The spiny dogfish (Squalus suckleyi, formerly Squalus acanthias, Ebert et al. 2010) is a small, long-lived and slow-growing shark, which is vulnerable to overfishing. Current methods for aging spiny dogfish are based on reading annuli from dorsal fin spines, which erode and may break. For the past 30 years, scientists have used an exponential relationship between the diameter of the spine and the number of annuli to estimate the number of missing annuli. Coupled with between-reader imprecision (CV = 19%), errors in estimation of worn annuli introduce uncertainty and bias into the aging process, resulting in large confidence intervals and imprecise growth, mortality, and recruitment estimates necessary for stock assessments. Using spines and vertebrae collected from spiny dogfish in the Gulf of Alaska, we aged the spines using conventional methods and vertebrae using the vertebral method. Data presented here includes the sample collection information, raw spine and vertebrae age read data and final annuli counts calculated from the multiple reads. This project was funded by NPRB and was a collaborative work between: AFSC age and growth lab, WA Dept Fish and Wildlife, NWFSC age and growth lab, Dr. Walter Bubley and UAF, and Bechtol Research

Stock assessment of Alaskan red king crab, Paralithodes camtschaticus (Tilesius, 1815), can be improved by incorporating reproductive output, which requires an understanding of the size-fecundity relationship, interannual and seasonal variability in fecundity, and maternal size effects on embryo and larval quality. We collected red king crab egg clutches from Bristol Bay, Alaska, in summer of 2007-2010 and autumn of 2007-2009 and estimated fecundity. A monitoring project examining the size-fecundity relationship began in 2012 and data is collected every other year.In June 2009 and 2010 we collected embryo clutches of recently extruded red king crab embryos in Bristol Bay, Alaska, to assess embryo quality based on dry weight, carbon and nitrogen content. To assess larval quality, we collected ovigerous females from Bristol Bay in 2007 and reared them in the laboratory until larval hatching in 2008. Larval quality based on dry weight, carbon and nitrogen content, and time to 50% mortality under starvation conditions was assessed.

These are the data from a laboratory experiment in which DNA content was removed from blood smears and extracted. The blood smears were either stained with Giemsa-stain or remained un-stained. Some of the un-stained smears were coverslipped. Host and parasitic DNA was amplified using conventional PCR.

An experimental bottom longline survey was conducted at depths >1,000 m in the western Gulf of Alaska in August 2008. The objective was to investigate the abundance and biological characteristics of giant grenadier (Albatrossia pectoralis) and sablefish (Anoplopoma fimbria) in deep waters of the Gulf of Alaska that have not been previously sampled in fishery surveys. Several difficulties were encountered during the fishing operations which indicate special problems may occur when fishing longlines at these depths, including substantial gear drift after setting and hang-ups on the bottom that caused the longline to part. Although results were not conclusive because only stations in the western Gulf of Alaska were sampled, there was consistency in the results which provides an indication of fish abundance and distribution in depths >1,000 m. Catch rates of giant grenadier were relatively high, although not as large as those in nearby longline survey stations in depths <1,000 m. Female giant grenadier were much larger in size at the deep-water stations, and their weight averaged 69% greater than females at depths <1,000 m. Males, which comprise a low percentage of the catch in shallower water, were caught in much higher numbers at the deep-water stations. Catch rates for sablefish at the deep-water stations were extremely low, and it appears abundance of sablefish is negligible in the western Gulf of Alaska at depths >1,000 m. Besides giant grenadier, Pacific grenadier (Coryphaenoides acrolepis) was the only other species caught in substantial numbers. At one deep-water station, Pacific grenadier were extremely abundant and were caught on 56% of the longlines hooks.

Chum salmon populations from across their geographic distribution have been analyzed with a set of SNP and microsatellite markers. As is typical for chum salmon populations, more genetic divergence was observed on larger geographic scales than on smaller regional scales. Strong divergence exists within and among the three regions of Asia, western Alaska, and the northeast Pacific. However, separation of coastal western Alaskan summer-run chum salmon populations, from Norton Sound to northern Bristol Bay remains problematic. The degree of divergence determines the spatial scale to which stock proportions of mixtures of chum salmon can be resolved. The baseline developed in this project will be used for mixture analyses to study the marine distribution of chum salmon populations in the Bering Sea. Scale and fin samples collected in the eastern Bering Sea will be used to determine whether the stock composition of chum salmon aggregations differ across areas, seasonally, and annually. Determining the stock distributions of these mixtures will provide information on the migratory pathways of chum salmon in the Bering Sea and the potential impact of bycatch of coastal western Alaskan chum salmon in the Bering Sea pollock fishery.

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.

This dataset is from laboratory experiments examining intercohort variation in thermal reaction norms of Pacific cod.

This is data from a long-term monitoring project which utilized sonic tags to follow aggregations of red king crab in Womens Bay near Kodiak Alaska. The database consists of four major tables: Sonic tags: An inventory of all tags used recording crab size and sex dates of tag release and recovery, and if possible the reason for tag loss. Locations: Field locations in latitude, longitude, and depth for sonic tags, generally acquired on a weekly basis. Dive summary:A summary of dive observations on sonic tagged crab aggregations to document crab behavior and habitat use. Crab measurements:Measurements of crab carapace lengths, sex, and shell conditions of diver-collected crab from crab aggregations associated with tagged crab.

This dataset is from laboratory experiments testing the onset and ontogenetic changes in habitat selection of pre- and post-settling northern rock sole (NRS) larvae, and from field surveys investigating settlement patterns of NRS.

This dataset is from a study examining the use of demersal and pelagic habitats in the southeast Bering Sea by age-0 Pacific cod, based on 4 years of demersal trawl surveys and 1 year of pelagic trawl surveys on the shelf, and 1 year of spatially intensive beam trawl sampling in a nearshore focal area along the central Alaska Peninsula.