Resources Through an Ecosystem Approach to Management. In addition, MESA research supports the first objective under NOAA’s Climate Goal: Understand and predict the consequences of climate variability and change on marine ecosystems. A thorough description of current activities is found in the 2009 annual report to the Technical Subcommittee of the US- Canada Groundfish Committee (TSC). Primary MESA program functions are:

Stock assessment: Provides information needed by NOAA Fisheries and the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) to manage the Alaska groundfish resource. Scientists use advanced population modeling techniques to integrate biological observations and theoretical considerations into stock assessments that recommend annual groundfish quotas. These are in turn used by the NPFMC to manage fisheries within the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of Alaska. Active research to improve management recommendations includes the use of oceanographic, energetic, and satellite data to improve recruitment predictions, genetic stock structure of rockfish, and early life history studies on sablefish, pollock, sharks, rockfish, and salmon.

Northern rockfish in Aleutian corals.

Scientist at work.

Surveys and field studies: Includes the annual longline survey and a wide variety of special at-sea studies. (Follow this link for the 2013 AFSC Longline Survey Calendar with dates and locations.) The Alaska longline survey assesses groundfish on the continental slope of Alaska. Stock status information is collected for a number of important groundfish species, particularly sablefish, rockfish, and grenadiers. Special projects and extensive tagging of sablefish, thornyhead rockfish, Greenland turbot, and lingcod are integral functions of the survey. The extensive tagging program on the longline survey has provided a wealth of life history information, including migration and exploitation rate estimates, and diel movement patterns. Collaborations with marine mammal scientists are focusing on fishery interactions with marine mammals, such as sperm whale longline depredation of sablefish.

Marine ecology research: Focuses on pelagic, benthic, and estuarine fish habitat; deep sea corals/sponges; and commercial and forage species, to improve stock assessment parameters and to protect and define essential fish habitat (EFH). Through the use of manned submersibles and towed cameras, MESA scientists have identified habitat associations of fish species, discovered extensive coral gardens in the Aleutian Islands, and provided insights into the catchability of trawl gear for groundfish species.High resolution multibeam sonar data have been processed to generate benthic habitat maps of fishing grounds in the Gulf of Alaska and the Aleutian distribution of cold water coral habitat. Analysis of near-shore and estuarine EFH provides information on juvenile groundfish and salmon. Future studies will contrast regions of the Gulf of Alaska and characterize a critical environmental window that fish must pass through during their first year of life as they cross from offshore spawning to nearshore settlement areas.

MESA Program Manager:
Phillip Rigby
Auke Bay Laboratories
Alaska Fisheries Science Center, NOAA Fisheries

Ted Stevens Marine Research Institute
17109 Pt Lena Loop Rd
Juneau, AK 99801
(907) 789–6653
Phillip.Rigby@noaa.gov

News and Research Highlights

	2013 Calendar for AFSC Longline Survey Here are the dates and locations for the 2013 AFSC Longline Survey.
	AFSC Longline Survey Data Summaries of the annual AFSC Longline Survey catch and abundance data are now easily accessible via the web. Learn more by clicking on the link above.
	AFSC Longline Survey video Watch this video to learn more about the daily activities and long term uses of the annual AFSC longline survey.

Featured Research, Publications, Posters, Reports, and Activities

• HUNT, G. L., A. L. BLANCHARD, P. BOVENG, P. DALPADADO, K. F. DRINKWATER, L. EISNER, R. R. HOPCROFT, K. M. KOVACS, B. L. NORCROSS, P. RENAUD, M. REIGSTAD, M. RENNER, H. R. SKJOLDAL, A. WHITEHOUSE, and R. A. WOODGATE. 2013. The Barents and Chukchi seas: Comparison of two Arctic shelf ecosystems. J. Mar. Sys. 109-110:43-68.  
   
• SPENCER, P. D., D. H. HANSELMAN, and D. R. McKELVEY. 2012. Simulation modeling of a trawl-acoustic survey for patchily distributed species. Fish. Res. 125-126:289-299. 
   
• SIGLER, M. F., M. F. CAMERON, M. P. EAGLETON, C. H. FAUNCE, J. HEIFETZ, T. E. HELSER, B. J. LAUREL, M. R. LINDEBERG, R. A. McCONNAUGHEY, C. H. RYER, and T. K. WILDERBUER. 2012. Alaska Essential Fish Habitat Research Plan: a research plan for the National Marine Fisheries Service's Alaska Fisheries Science Center and Alaska Regional Office. AFSC Processed Rep. 2012-06, 21 p. Alaska Fish. Sci. Cent., NOAA, Natl. Mar. Fish. Serv., 17109 Pt. Lena Loop Road, Juneau, AK 99801. (.pdf, 704 KB).  Online.
   
• HANSELMAN, D. H., P. D. SPENCER, D. R. McKELVEY, and M. H. MARTIN. 2012. Application of an acoustic-trawl survey design to improve estimates of rockfish biomass. Fish. Bull., U.S. 110:379-396. 
   
• EILER, J. H. 2012. Tracking aquatic animals with radio telemetry, p. 163-204. In N. S. Adams, J. W. Beeman, and J. H. Eiler (editors), Telemetry Techniques: a User Guide for Fisheries Research. Am. Fish. Soc., Bethesda, MD. 
   
• ADAMS, N. S., J. W. BEEMAN, and J. H. EILER (editors). 2012. Telemetry techniques: a user guide for fisheries research. Am. Fish. Soc., Bethesda, MD. 518 p. 
   
• ROBERT J. FOY, MARK CARLS, MICHAEL DALTON, TOM HURST, W. CHRISTOPHER LONG, MICHAEL F. SIGLER, ROBERT P. STONE, and KATHERINE M. SWINEY. 2012. Ocean Acidification: Monitoring and Measuring the Physiological and Population Response of Living Marine Resources in Alaska. AFSC Quarterly Report Feature (July-August-September 2012) 8 p. (.pdf, 4.38 MB).  Online.
   
• STURDEVANT, M. V., J. A. ORSI, and E. A. FERGUSSON. 2012. Diets and trophic linkages of epipelagic fish predators in coastal Southeast Alaska during a period of warm and cold climate years, 1997–2011. Mar. Coast. Fish.: Dynam. Manag. Ecosys. Sci. 4:526-545. 
   
• HANSELMAN, D. H., W. G. CLARK, J. HEIFETZ, and D. M. ANDERL. 2012. Statistical distribution of age readings of known-age sablefish (Anoplopoma fimbria). Fish. Res. 131-133:1-8. 
   
• MARTINSON, E. C., H. H. STOKES, and D. L. SCARNECCHIA. 2012. Use of juvenile salmon growth and temperature change indices to predict groundfish post age-0 yr class strengths in the Gulf of Alaska and eastern Bering Sea. Fish. Oceanogr. 21(4):4, 307-319. 
   
• Energy Allocation in Juvenile Salmon: Adaptive Strategies for Overwinter Survival
  By:  JIM MURPHY, KATIE HOWARD, KEITH COX, JAMAL MOSS, EMILY FERGUSSON, ED FARLEY
  Conference:  Alaska Marine Science Symposium, Anchorage, AK, Jan 2013
  (2013 poster, .pdf, 1.69 MB)   Online.
   
• Using Acoustic Telemetry to Monitor Pacific Herring During Spring Spawning
  By:  MARY ANNE BISHOP, MEGAN McKINZIE, JOHN EILER, BRAD REYNOLDS, SEAN P. POWERS
  Conference:  Alaska Marine Science Symposium, Anchorage, AK, Jan 2013
  (2013 poster, .pdf, 1.32 MB)   Online.
   

See the publications and poster databases for additional listings.