Research Projects | Alaska Coastal Observations and Research

Collection of Pacific cod eggs

Alisa Abookire — Fri, 10 Jun 2022 12:26:21 +0000

Increasing CO 2 levels in the atmosphere and rising ocean temperatures, caused primarily by human activities are leading to an increase in the dissolved CO 2 concentrations in the oceans and a subsequent decrease in the pH and increase in the temperature of seawater. This decrease in pH, known as ocean acidification is likely to have a substantial effect on marine ecosystems within the next century. ACOR was contracted to collect, fertilize, and ship Pacific cod eggs to the NOAA-NMFS laboratory in Newport, OR where they will investigate the effects of ocean acidification on Pacific cod eggs and larvae.

Juvenile cod surveys

Alisa Abookire — Fri, 10 Jun 2022 03:04:20 +0000

To evaluate the health of the Pacific cod stock and determine the likelihood of recovery from the fishery collapse following the 2014-16 marine heatwave, the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) juvenile cod survey was started in 2018. Sampling ranged in the nearshore areas between Kodiak and Sand Point, which overlaps with the highest concentration of adult spawning grounds in the GOA. To enable continued monitoring of early life stages of Pacific cod, NOAA contracted again in 2019, 2020, and 2021. These survey data are informative for management of the Pacific cod fishery, and we convey our data to NOAA stock assessment.

ACOR was awarded a 3 year grant from Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission to continue sampling in 2023, 2024, and 2025. The objectives for this research are to: 1) collect fish catch data on juvenile stages of Pacific cod in the Gulf of Alaska for use in stock assessment and monitoring the potential recovery of the fishery, 2) collect and archive whole-body samples of juvenile cod to archive for body condition measurements and 3) provide environmental data (salinity and temperature) corresponding with the sites of fish collection and regions of area surveyed. The goal is to understand how warming ocean temperature in the GOA, along with other environmental factors (salinity, diet/food web dynamics), effect the condition, abundance and possible spatial structure of Pacific cod stocks in the Gulf of Alaska.

Click on a link for 2020 and 2021 cruise report
Click on these links for 3 peer-review papers that use data from this project: 1 2 3

Westward Region Juvenile Pink Salmon Survey

Alisa Abookire — Thu, 09 Jun 2022 07:18:29 +0000

In the Gulf of Alaska, Pink Salmon demonstrated an adult return failure in 2016, and failed to meet minimum escapement objectives in the Kodiak, Chignik, and South Peninsula areas. This fishery collapse coincided with a marine heatwave (2014-2016). Pink salmon are a short lived (2-year) species whose year-class strength is determined early, and whose marine survival is intimately associated with size and condition. Thus, nearshore observations can be predictive of following year returns.

Relative abundance on a district scale represented by the juvenile cod survey in 2018 to 2020 have showed incredible promise with indexing the entire westward region abundance in the following year adult pink salmon returns. For this reason, continuing this dataset of juvenile fish sampling is of great importance as the juvenile pink salmon data may be used in future regional pink salmon forecasts. The GOA juvenile fish survey during 2022 will be funded for this research, along with additional sites sampled in May of 2022 and 2023 via float plane.

Project is funded by the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission.

Award period: August 15, 2021 – June 30, 2023.

Community Zooplankton Monitoring

Alisa Abookire — Wed, 08 Jun 2022 07:42:51 +0000

This one-year project has several goals, the first is to determine if a community monitoring project is sustainable in Anton Larsen Bay (ALB). Collections of zooplankton, harmful algae, water temperature, stratification of the water column, and nutrients are all attempted to be collected monthly. Whenever possible, the community members of ALB will assist or lead the field collections.

This project arose from conversations with the residents on ALB and citizens of the Kodiak community who are engaged in fisheries and marine ecosystem research and management and/or the fishing industry. This project aims to 1) test several methods of year-round sampling for invertebrate prey species, 2) collect phytoplankton geared to identifying species that cause Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs), 3) measure and assess water quality in potentially anoxic zones in the Bay, and 4) deploy continuous temperature data loggers at a mooring buoy in the Bay.

Funded by UAF SeaGrant

Award Period: November 22, 2021, to January 31, 2023

Project lead: JoEllen Lottsfeldt

Water Quality – Port of Kodiak

Alisa Abookire — Tue, 07 Jun 2022 07:58:38 +0000

The project was designed to test water quality in 16 – 20 Alaskan coastal communities in low and high cruise ship years. ACOR collects sea water samples for the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation – subcontracted through Aquatic Restoration and Research Institute (ARRI) – on several occasions in June/July. Levels of bacteria such as fecal coliforms and Enterococci are measured by the state DEC Anchorage laboratory and compared with other ports and shipping lanes in Alaska.

This project began contracting ACOR in 2020 and continued in 2021 and 2022.

Water Temperature in Kodiak Salmon Streams

Alisa Abookire — Sun, 05 Jun 2022 08:36:00 +0000

ACOR assists two Tribal Councils on Kodiak Island with water temperature monitoring. The Karluk River is monitored by the Larsen Bay Tribal Council, and Big Creek is monitored by the Alutiiq Tribe of Old Harbor. The Tribal Councils deploy and retrieve the temperature loggers and send them to ACOR for download, data management, and report writing. This project benefits from assistance from the US Fish and Wildlife Service, who initiated the project in 2015 within the Kodiak Archipelago Water Temperature Monitoring Network. The network’s focus on monitoring water temperatures of salmon habitat reflects recognition of the strong influence of temperature on salmon at all life cycle stages; the importance of salmon to the economy and ecosystem of the archipelago; and the need to provide reliable time-series temperature data to support development of proactive approaches to management of salmon in response to climate change.

ACOR has been involved since 2020.

Big Creek Drainage

Larsen Bay Drainage