Polar Ecosystems Program research projects focus primarily on abundance, trends, distribution, health and condition, and foraging behavior of phocids (harbor, bearded, ringed, spotted, and ribbon seals) in Alaska. This database contains health and disease data obtained by analysis of different blood parameters, molecular analysis of swabs, stable isotope analysis, and contaminant analysis from seals across a variety of research projects. Biological samples (e.g. blood, tissue, hair, nasal swabs, and whiskers) have been collected from ribbon and spotted seals in the Bering Sea, bearded seals in the Bering and Chukchi Seas, and harbor seals in the north Pacific and Bering Sea. Ribbon seal samples were collected in 2005-2010, 2014; spotted seal samples were collected in 2005-2010, 2014; bearded seal samples were collected in 2007, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2014; ringed seal samples were collected in 2007-2009; harbor seal samples were collected in 2004-2006, 2012.

Groundfish catch and effort data (excluding flatfishes and rockfishes) collected by observers in the United States commercial groundfish fisheries of Alaska (Bering Sea, Aleutian Islands and Gulf of Alaska, 1993-2017.
Subset of the Alaska observer groundfish data, aggregating by 400km square cells and eliminating cells with less than three vessels to create a public version of the Alaska groundfish observer data.
Purpose: Allows visitors use of the aggregated observer data to create maps. These maps are designed to provide a better understanding of where groundfish are caught in the Aleutian Islands, Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska.
Supplemental_Information: http://www.afsc.noaa.gov/FMA/fma_database.htm
Number 3 of a set of 5 files:
1. AFSC/FMA: North Pacific Groundfish and Halibut Observer Program Fishery Statistics - Rockfish Catch
2. AFSC/FMA: North Pacific Groundfish and Halibut Observer Program Fishery Statistics - Flatfish Catch
3. AFSC/FMA: North Pacific Groundfish and Halibut Observer Program Fishery Statistics - Most fishes (excluding flatfishes and rockfishes) Catch
4. AFSC/FMA: North Pacific Groundfish and Halibut Observer Program Fishery Statistics - Invertebrates Catch
5. AFSC/FMA: North Pacific Groundfish and Halibut Observer Program Fishery Statistics - Effort Statistics

Fish and invertebrates that are unintentionally captured during commercial fishing operations and then released back into the ocean suffer mortality at unknown rates, introducing uncertainty into the fishery management process. Attempts have been made to quantify discard mortality rates using reflex action mortality predictors or RAMP which use the presence or absence of a suite of reflexes to predict discard mortality. This method was applied to Tanner crab, Chionoecetes bairdi, during the 2010-2012 fisheries in the Bering Sea. Discard mortality in the fishery is currently assumed to be 50% in stock assessment models, but that rate is not based on empirical data and is widely recognized to be in need of refinement. Over 19,000 crab were evaluated using the RAMP method. The estimated discard mortality rate was 4.5% (SD = 0.812), significantly below the rate used in stock assessment models. Predicted discard mortality rates from the 2010-2012 study were strongly correlated with the air temperature at the St. Paul Island airport in the Pribilof Islands. Using this relationship the discard mortality rate from 1991-2011was estimated at 4.2% (SD = 1.08).

Invertebrate catch and effort data collected by observers in the United States commercial groundfish fisheries of Alaska (Bering Sea, Aleutian Islands and Gulf of Alaska, 1993-2017.
Subset of the Alaska observer groundfish data, aggregating by 400km square cells and eliminating cells with less than three vessels to create a public version of the Alaska groundfish observer data.
Purpose: Allows visitors use of the aggregated observer data to create maps. These maps are designed to provide a better understanding of where groundfish are caught in the Aleutian Islands, Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska.
Supplemental_Information: http://www.afsc.noaa.gov/FMA/fma_database.htm
Number 4 of a set of 5 files:
1. AFSC/FMA: North Pacific Groundfish and Halibut Observer Program Fishery Statistics - Rockfish Catch
2. AFSC/FMA: North Pacific Groundfish and Halibut Observer Program Fishery Statistics - Flatfish Catch
3. AFSC/FMA: North Pacific Groundfish and Halibut Observer Program Fishery Statistics - Most fishes (excluding flatfishes and rockfishes) Catch
4. AFSC/FMA: North Pacific Groundfish and Halibut Observer Program Fishery Statistics - Invertebrates Catch
5. AFSC/FMA: North Pacific Groundfish and Halibut Observer Program Fishery Statistics - Effort Statistics

This database contains northern fur seal pup mass and length data by date, island, rookery and sex on the Pribilof Islands, Alaska, collected between 1957-2016. Mass has been used as an index of condition and can be on indicator of the health of the individual, the population and of the ecosystem. Cite dataset as: Alaska Ecosystems Program. 2019. Northern fur seal pup weights, Pribilof Islands, Alaska, 1957-present. NOAA Fisheries Open Data Portal: https://noaa-fisheries-afsc.data.socrata.com/Ecosystem-Science/Alaska-Pribilof-Island-northern-fur-seal-pup-weigh/t77b-uhtm.

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.

The seabird necropsy dataset contains information on seabird specimens that were collected under salvage and scientific collection permits primarily by NMFS-certified fisheries observers deployed by the Pacific Islands Regional Office Observer Program to shallow and deep set pelagic longline fisheries operating in North Pacific waters and fisheries observers deployed by the Alaska Fisheries Science Center Observer Program to groundfish demersal longline, pot, and trawl fisheries in waters off Alaska. The database includes Magnuson-Act protected data on the precise date and location where the specimen was collected and publicly available information on the results of the necropsy work. This includes a suite of data including age class, sex, morphometrics, plumage characteristics, body condition, tissue samples, and plastics ingestion. Food habits are completed as a parallel program.

This project genetically analyzed 1,620 chinook salmon samples from the 2009 spring salmon excluder device test. These samples were collected over a short period of time from a limited geographical area and thus represent a unique sample set.

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. Cite dataset as: Alaska Ecosystems Program. 2019. Northern fur seal pup production, adult male counts and harvest data for the Pribilof Islands, Alaska 1909 to Present. NOAA Fisheries Open Data Portal: https://noaa-fisheries-afsc.data.socrata.com/Ecosystem-Science/Northern-fur-seal-pup-production-adult-male-counts/c983-ijgd

This dataset contains crab data from a field survey of Chionoecetes bairdi and C. opilio collected at six designated index sites in the Bering Sea during the 2015 NOAA/NMFS/AFSC/RACE crab-groundfish bottom trawl surveys of the eastern Bering Sea. Each of the six index sites were made up of approximately 10 survey stations and chosen based on historical incidences of the parasite Hematodinium sp., the causative agent of Bitter Crab Syndrome (BCS). Blood samples were taken from collected crab using non-lethal methods and were preserved in 100% ethanol. Samples were tested in a laboratory with a DNA test to detect the presence of the parasite Hematodinium sp., the causative agent of Bitter Crab Syndrome (BCS) to evaluate any changes in intensity of disease within the index sites that may provide information as to how the disease is moving or changing within EBS crab populations. The data includes sampling year, index site, species, crab morphometrics, Hematodinium sp. parasite presence/absence based on PCR assay results.