Scientists at the Auke Bay Laboratory have conducted marine debris surveys on select beaches in Alaska periodically since 1972. Some of the beaches previously sampled have been identified as marine debris hot spots due to their increased debris accumulation. At each location, multiple 1 km beach segments were sampled by people walking the beach and enumerating all anthropogenic marine debris found. The beach area surveyed was from the waters edge up to the base of the storm berm or log piles. Individual beach segments have been walked multiple times in the since 1972 allowing for a direct comparison with prior years. Sampling occurred in late spring and summer to test the hypothesis of change in marine debris sources due to increased summer boat traffic and the diminished occurrence and severity of storms.

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

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 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 data set contains field and genetic identification of rougheye (Sebastes aleutianus) and blackspotted (Sebastes melanostictus) rockfish collected during AFSC bottom trawl surveys. There is considerable difficulty in correctly distinquishing between these species of rockfish in the field. The database contains the field identification of each specimen, genetic identification (true species identification) along with biological information for each specimen including weight, length, and age. Also included is the location and water depth where each specimen was collected.

In November, 2006, Oceanographic observations were initiated during the resupply cruises to the Little Port Walter Research Station on lower Baranof Island, Southeast Alaska. Six sampling stations were selected starting at mid channel, Stephans Passage near Snettisham Inlet then, near the intersection of Stephans Passage and Fredrick Sound by Brothers Islands, then, near the intersection of Fredrick Sound and Chatham Strait off of Kingsmill Point and then three stations across lower Chatham Strait just north of the latitude of Little Port Walter. An SBE19plus conductivity, temperature and depth recorder was used to take water samples at a speed of approximately one meter per second from the surface to a depth of 250 meters. These observations are intended to be part of the Southeast Alaska Ocean Observing System (SEAOOS). Data are stored as CNV files, HEX files and jpg files on Frank Throwers computer.

Juvenile rockfish were observed amongst coral, sponge, cobble, and gravel habitats. Rockfish utilized coral habitats more than any other, while gravel was the least utilized. Sponge and cobble habitat utilization was intermediate to coral and gravel. Predation of young-of-the-year rockfish by sculpin predators was greatest in gravel habitats and lowest in coral habitats.

In 1995, an area of the seafloor near Salisbury Sound was trawled to identify immediate effects on large, erect sponges and sea whips. Video transects were made in the trawled areas, as well as in reference areas with a manned submersible. One year later, the video transects were repeated to characterize medium-term survival and recovery of the sponges and sea whips. In 2009, the site was revisted to document the long-term effects of trawling. Thirteen years after trawling, the incidence of damage to sponges and sea whips in the trawled areas was higher than in the reference areas. Sponge density was also lower in the trawled areas.