"Marine Ecology and Stock Assessment Program"

A variety of data are input into computer models to estimate population size and trends for fish, crabs and marine mammals generating a stock assessment report. Research surveys provide biological, ecological and environmental data. Independent fishery observers collect information on commercial fisheries catches. We also compile socio-economic data on fishing communities.

The Bering Sea has been changing colors in recent decades. What does it mean for the ecosystem?

The Stock Assessment and Fishery Evaluation (SAFE) report summarizes the best available scientific information concerning the past, present, and possible future condition of the stocks, marine ecosystems, and fisheries that are managed under Federal regulation. It provides information to the Councils for determining annual harvest levels from each stock, documenting significant trends or changes in the resource, marine ecosystems, and fishery over time, and assessing the relative success of existing state and Federal fishery management programs. For the FMP for the Groundfish Fishery of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI) Area, the SAFE report is published in three sections: a “Stock Assessment” section, which comprises the bulk of this document, and “Economic Status of Groundfish Fisheries off Alaska” (i.e., the “Economic SAFE report”) and “Ecosystem Considerations” sections, which are bound separately.

Corals provide a refuge for fish, but can be injured by disturbances. A new five-year study reveals that one species of Alaskan coral can take 60 years to grow to full size - and may grow even more slowly in a warming ocean.

Sablefish (Anoplopoma fimbria) are a commercially important fish species in the northeast Pacific Ocean. Found along the upper continental slope, in Alaska they are caught primarily by longlines. Catches in the Alaskan EEZ have averaged 15,000 mt in recent years with an annual value of about $100 million. The fishery has been managed by an Individual Fisheries Quota system since 1995. Fishery-independent longline surveys have been conducted annually since 1978 to assess the relative abundance of this valuable resource. The survey abundance indices are combined with age, length, and fishery data to estimate absolute abundance and recommend catch quotas with age-structured models. Since 1978, the U. S. National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC) has conducted annual longline surveys with Japan (Japan-U.S. cooperative longline survey, 1978-94) and alone (1987-present, domestic longline survey). The survey has covered the upper continental slope (1978-present) and selected gullies (1987present) of the Gulf of Alaska and the upper continental slope of the eastern Bering Sea (198294, biennially since 1997) and Aleutian Islands region (1980-94, biennially since 1996). A unique aspect of this survey is that the charter vessel retains most of the catch after the scientific data are recorded. The survey lasts three months. The survey is conducted jointly by two components of the AFSC: the Auke Bay Laboratory and the Resource Assessment and Conservation Engineering Division.

Sablefish (Anoplopoma fimbria) are a commercially important fish species in the northeast Pacific Ocean. Found along the upper continental slope, in Alaska they are caught primarily by longlines. Catches in the Alaskan EEZ have averaged 15,000 mt in recent years with an annual value of about $100 million.

A little stone in a fish’s ear contains valuable information that helps determine its age.

2016 North Pacific Groundfish Stock Assessment and Fishery Evaluation Reports for 2017 Fisheries.

Aleutian Island coral gardens hold secrets - some that may save lives.

Annual projections on when adult Chinook salmon are expected to return to the Yukon River to spawn.