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

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

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

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.

Samples of chum (Oncorhynchus keta), sockeye (O. nerka), and chinook salmon (O. tshawytscha) seized from the F/V Arctic Wind were analyzed to determine their region of origin using genetic stock identification (GSI), otolith marks, and parasite analysis. Based on the analysis, the chum salmon samples originated in Russia, 63%; Japan, 14%; western Alaska, 11%; Alaska Peninsula and Kodiak, 6%; PWS/southeast Alaska, 4%, and British Columbia, 1%. The origins of the sockeye salmon sample were Russia, 24%; Alaska/northern British Columbia, 75%; and southern British Columbia/Washington, 2%. The origins of the chinook salmon sample were Russia, 44%; western Alaska, 23%; southcentral Alaska, 6%, and California/Oregon/Washington, 27%. No chinook salmon were detected from southeast Alaska or British Columbia.

On 25 July 2001, the Russian factory trawler Petropavlovsk was seized in the Bering Sea seven miles into the U. S. EEZ by the U. S. Coast Guard. There was approximately 75 metric tons of pink and chum salmon onboard that the captain claimed were purchased from the Russian coastal fishing fleet off the east coast of Kamchatka. Samples of both pink and chum salmon were analyzed using stock identification methods to determine whether they were of Asian or North American origin. The origins of the chum salmon samples were 92% Asian and 8% North American by the standard maximum likelihood (MLE) method, and 100% Asian by the Bayesian method. The origins of the pink salmon samples were 85% Asian and 15% North American by

the MLE method, and 99% Asian and 1% North American by the Bayesian method. Results of the analysis do not refute the F/V Petropavlovsk captainb??s statement that he purchased the salmon in Russian waters.

Samples of chum (Oncorhynchus keta) and sockeye (O. nerka) salmon seized from the stateless fishing vessel Ying Fa were analyzed to determine their region of origin using genetic stock identification (GSI), otolith marks, parasite analysis, and scale data. Based on GSI, the chum salmon samples originated in Russia, 86%; Japan, 2%; western Alaska, 2%; Alaska Peninsula and Kodiak, 8%; and British Columbia, 2%. Origins of the sockeye salmon sample were not so clear because there was some disagreement between the parasite data and the GSI and scale data. Results of parasite analysis suggested the sample was nearly all of Alaskan origin, with at least 15% coming from Bristol Bay. The GSI analysis indicated that 30% of the sockeye salmon originated in Russia and 70% in North America. The scale analysis showed that 97% of the sockeye salmon sample were ocean age 3, whereas the return to Bristol Bay in 1999 was approximately 70% ocean age 2 fish.

Electrophoretic analysis of Asian even brood-year pink salmon stocks has shown regional heterogeneity (Noll et al. in review). Hypothetical mixed fisheries were created using data from 24 variable loci from Noll et al. in review. The mixture was analyzed to test the accuracy and precision of this baseline data for potential use in mixed fishery analyses. Thirteen stocks were separated into four management regions: Japan, Sakhalin, eastern Kamchatka, and western Kamchatka. Simulations were varied in sample size, number of loci, and percent regional contribution. The simulated mixtures were analyzed using the Conditional Maximum Likelihood Estimate (MLE). The mean estimate, standard deviation, and coefficient of variation were calculated for standardized comparison by both stock and region. Computed MLEs showed that estimates for the Noll et al. baseline improved in accuracy and precision with increased sample size and retention of important loci. When 24 loci and a minimum of 200 samples in a mixture were used, the baseline was approximately 80% accurate in its ability to distinguish regions from a mixture.

Rougheye rockfish (Sebastes aleutianus) and shortraker rockfish (Sebastes borealis) were collected from the Washington coast, the Gulf of Alaska, the southern Bering Sea, and the eastern Kamchatka coast of Russia (areas encompassing most of their geographic distribution) for population genetic analyses. Using starch gel electrophoresis, we analyzed 1027 rougheye rockfish and 615 shortraker rockfish for variation at 29 protein coding loci. No genetic heterogeneity was found among shortraker rockfish throughout the sampled regions, although shortraker in the Aleutian Islands region, captured at deeper depths, were found to be significantly smaller in size than the shortraker caught in shallower waters from Southeast Alaska. Genetic analysis of the rougheye rockfish revealed two evolutionary lineages that exist in sympatry with little or no gene flow between them. When analyzed as two distinct species, neither lineage exhibited heterogeneity among regions. Sebastes aleutianus seems to inhabit waters throughout the Gulf of Alaska and more southern waters, whereas S. sp. cf. aleutianus inhabits waters throughout the Gulf of Alaska, Aleutian Islands, and Asia. The distribution of the two rougheye rockfish lineages may be related to depth where they are sympatric. The paler color morph, S. aleutianus, is found more abundantly in shallower waters and the darker color morph, Sebastes sp. cf. aleutianus, inhabits deeper waters. Sebastes sp. cf. aleutianus, also exhibited a significantly higher prevalence of two parasites, N. robusta and T. trituba, than did Sebastes aleutianus, in the 2001 samples, indicating a possible difference in habitat and (or) resource use between the two lineages.

Because rockfish (Sebastes spp.) are physoclystic, i.e. their gas bladders are closed off from the gut, they often suffer internal injuries from rapid, internal air expansion when caught and brought to the surface. Many discarded rockfish do not survive either because they cannot submerge due to excessive buoyancy or because of internal damage. There is some evidence that recompression may greatly increase the survival of barotrauma-injured rockfish. However, because survival can be species-specific it is important to gauge the impacts on each species of interest. Research completed in 2010 on a small NOAA vessel demonstrated that rougheye rockfish (S. aleutianus), caught at depths down to 700 feet and exhibiting barotrauma, can survive if recompressed after capture in portable pressurized tanks. This result is noteworthy because it is the deepest known successful capture and recompression of any rockfish species, which suggests theres potential to conduct scientific tagging studies to track movements and behavior. In 2011 and 2012 we chartered a longline vessel to sample rougheye rockfish on reefs nearby the NOAA, the Auke Bay Laboratories (ABL), Little Port Walter Research Station on the southeast side of Baranof Island. After rougheye were caught and brought to the surface, they exhibited signs of barotrauma such as stomach eversion, exophthalmia (bulging eyes), and corneal gas bubbles. Of 43 fish that were recompressed immediately after capture in portable pressure tanks, 25 survived and are currently held at TSMRI for long term monitoring. The deepest fish that was captured and has survived long-term was caught at ~915 feet. Some fish still have corneal gas bubbles, but other signs of barotrauma have since subsided. Other rougheye rockfish were tagged and released at 250 ft using a weighted crab ring and a downrigger (n=130).