AndreaBozzo/ceres-open-data-index huggingface dataset:
AFSC/RACE/GAP/McConnaughey: Fishpac Projects-2008-GIS

The broad scope of the Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) mandate requires an efficient process for describing and mapping the habitat needs of federally managed species.  For example, research indicates surficial sediments affect the distribution and abundance of many groundfish species, yet traditional sampling with grabs and cores is impractical over areas as large as the Bering Sea shelf.  Acoustic tools are suitable for large-scale surveying and show great promise as a substitute for direct-sampling methods, but they have not been proven useful for EFH purposes.

Tags: acoustic sediment classification, afsc/race/gap/mcconnaughey: fishpac projects-2008, alaska fisheries science center, bering sea, doc/noaa/nmfs/afsc, grain size analysis, habitat mapping, multibeam echosounder, national marine fisheries service, noaa, side scan sonar, u.s. department of commerce
Organization: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce
AFSC/REFM:  Aleutian Islands Cooperative Acoustic Survey Study 2006-2008

The objective of this project was to investigate whether cooperative biomass surveys can be an effective way to manage fisheries at the local scales that are important to predators such as Steller sea lions. To satisfy this objective we conducted wintertime (February-March) acoustic surveys of pollock in the central Aleutian Islands from a commercial vessel equipped with scientific quality ES60 echosounders in 2006, through 2008, and from a NOAA research vessel in 2008. With the fishery vessel and the NOAA vessel acoustic data, we documented the distribution of wintertime aggregations of spawning pollock in the central Aleutian Islands.  We found that aggregations were stable within the season and consistent between years.

Tags: abundance, acoustic, alaska, alaska fisheries science center, aleutian islands, distribution, doc/noaa/nmfs/afsc, fish abundance surveys, fishery-dependent, national marine fisheries service, noaa, non-federal funding, spawning, tracked asset, u.s. department of commerce, winter
Organization: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce
AFSC/RACE/MACE: Results of 2007 Pollock Acoustic-Trawl Survey Bering Sea- DY0707

Eastern Bering Sea shelf walleye pollock (Theragra chalcogramma) abundance and distribution in midwater were assessed between 2 June and 30 July 2007 using echo integration-trawl techniques aboard the NOAA ship Oscar Dyson. The survey also assessed walleye pollock in the Russian Cape Navarin area.  In general, ocean conditions were cold in 2007, as in 2006.  Surface waters averaged 5.0Â¿C in June and early July, but warmed to an average of 8.9Â¿C in mid- to late July.  The water temperature at 60 m did not exceed 3Â¿C, except for parts of the outer shelf and slope between Unimak Island and Zhemchug Canyon. Few walleye pollock were found in the survey region between Port Moller and central Unimak Island.  A few very dense aggregations were observed along the 100-m isobath east of the Pribilof Islands. More pollock were observed west of the Pribilof Islands on the outer shelf, where a large aggregation of 1-year-olds was observed.  Walleye pollock adults and juveniles (primarily age-1 and a few age-2s and -3s) were also abundant in a large area west of St. Matthew Island.  Estimated walleye pollock abundance in midwater (between 14 m from the surface and 3 m off bottom) in the U.S. EEZ portion of the Bering Sea shelf was 9.21 billion fish weighing 1.77 million metric tons (t); in the Russian EEZ, it was 1.08 billion fish weighing 0.10 million t (6% of the total midwater biomass). East of 170Â¿W (13% of total biomass) the predominant length mode was 50 cm.  West of 170Â¿W within the U.S. EEZ (81% of total biomass) modal lengths were 14 and 45 cm.  In Russia modal lengths were similar to those in the western U.S. EEZ.  Fewer walleye pollock were observed east of 170Â¿W than in recent years.  Inside the U.S. EEZ, juveniles were dominant numerically (61% age-1s, and 11% age-2s) but these two age groups represented only 11% of the total biomass.  By contrast, ages 3+ totaled 28% of the population numerically, and made up 89% of the total biomass.  Vertical distribution of walleye pollock is discussed, as well as horizontal and vertical distribution of non-pollock backscatter.

Tags: afsc/race/mace: pollock acoustic-trawl survey biennial bering sea, alaska fisheries science center, doc/noaa/nmfs/afsc, national marine fisheries service, noaa, u.s. department of commerce
Organization: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce
AFSC/RACE/GAP/McConnaughey: Fishpac Projects-2012-LRSS_QTC

The broad scope of the Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) mandate requires an efficient process for describing and mapping the habitat needs of federally managed species.  For example, research indicates surficial sediments affect the distribution and abundance of many groundfish species, yet traditional sampling with grabs and cores is impractical over areas as large as the Bering Sea shelf.  Acoustic tools are suitable for large-scale surveying and show great promise as a substitute for direct-sampling methods, but they have not been proven useful for EFH purposes.

Tags: acoustic sediment classification, afsc/race/gap/mcconnaughey: fishpac projects-2012, alaska fisheries science center, bering sea, doc/noaa/nmfs/afsc, grain size analysis, habitat mapping, multibeam echosounder, national marine fisheries service, noaa, side scan sonar, u.s. department of commerce
Organization: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce
Northern fur seal pup production, adult male counts and harvest data for the Pribilof Islands, Alaska 1909 to Present

This database contains information on pup production estimates, adult male counts and  harvests (commercial and subsistence) for the Pribilof Islands of St. Paul and St. George. Methodology for the data collection for adult males and animals harvested has been consistent over time. The estimation of pup production has gone through an evolution of methodology that is indicated in the database.

Tags: alaska ecosystems program, alaska fisheries science center, bull counts, doc/noaa/nmfs/afsc, harvest, national marine fisheries service, noaa, pribilof islands, pup production, st. george island, st. paul island, u.s. department of commerce
Organization: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce
AFSC/RACE/GAP/McConnaughey:USBL Proof of Concept-1998-Scanmar Data

The trials were conducted in Dabob Bay, Washington, in May 1998. The main objective of these trials was to determine an accurate and reliable system to track a fishing trawl. Three USBL vendors were invited and agreed to participate in the trials. Nautronix Ltd. (Nautronix) provided their ATS II system, Simrad Subsea A/S (Simrad) provided their ITI system, and Ocean Research Equipment, Inc. (ORE) submitted their Trackpoint II Plus system. A local ORE distributor, MECCO, Inc. (MECCO), provided and operated the Trackpoint II Plus system. The U.S. Navy?s fixed, underwater tracking range in Dabob Bay, operated by the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) Division ? Keyport, Washington, was also used in these trials. The range was used to provide simultaneous sub-sea positioning of the fishing trawl and to serve as a benchmark for system evaluations. The U.S. Navy also provided surface navigation support for the fishing vessel during these trials. The vessel selected by AFSC to conduct these trawls was the F/V Vesteraalen. It is 124 feet long, has a beam of 32 feet, and a draft of 18 feet. The F/V VESTERAALEN has a single, fixed-pitch propeller with a nozzle. By design, the vessel is like most in-shore trawlers and has, in fact, operated in Alaska in the past. The tests were conducted using NMFS otter trawls, typically used in Alaskan waters. A trial schedule was developed that would provide each vendor with three days to mobilize and test their systems. Each vendor?s equipment was attached to the fishing trawl, along with the U.S. Navy tracking gear. Both the U.S. Navy and the USBL vendor collected simultaneous trawl position data as determined by their respective equipment, with the trawl being dragged on the bottom along a predetermined track. The main objective of these trials was to assess the accuracy of each vendor?s equipment. This was accomplished using a statistical comparison between each vendor?s data and the U.S. Navy?s data that were observed simultaneously. This report details the results of these trials and summarizes the comparison results. It also contains details of the equipment and the methodologies used to collect and analyze the data. As a result of the data analysis, conclusions were drawn and recommendations have been included in this report.

Tags: afsc/race/gap/mcconnaughey:usbl proof of concept-1998, alaska fisheries science center, doc/noaa/nmfs/afsc, national marine fisheries service, navigation, noaa, puget sound, u.s. department of commerce, usbl underwater positioning, washington
Organization: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce
AFSC/NMML/CCEP: Northern fur seal demography at San Miguel Island, California, 1974 - 2014

The National Marine Mammal Laboratories' California Current Ecosystem Program (AFSC/NOAA) initiated a long-term marking program of northern fur seals (Callorhinus ursinus) at San Miguel Island, California in 1975. A sample of up to 300 pups has been tagged in the foreflippers with various types and colors of tags each year between 1975 and the present. Resighting surveys for marked animals are conducted annually at summer breeding sites. Resightings are also obtained from the public when animals are observed on beaches or in fisheries. The data are used in mark-recapture models to estimate the age and sex specific vital parameters of the population and to describe age and sex specific reproductive behavior and seasonal movements of animals throughout their lives.

Tags: alaska, alaska fisheries science center, california, california current ecosystems program, canada, demography, distribution, doc/noaa/nmfs/afsc, fall, farallon islands, life history, mexico, natality, national marine fisheries service, noaa, northern fur seal, oregon, reproduction, san miguel island, summer, survival, u.s. department of commerce, washington
Organization: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce
AFSC/RACE/GAP/Yeung:  Eastern Bering Sea Essential Fish Habitat Benthic Data

Benthic samples were collected between 2009-2012 in the Bering Sea to study Essential Fish Habitat.  Station locations were at or near fixed stations of the AFSC bottom trawl survey.  Granulometry of surficial sediment and infauna communities were analyzed.

Tags: abundance, alaska, alaska fisheries science center, benthos, bering sea, bristol bay, doc/noaa/nmfs/afsc, groundfish assessment program, habitat, infauna, national marine fisheries service, noaa, prey, summer, u.s. department of commerce
Organization: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce
AFSC/RACE/GAP/vonSzalay: The Eastern Bering Sea Shelf, Gulf of Alaska, and Aleutian Islands Simrad ES 60 Acoustic Data Collected on Bottom Trawl Surveys

Calibrated midwater and bottom backscatter data collected continuously with ES-60 echosounders throughout the bottom trawlsurvey period, continuing a time series of such data begun in 2005. Raw acoustic data was logged continuously 24 hours/day for each of the four legs of the cruise. The data is stored as raw files on the AFSC network drive.

Tags: alaska, alaska fisheries science center, aleutian islands, doc/noaa/nmfs/afsc, eastern bering sea shelf, groundfish assessment program, groundfish surveys, gulf of alaska, habitat, hydroaccoustic, national marine fisheries service, noaa, summer, time series, trawl, u.s. department of commerce
Organization: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce
AFSC/RACE/GAP/McConnaughey: South Arctic Reconnaissance-2012-Klein 7180-Data

A custom designed Klein 7180 towed sonar was deployed from the NOAA Ship FAIRWEATHER to determine its value of acoustic backscatter as a habitat defining character. A Sonardyne Fusion USBL system was used to estimate underwater positioning of the towfish using an omnidirectional Wideband submini beacon operating in external trigger mode. Navigation data were logged in QINSy and exported into a text file. The towfish positions were then smoothed in Matlab using a custom script that implemented a weighted Hamming filter, using a window of 11 data points. These points represent the smoothed USBL navigation data for the Klein 7180 towfish during the Arctic reconnaissance transit from Dutch Harbor to Kotzebue. These smoothed towfish navigation data, however, will NOT ultimately be reinserted back into the sonar files for mosaicking and analysis. Rather, another navigation smoothing routine will be used for the final product.

Tags: afsc/race/gap/mcconnaughey: south arctic reconnaissance-2012-klein 7180, alaska fisheries science center, doc/noaa/nmfs/afsc, national marine fisheries service, navigation, noaa, side scan sonar, u.s. department of commerce
Organization: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce
AFSC/RACE/GAP/McConnaughey: Trawlex BACI-2001-2002 -Photos

The Resource Assessment and Conservation Engineering (RACE) Division of the Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC) conducted a survey in the eastern Bering Sea (EBS) to evaluate short-term impacts of bottom trawls on soft-bottom benthic habitats and to describe the recovery process.  This was a multi-year project which follows earlier studies of long-term bottom trawling impacts in the same general region.  The study area was within the Crab and Halibut Protection Zone 1 in Bristol Bay (management area 512; approximately latitude 58 degrees north and longitude 160 degrees west.  In general, at-sea work was divided into three phases: (1) integrated biological and geological sampling before experimental trawling, (2) experimental trawling and (3) integrated biological and geological sampling after experimental trawling.  Survey activities were conducted aboard the 47.2 meter (155 ft) chartered vessel Ocean Explorer.  This was a commercial fishing vessel modified to support the research activities.  Activity during phase 1 consisted of side scan assessments of seafloor morphology with an interferometric Klein 5410 side scan sonar towfish during night wheel watches, and epifauna trawls and collection of infauna and sediment grabs during daylight hours.  All samples from a particular gear were collected in succession, so as to minimize time spent installing and configuring gear during phases (1) and (3).  Assessment activities after the impact phase were a repeat of activities prior to experimental trawling.

Tags: acoustic sediment classification, afsc/race/gap/mcconnaughey: trawlex baci-2001-2002, alaska fisheries science center, baci design, bering sea, doc/noaa/nmfs/afsc, national marine fisheries service, noaa, side scan sonar, trawl impact, u.s. department of commerce
Organization: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce
AFSC/NMML/CCEP: Sampling locations for harbor seal genetics in Washington and British Columbia

Using skin samples from 777 unweaned pups collected in 9 different regions in WA state and British Columbia (WA Coastal Estuaries, WA North Coast, British Columbia, Boundary Bay, San Juan Islands, Smith/Minor Islands, Dungeness Spit, Hood Canal, South Puget Sound), the California Current Ecosystem Program at the Marine Mammal Laboratory/AFSC tested levels of genetic variation using mtDNA and 9 microsatellite loci.  For both mtDNA and microsatellites we found the same four groupings.  Previously, harbor seals were managed as two stocks: coastal and Inland waters.  The data indicated that the harbor seals should be managed as four stocks: one on the Coast and three stocks in the Inland Waters. An additional 92 skin samples were collected opportunistically from non-pups. They have not yet been analyzed.

Tags: alaska fisheries science center, british columbia, california current ecosystems program, canada, doc/noaa/nmfs/afsc, genetics, microsatellite dna, mitochondrial dna, national marine fisheries service, noaa, pacific harbor seal, phoca vitulina, pupping season, stock definition, u.s. department of commerce, washington coast, washington inland waters
Organization: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce
AFSC/RACE/GAP/McConnaughey: Fishpac Projects-2009-GIS

The broad scope of the Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) mandate requires an efficient process for describing and mapping the habitat needs of federally managed species.  For example, research indicates surficial sediments affect the distribution and abundance of many groundfish species, yet traditional sampling with grabs and cores is impractical over areas as large as the Bering Sea shelf.  Acoustic tools are suitable for large-scale surveying and show great promise as a substitute for direct-sampling methods, but they have not been proven useful for EFH purposes.

Tags: acoustic sediment classification, afsc/race/gap/mcconnaughey: fishpac projects-2009, alaska fisheries science center, bering sea, doc/noaa/nmfs/afsc, grain size analysis, habitat mapping, multibeam echosounder, national marine fisheries service, noaa, side scan sonar, u.s. department of commerce
Organization: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce
AFSC/RACE/SAP/Munk: Life history studies of Tanner crab, Chionoecetes bairdi, near Kodiak, Alaska.

From 1994 through 2012 Tanner crab were identified as premolt, held through a molt, and then measured to determine growth per molt.

Tags: alaska, alaska fisheries science center, doc/noaa/nmfs/afsc, growth, gulf of alaska, national marine fisheries service, noaa, shellfish assessment program, u.s. department of commerce
Organization: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce
AFSC/MML: Distribution and abundance of Southeast Alaska harbor porpoise, 2019

As currently defined, the Southeast Alaska (SEAK) harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) stock ranges from Dixon entrance to Cape Suckling, including inland waterways. Since the early 1990s, the Marine Mammal Laboratory (MML) has conducted ship and aerial surveys to assess abundance and status of harbor porpoise in this region (Dahlheim et al., 2009; Hobbs and Waite, 2010). In recent years, analysis of ship survey sighting data from inland waters has indicated the potential for substructure within this stock. Trends in abundance between 1991 and 2012 suggested that numbers of harbor porpoise in the northern portion of the study area (Glacier Bay/Icy Strait) were stable. However, in the southern portion of the range (Wrangell and Zarembo), numbers declined significantly in the mid-2000s and subsequently increased again in early 2010 (Dahlheim et al., 2015). The decline was observed only in a region where gillnet fisheries operate. Such contrasting trends in abundance between the northern and southern portions of the range suggest the possible existence of multiple populations within the currently recognized SEAK stock.
There is evidence that incidental mortality of harbor porpoise in the salmon driftnet fishery in SEAK may exceed the maximum allowable level under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) (Muto et al., 2018). The most recent estimate of abundance for the whole stock is more than 8 years old and cannot be used to estimate PBR. In addition, estimates of abundance from inland waters from 2011 are now outdated and are no longer applicable for management. Therefore, a new estimate was needed to update estimates of the maximum allowable bycatch levels.

Tags: abundance estimate, alaska, alaska fisheries science center, cetacean assessment and ecology program, continent, distance sampling, doc/noaa/nmfs/afsc, line transect, national marine fisheries service, noaa, north america, phocoena phocoena, summer, u.s. department of commerce, united states of america
Organization: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce
AFSC/RACE/SAP/Foy: The effects of ocean acidification on ovigerous Tanner crab size, calcium, and magnesium content. : Kodiak Island, Alaska.

To study the effects of ocean acidification we conducted laboratory experiments with adult ovigerous females of the economically important southern Tanner crab, Chionoecetes bairdi. 
                Ovigerous females were reared in one of 3 treatments: control (ambient pH ~8.1), pH 7.8, and pH 7.5 for 2 years. The adult female sizes used for the experiments ranged from 87 to 112 mm 
                among the three treatments. Throughout the experiment , pH and temperature were measured daily in each of the 3 treatments. The mean daily temperature was 5.0 C, varied seasonally from 
                a low of ~1 C in January 2012 to a high of ~ 9C in August 2011, and did not vary between treatments. pH remained significantly different among the treatments. Brooding duration for each 
                female was defined as beginning the day of egg extrusion in 2012 and ended when larval hatching began in 2013. Mean brood duration ranged from 340 to 366 days. Magnesium and calcium content 
                were determined at the end of the experiment from a portion of exoskeleton. Magnesium did not differ with pH treatment but the ratio of magnesium to calcium did differ among treatments.

Tags: alaska fisheries science center, brood duration, doc/noaa/nmfs/afsc, female calcium content, female magnesium content, kodiak island, national marine fisheries service, noaa, seawater ph, seawater temperature, shellfish assessment program, tanner crab size, tunner crab, tunner crab female ca and mg, u.s. department of commerce
Organization: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce