This dataset contains detailed crab data collected from the annual NOAA/NMFS/AFSC/RACE crab-groundfish bottom trawl survey of the eastern Bering Sea continental shelf. The standard survey area, surveyed each year since 1975, encompasses a major portion of the eastern Bering Sea shelf between the 20 meter and 200 meter isobaths and from the Alaska Peninsula to the north of St. Matthew Island. The study area is divided into a grid with cell sizes of 20 x 20 nautical miles (37 x 37 kilometers). Sampling takes place within each 20 x 20 nautical mile grid cell. In areas surrounding St. Matthew (1983-present) and the Pribilof Islands (1981-present), grid corners were also sampled to better assess king crab concentrations. In 1975, tows were 1 hour in duration; from 1976 to present, each tow is one-half hour in duration, averaging 1.54 nautical miles (2.86 kilometers) - exact tow duration and distance fished for each haul can be found in RACEBASE.HAUL. 100% of the catch is sorted for red, blue, and golden king crab, bairdi Tanner, snow crab, hybrid Tanner, and hair crab. Crabs are sorted by species and sex, and a sample is measured to the nearest millimeter to provide a size-frequency distribution (see note under use constraints for analyzing catches where crab were subsampled for measurement). Carapace width is measured for Tanner crabs, and carapace length is measured for king and hair crabs.

Fish and invertebrates that are unintentionally captured during commercial fishing operations and then released back into the ocean suffer mortality at unknown rates, introducing uncertainty into the fishery management process. Attempts have been made to quantify discard mortality rates using reflex action mortality predictors or RAMP which use the presence or absence of a suite of reflexes to predict discard mortality. This method was applied to Tanner crab, Chionoecetes bairdi, during the 2010-2012 fisheries in the Bering Sea. Discard mortality in the fishery is currently assumed to be 50% in stock assessment models, but that rate is not based on empirical data and is widely recognized to be in need of refinement. Over 19,000 crab were evaluated using the RAMP method. The estimated discard mortality rate was 4.5% (SD = 0.812), significantly below the rate used in stock assessment models. Predicted discard mortality rates from the 2010-2012 study were strongly correlated with the air temperature at the St. Paul Island airport in the Pribilof Islands. Using this relationship the discard mortality rate from 1991-2011was estimated at 4.2% (SD = 1.08).

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.

d15N and d13C isotopic ratios from multiple groundfish and groundfish prey samples collected on groundfish surveys and by fishery observers onboard commercial fishing vessels in the eastern Bering Sea, and Gulf of Alaska from 2006 through 2008 via NPRB project, NPRB.2006.22.Isotopes, and continued by AFSC.

This database contains information on individual sea lions that were marked or handled from 1985-2018. Individuals were handled for various projects including vital rate, telemetry and health studies. Many of the animals were either flipper tagged or branded. Capture techniques vary including; hand-capture of pups, hoop netting and underwater captures of juveniles, dart-delivered sedation of adult females, and floating pen capture of sub-adult and adult males. This dataset is associated with NMFS InPort Metadata Record #17918

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.

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).

The Resource Assessment and Conservation Engineering Division (RACE) of the Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC) conducts bottom trawl surveys to monitor the condition of the demersal fish and crab stocks of Alaska. These data include catch per unit effort for each commercially important crab species at a standard set of stations in the eastern Bering Sea. This is a subset of the main database. Excluded are certain non standard tows and other types of data collected other than species id, species size category, species catch per unit effort (number per square nautical mile), water temperature and depth.

This database contains northern fur seal pup mass and length data by date, island, rookery and sex on the Pribilof Islands, Alaska, collected between 1957-2016. Mass has been used as an index of condition and can be on indicator of the health of the individual, the population and of the ecosystem. Cite dataset as: Alaska Ecosystems Program. 2019. Northern fur seal pup weights, Pribilof Islands, Alaska, 1957-present. NOAA Fisheries Open Data Portal: https://noaa-fisheries-afsc.data.socrata.com/Ecosystem-Science/Alaska-Pribilof-Island-northern-fur-seal-pup-weigh/t77b-uhtm.

The Marine Mammal Laboratory (MML) Food Habits Reference Collection, containing over 1000 specimens of cephalopod beaks and fish bones and otoliths, is used to identify undigested prey remains found in scats or stomachs of stranded or incidentally taken pinnipeds and cetaceans. Marine mammal food habits data are used in conjunction with satellite telemetry and dive records to better understand foraging behavior and prey selection. This information is critical to understanding how commercial fisheries and changing environmental conditions impact these animals.

The Food Habits Collection includes fish and cephalopod species that are commonly consumed by pinnipeds along the Pacific Northwest coast and in Alaska, but we are in the process of adding other potential prey species and specimens to fill unrepresented size ranges. We are very appreciative of NMFS/AFSC/RACE fisheries biologists, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game and the University of Washington for their ongoing donations to our collection. With the help and cooperation of researchers such as these, our collection continues to grow in size and usefulness.

The Marine Mammal Food Habits Reference Collection is an important research tool within NMML, and is also used several times a year by graduate students and researchers from universities, government agencies and private institutions. These collections have contributed to food habits research on Magister armhook squid, Northern fulmar, Newells shearwater, Hawaiian petrel, river otters and marine mammals. The collections are also used by archeologists to identify fish and mammal bones found in Native American middens from Alaska to Mexico.

The database is comprised of a table detailing specimens and associated data and measurements for fish and cephalopod soft tissue and hard parts contained within the reference collection.