This dataset is from a study that evaluates whether inter-annual variability in the depth distribution of juvenile northern rock sole on their nursery grounds around Kodiak Island, Alaska, is a response to changes in the availability of habitat created by polychaete tubes, principally Sabellides sibirica.

To study the effects of ocean acidification we examined the effects of ocean acidification on the 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. Larvae in year 1 were from oocytes developed in the field whereas 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. Approximately 300 larvae were stocked in multiple treatments for testing the effect of pH. Hatching success was measured as the total % of larval hatched from a full clutch while duration was the number of days over which hatching occurred. Hatching success did not differ among treatments in 2012 but varied
between 46 to 87% in 2013 dependent on pH treatment. Larval mass was highest in pH 7.8 in 2012 and lowest in the control, however in 2013 the highest larval mass was in the control water. There were only small (not significant) changes in magnesium or calcium content among treatments in 2012 however, the reduction in both minerals at higher pH was greater in 2013. There was higher percent carbon and nitrogen contents in pH 7.5 larvae in 2013. The morphology of Tanner crab larval was assessed from
200 larvae stocked in multiple 2 L beakers. There was no effect of treatment on larval morphometrics. In 2012 and 2013, we examined if embryos developed under acidified conditions affected larval morphology by assessing 15 newly hatched larvae from each treatment. There was again no effect of treatment on larval morphometrics. Starvation survival experiments were performed in 1 L sized PVC inserts. In both years larvae from embryos that developed in pH 7.5 water survived about 3 days longer than those that developed in control water. However, in 2012 larvae from embryos that had developed in pH 7.8 water were similar to control larvae whereas in 2013 they were intermediate between the control and pH 7.5 larvae. The overall effects of treatment at the larval stage appeared to be better condition and initial survival at lower pH, however multiple years of treatment led to lower survival.

This data set is from a series of laboratory experiments examining the interactions between red and blue king crabs and habitat. We examined how density and predator presence affect habitat choice by red and blue king crabs. Further experiments determined how temperature and habitat affect predation by year-1 red king crab on year-0 blue king crab. Finally, long-term interaction experiments examined how habitat and density affected growth, survival, and intra-guild interactions between red and blue king crab.

Information on the distribution and relative abundance of nearshore fishes from beach seine hauls in Alaska is now available to managers as an online Fish Atlas. The atlas is dynamic and will continually be updated as more data becomes available. Presently, the atlas includes distribution and habitat use information for nearshore fishes in southeastern Alaska, Prince William Sound, the Aleutian Islands, and the Arctic. This online database has been designed to integrate with the spatially explicit, Alaska ShoreZone web enabled GIS platform. Further details about the database design can be found on Auke Bay Laboratories public website.

These data were used by Kuhn et al. (2015) to investigate how conclusions about predator-prey relationships change with increasing temporal disparity between predator tracking periods and prey surveys. Northern fur seals (n = 20) from St. Paul Island (Alaska, USA) were equipped with satellite tracking transmitters and time-depth recorders from July to October 2006. Fur seal dive and movement metrics were examined in relation to the relative abundance of the fur seals’ primary prey, walleye pollock (Gadus chalcogrammus), reported from the annual eastern Bering Sea groundfish survey. Relationships between foraging behavior metrics and prey abundance were examined within the Bering shelf survey grid cells at three time scales: within 2 weeks of the prey survey, within 1 month, and over the northern fur seal reproductive season (>4 months).

This dataset is from a study examining the growth responses of juvenile walleye pollock at ambient and 3 elevated CO2 levels.

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.

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.