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.

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 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 database contains information on pup production estimates, adult male counts and harvests (commercial and subsistence) for the Pribilof Islands of St. Paul and St. George. Methodology for the data collection for adult males and animals harvested has been consistent over time. The estimation of pup production has gone through an evolution of methodology that is indicated in the database. Cite dataset as: Alaska Ecosystems Program. 2019. Northern fur seal pup production, adult male counts and harvest data for the Pribilof Islands, Alaska 1909 to Present. NOAA Fisheries Open Data Portal: https://noaa-fisheries-afsc.data.socrata.com/Ecosystem-Science/Northern-fur-seal-pup-production-adult-male-counts/c983-ijgd

Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) runs in rivers that flow into the eastern Bering Sea have been inconsistent and at times very weak. Low returns of chinook (O. tshawytscha) and chum (O. keta) salmon to the Yukon River, Kuskokwim River, and Norton Sound areas of Alaska prompted the state of Alaska to restrict commercial and subsistence fisheries during 2000 and declare the region a fisheries disaster area. Weak salmon returns to these river systems follow several years of low sockeye (O. nerka) salmon returns to Bristol Bay, which was declared a fisheries disaster region during 1998 by both the State of Alaska and the U.S. Department of Commerce. Causes of the poor salmon returns to these river systems are not known however, the regional-scale decline of these stocks indicates that the marine environment may play a critical role. Ocean conditions, particularly in the first few months after the salmon leave fresh water, are known to significantly affect salmon survival (Holtby et al. 1990; Friedland et al. 1996; Beamish and Mahnken 2001). Mechanisms affecting marine survival of the eastern Bering Sea salmon stocks are unknown, principally due to the lack of marine life history information on western Alaska salmon. To improve understanding of the marine life-history stage of salmon in the Bering Sea, the North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission (NPAFC) began an internationally coordinated research program on salmon in the Bering Sea called the Bering-Aleutian Salmon International Survey (BASIS) (NPAFC 2001). As part of BASIS, scientists from the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), Ocean Carrying Capacity (OCC) program conducted a fall survey on the eastern Bering Sea shelf to provide key ecological data for eastern Bering Sea salmon stocks during their juvenile life-history stage. The goal of the OCC/BASIS salmon research cruise was to understand mechanisms underlying the effects of environment on distribution, migration, and growth of juvenile salmon on the eastern Bering Sea shelf. Primary objectives of BASIS include: 1) to determine the extent of offshore migrations of juvenile salmon from rivers draining into the eastern Bering Sea, 2) to describe the physical environment of the eastern and northeastern Bering Sea shelf occupied by juvenile salmon, and 3) to collect biological information on other ecologically important species. Summaries of previous Bering Sea juvenile salmon research cruises can be found in Farley et al. (1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005).

This dataset contains information regarding the capture and tagging of northern fur seals on the Pribilof Islands and Bogoslof Island, Alaska, from 1992 to 2017. Cite dataset as: Alaska Ecosystems Program. 2019. Alaska northern fur seal tag data, 1992-2017. NOAA Fisheries Open Data Portal. https://noaa-fisheries-afsc.data.socrata.com/Species/Alaska-Northern-Fur-Seal-Tag-Data-1992-2017/nvhy-vag6

Effort data collected by observers in the United States commercial groundfish fisheries of Alaska (Bering Sea, Aleutian Islands and Gulf of Alaska, 1993-2017.
Subset of the Alaska observer groundfish data, aggregating by 400km square cells and eliminating cells with less than three vessels to create a public version of the Alaska groundfish observer data.
Purpose: Allows visitors use of the aggregated observer data to create maps. These maps are designed to provide a better understanding of where groundfish are caught in the Aleutian Islands, Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska.
Supplemental_Information: http://www.afsc.noaa.gov/FMA/fma_database.htm
Number 5 of a set of 5 files:
1. AFSC/FMA: North Pacific Groundfish and Halibut Observer Program Fishery Statistics - Rockfish Catch
2. AFSC/FMA: North Pacific Groundfish and Halibut Observer Program Fishery Statistics - Flatfish Catch
3. AFSC/FMA: North Pacific Groundfish and Halibut Observer Program Fishery Statistics - Most fishes (excluding flatfishes and rockfishes) Catch
4. AFSC/FMA: North Pacific Groundfish and Halibut Observer Program Fishery Statistics - Invertebrates Catch
5. AFSC/FMA: North Pacific Groundfish and Halibut Observer Program Fishery Statistics - Effort Statistics

This data set contains Steller sea lion diet data based on analysis of scats collected during summer (May-September) and winter (November-April) rookeries and haulouts in Alaska during 1990 to 2009. Prey items from 87 prey taxa were identified using hard parts including bones, otoliths, and cephalopod beaks. Frequency of occurrence was calculated for 375 site-year-season combinations, and used in the analysis published by Sinclair et al. (2013).
Cite the dataset as: Alaska Ecosystems Program. 2019. Alaska Steller sea lion food habits data 1990-2009. NOAA Fisheries Open Data Portal: https://noaa-fisheries-afsc.data.socrata.com/Species/Alaska-Steller-Sea-Lion-Food-Habits-Data-1990-2009/b79u-i7en; and also cite the original publication: Sinclair, E. H., D. S. Johnson, T. K. Zeppelin, and T. S. Gelatt. 2013. Decadal variation in the diet of Western Stock Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus). U.S. Dep. Commer., NOAA Tech. Memo. NMFSAFSC-248, 67 p.

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.

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.