ABL researchers are often at sea surveying commercially important fish stocks

The Alaska Fisheries Science Center's Auke Bay Laboratories (ABL) conducts scientific research throughout Alaska on commercially marketable species such as rockfish, sablefish, and salmon, and on all aspects of marine ecosystems such as ocean physics and chemistry essential to fish habitats, and the structure and functioning of marine food webs. Information products are provided to the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, the NMFS Alaska Regional Office, fishing industries, state and federal regulators, and international treaty bodies.

Groups involved in managing human activities in Alaska’s coastal environments base their actions on ABL's knowledge of the quantities and qualities of fish and fish habitats. For example, ABL’s capabilities in genetics contribute information to the management of Alaska’s fisheries, including pollock fisheries in the Bering Sea, rockfish fisheries on the Gulf of Alaska, and salmon fisheries on the international boundary between the US and Canada

ABL is organized into four research programs: (see organizational chart)

• Marine Ecology and Stock Assessment
• Recruitment Energetics and Coastal Assessment
• Ecosystem Monitoring and Assessment
• Genetics

The headquarters of ABL is the Ted Stevens Marine Research Institute, a "green" office and laboratory building located at Lena Point, north of Juneau, Alaska, serves as the focal point for a total of seven facilities. Five additonial facilities are located in southeast Alaska and two are on the Pribilof Islands in the central Bering Sea.

• Ted Stevens Marine Research Institute - Lena Point, Juneau, AK (driving instructions)
• Auke Bay Marine Station – Auke Bay, Juneau AK
• Auke Creek Research Station – Auke Creek, Juneau, AK
• Juneau Subport and Dock – downtown Juneau, AK
• Little Port Walter Marine Station – on southern Baranof Island
• Pribilof Island facilities – Bering Sea, AK

Director
Phil Mundy
(907) 789-6000
Phil.Mundy@noaa.gov

Deputy Director
Peter Hagen
(907) 789-6029
Peter.Hagen@noaa.gov

News and Research Highlights

	Video from 2016 AUV Study Autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) are underwater robots that can be used to track the movements of marine fish and collect environmental data about the areas being used. In this video, juvenile salmon tagged with acoustic transmitters are released into marine waters of southeast Alaska and tracked using an AUV. Click here to watch the video.
	Early Marine Ecology of Juvenile Chinook Salmon on the Yukon Delta, Alaska Yukon River Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) are an important subsistence, commercial, and recreational resource. With runs once numbering close to 300,000 adults per year, these fatty fish were once the mainstay of subsistence communities and commercial fisheries all along the river. However, since the late 1990s, Chinook salmon returns have been in a period of prolonged decline with far fewer fish returning to the river to spawn. To help restore stocks, managers implemented measures to control Chinook salmon harvest. more>
	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.
	Forecasting Pink Salmon Harvest in Southeast Alaska Understanding how ocean conditions and climate impact salmon year class strength is an objective of the Auke Bay Laboratories (ABL) Southeast Alaska Coastal Monitoring (SECM) project. The SECM project has collected a time series of indexes that include juvenile salmon and their associated biophysical data in coastal Southeast Alaska (SEAK) since 1997. For more information on forecasting pink salmon harvest in Southeast Alaska, click more>

Featured Research, Publications, Posters, Reports, and Activities

• "Alaska Current Chapter of the "Marine Ecosystems of the North Pacific Ocean 2003-2008" (PICES Spec. Publ. No. 4) by Phil Mundy, Ed Farley, Dana Hanselman, Jon Heifetz, Marcus Janout, Chris Lunsford, Kalei Shotwell, Molly Sturdevant and others
   
• "Evidence of hook competition in longline surveys" by Cara Rodgveller, Chris Lunsford, and Jeff Fujioka
   
• "Density-dependent growth of Alaska sockeye salmon in relation to climate–oceanic regimes, population abundance, and body size, 1925 to 1998" by Ellen Martinson, Jack Helle, Dennis Scarnecchia, and Houston Stokes
   
• "Morphology and molecular phylogeny of Aureophycus aleuticus gen. et sp. nov (Laminariales, Phaeophyceae) from the Aleutian Islands" by Hiroshi Kawai, Takeaki Hanyuda, Mandy Lindeberg, and Sandra C. Lindstrom
   
• Auke Bay Laboratories Research Reports and Activities
   
• Distribution, diet, and bycatch of chum salmon in the eastern Bering Sea
  MURPHY, J. M., E. V. J. FARLEY, J. N. IANELLI, and D. L. STRAM. 2017. Distribution, diet, and bycatch of chum salmon in the eastern Bering Sea. N. Pac. Anadr. Fish Comm. Bull. 6:219-234. http://dx.doi.org/10.23849/npafcb6/219.234  
   
• Allometric relationships between body size and energy density of juvenile Chinook (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and chum (O. keta) salmon across a latitudinal gradient
  MOSS, J. H., J. M. MURPHY, E. A. FERGUSSON, and R. A. HEINTZ. 2017. Allometric relationships between body size and energy density of juvenile Chinook (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and chum (O. keta) salmon across a latitudinal gradient. N. Pac. Anadr. Fish Comm. Bull. 6:161-168. http://dx.doi.org/10.23849/npafcb6/161.168  
   
• Size-selective mortality of Chinook salmon in relation to body energy after the first summer in nearshore marine habitats.
  HOWARD, K., J. M. MURPHY, L. WILSON, J. MOSS, and E. V. J. FARLEY. 2017. Size-selective mortality of Chinook salmon in relation to body energy after the first summer in nearshore marine habitats. N. Pac. Anadr. Fish Comm. Bull. 6:1:11. http://dx.doi.org/10.23849/npafcb6/1.11   Online.
   
• An exploratory assessment of thiamine status in Yukon River Chinook salmon (Onchorhynchus tshawytscha)
  HONEYFIELD, D. C., J. M. MURPHY, K. G. HOWARD, W. W. STRASBURGER, and A. MATZ. 2017. An exploratory assessment of thiamine status in Yukon River Chinook salmon (Onchorhynchus tshawytscha). N. Pac. Anadr. Fish Comm. Bull. 6:21-31. http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.23849/npafcb6/21.31   Online.
   
• Exploration of Potential Early Life Mortality in Canadian-Origin Chinook Salmon Eggs due to Thiamine Deficiency
  By:  C. FUGATE, S. LARSON, K. HOWARD, D. HONEYFIELD, J. MURPHY
  Conference:  Comparative Nutrition Society 2016 Symposium, Rio Grande, Puerto Rico, Aug 2016
  (2016 poster, .pdf, 2.21 MB)   Online.
   
• Seasonal Phenology of Zooplankton Composition in the SE Bering Sea, 2008-2010
  By:  LISA EISNER, ALEXEI PINCHUK, COLLEEN HARPOLD, ELIZABETH SIDDON, KATHY MIER
  Conference:  Ocean Sciences Meeting, New Orleans, LA, Feb 2016
  (2016 poster, .pdf, 1.76 MB)   Online.
   

See the publications and posters databases for additional listings.