Publications

This Aquatic HCP is a 50-year, multi-species plan outlining measures to minimize the impacts of incidental take on ESA listed species to allow the Green Diamond Resource Company to conduct timber operations on 416,531 acres of commercial timberland in Humboldt County and Del Norte in Northern California.

Analysis of the potential impacts of the proposed the construction of the Ruth Burnett Sport Fish Hatchery in Fairbanks, Alaska.

Analysis of potential impacts of Ruth Burnett Sport Fish Hatchery in Fairbanks, Alaska

The Magnuson–Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (2007) is the primary law that governs marine fisheries management in U.S. federal waters.

Fish Assemblages in Nearshore Habitats of Prince William Sound, Alaska

NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-OPR-28

This HCP is a 50-year agreement for protection of Washington's streams and forests that provide habitat for more than 70 aquatic species, including salmon, many of them threatened or endangered. It covers 13 populations of salmon and steelhead.

To establish a 2004 baseline of information for long-term monitoring associated with development of the Kensington Gold Mine near Juneau, Alaska, we measured hydrocarbon concentrations.

Distribution and habitat use are presented on the 50 most abundant fish species captured in shallow nearshore waters (< 20 m offshore and < 5 m deep relative to mean lower low water (MLLW) of southeastern Alaska. Fish were captured with a beach seine at 41 locations from 1998 to 2004. At each location, habitats sampled included sand or gravel beaches with no attached vegetation, cobble beaches with understory kelps (e.g., Laminaria saccharina), soft bottom (sand, silt, or mud) beaches with eelgrass (Zostera marina), and steep bedrock outcrops. A total of 538 seine hauls yielded 448,166 fish. Based on total catch, the three most abundant species were walleye pollock (Theragra chalcogramma), Pacific sand lance (Ammodytes hexapterus), and Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii). Mean catch per seine haul was greatest in eelgrass for 30 of the 50 most abundant species. Juveniles dominated the catch of all species captured. For example, mean size of walleye pollock, Pacific sand lance, and Pacific herring was less than 100 mm fork length. Distribution patterns were evident for many fish species; some are widely distributed throughout southeastern Alaska (crescent gunnel, Pholis laeta), whereas others are confined to southern waters (kelp perch, Brachyistius frenatus) or more outside coastal waters (black rockfish, Sebastes melanops). Shallow nearshore waters support a diverse and abundant community of fish, many of commercial importance. Information on distribution and habitat of nearshore fish assemblages will help resource managers identify and protect coastal areas at risk to human disturbance.

Forage fish are an important part of Alaska’s marine ecosystems and coastal areas. Forage fish are a critical food source for numerous ground-fish, marine mammals, and seabirds (Wespestad1; Allen and Smith, 1988; Paul et al., 1997; Yang and Nelson, 2000; Mecklenburg et al., 2002). Little is known, however, about the life history characteristics or habitat of many forage fish species in Alaska, including Pacific sandfish (Trichodon trichodon; Fig. 1). Only two articles have been published on the life history characteristics of Pacific sandfish in Alaska. Paul et al. (1997) investigated size-weight-age profiles, size at maturity, and fecundity of Pacific sandfish in the northern Gulf of Alaska, and Bailey et al. (1983) examined size and diet of juvenile (