Juvenile red and blue king crabs (Paralithodes camtschaticus and P. platypus) were exposed to three pH levels: ambient (pH 8.1), pH 7.8, and pH 7.5 for three weeks. Oxygen consumption and feeding ration were determined immediately after exposure to treatment water and after three weeks exposure. Growth can be calculated from the wet mass observations.

Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) runs in rivers that flow into the eastern Bering Sea have been inconsistent and at times very weak. Low returns of chinook (O. tshawytscha) and chum (O. keta) salmon to the Yukon River, Kuskokwim River, and Norton Sound areas of Alaska prompted the state of Alaska to restrict commercial and subsistence fisheries during 2000 and declare the region a fisheries disaster area. Weak salmon returns to these river systems follow several years of low sockeye (O. nerka) salmon returns to Bristol Bay, which was declared a fisheries disaster region during 1998 by both the State of Alaska and the U.S. Department of Commerce. Causes of the poor salmon returns to these river systems are not known however, the regional-scale decline of these stocks indicates that the marine environment may play a critical role. Ocean conditions, particularly in the first few months after the salmon leave fresh water, are known to significantly affect salmon survival (Holtby et al. 1990; Friedland et al. 1996; Beamish and Mahnken 2001). Mechanisms affecting marine survival of the eastern Bering Sea salmon stocks are unknown, principally due to the lack of marine life history information on western Alaska salmon. To improve understanding of the marine life-history stage of salmon in the Bering Sea, the North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission (NPAFC) began an internationally coordinated research program on salmon in the Bering Sea called the Bering-Aleutian Salmon International Survey (BASIS) (NPAFC 2001). As part of BASIS, scientists from the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), Ocean Carrying Capacity (OCC) program conducted a fall survey on the eastern Bering Sea shelf to provide key ecological data for eastern Bering Sea salmon stocks during their juvenile life-history stage. The goal of the OCC/BASIS salmon research cruise was to understand mechanisms underlying the effects of environment on distribution, migration, and growth of juvenile salmon on the eastern Bering Sea shelf. Primary objectives of BASIS include: 1) to determine the extent of offshore migrations of juvenile salmon from rivers draining into the eastern Bering Sea, 2) to describe the physical environment of the eastern and northeastern Bering Sea shelf occupied by juvenile salmon, and 3) to collect biological information on other ecologically important species. Summaries of previous Bering Sea juvenile salmon research cruises can be found in Farley et al. (1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005).

To study the effects of ocean acidification we examined the effects of ocean acidification on the embryo and larval stages 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. Embryos and larvae in year 1 were from oocytes developed in the field whereas embryos and larvae in year 2 were from oocytes developed under acidified conditions Larvae hatched each year, were also exposed to 3 pH treatments to examine starvation-survival, morphology, condition, and calcium/magnesium content. The carbonate chemistry data included salinity, temperature, pH, alkalinity, dissolved inorganic carbon, CO2, bicarbonate, carbonate, and the saturation states of aragonite and calcite. These values varied according to treatment and season throughout the study.

This database contains information from one primary project a Southeast Alaska (SEAK) environmental monitoring study. It also includes support analyses for Kodiak crab studies (larvae, seawater), and miscellaneous ancillary studies: 1) a bottle storage experiment, 2) a diurnal carbon study, 3) and a euphausiid (krill) study.

This dataset contains crab data from a field survey of Chionoecetes spp. collected during the 2016 NOAA/NMFS/AFSC/RACE groundfish and invertebrate resources bottom trawl survey of the eastern Bering Sea continental slope (EBSS). Crabs were taken opportunistically, at any station regardless of location and depth, and at random. 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). The data includes sampling year, sampling station information, species, crab morphometrics, Hematodinium sp. parasite presence/absence based on PCR assay results.

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 2014 NOAA/NMFS/AFSC/RACE crab-groundfish bottom trawl survey 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). Crab collected at each survey station were preserved and tested in a laboratory with a DNA test for the presence of Hematodinium sp. parasite DNA 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 index site, species, crab morphometrics, Hematodinium sp. parasite presence/absence based on PCR assay results.

The core function of the Resource Assessment and Conservation Engineering (RACE) Division is to conduct quantitative fishery surveys and related ecological and oceanographic research to measure and describe the distribution and abundance of commercially important fish and crab stocks in the eastern Bering Sea, Aleutian Islands, Gulf of Alaska, and, historically, the West Coast.The survey data are stored in a database called RACEBASE. It serves as the repository for both raw and summary data collected from the surveys dating from 1953 to present. It does not hold stream data.

Radio telemetry was used to determine the distribution, locate spawning sites, and evaluate the tagging response of wild Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha returning to a large, free-flowing river basin. A total of 2,860 fish were radio tagged in the lower Yukon River and tracked upriver. Fish traveled to spawning areas throughout the basin, ranging from several hundred to over 3,000 km from the tagging site. We found similar distribution patterns across years, suggesting that the major components of the return were identified. Most spawning fish were clustered in a number of principal tributaries, although small numbers of fish were located in other spatially-isolated areas. The cumulative contribution of these minor stocks was appreciable, making up 28-31% of the tagged sample. There was suggestive evidence of mainstem spawning in upper reaches of the basin. Large-scale elevation and physiographic data were useful in categorizing spawning areas, with most fish returning to relatively entrenched upland rivers. Fish were largely absent in lowland reaches characterized by meandering, low gradient, alluvial channels often associated with main river floodplains. The fish generally responded well to the capture, handling, and tagging procedures with most (2,790, 97.6%) resuming upriver movements, although the fish initially displayed a negative tagging response, with slower migration rates observed immediately after release. The duration of this response was relatively short (several days) and less severe as the fish moved upriver. The swimming speeds of radio-tagged fish after the initial delay were comparable to estimates for untagged fish, further suggesting that the capture, handling, and tagging methods used were relatively benign. Identifying the primary components of the run (including both major and minor stocks) and determining site-specific utilization patterns can fundamentally enhance salmon management in large river basins, and facilitate research and conservation efforts.

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 represents a collection of morphometrics obtained from all of these species across a variety of research projects. Morphometric data were collected from seals that were captured and sampled in the north Pacific, Bering and Chukchi Seas, in 2004-2012, 2014, 2015. There are also morphometric data from ribbon, spotted, and bearded seals that were collected during a research cruise in 1991. Data collected include lengths, girths, mass, and blubber thickness.