Project Information

Title: HRM Program: Modeling the Population Dynamics of PWS Herring 12120111-Q

Project Year and Number: 2012: 12120111-Q

Other Fiscal Years and Numbers for this Project: 2024: 24120111-C, 2023: 23120111-C, 2022: 22120111-C, 2021: 21120111-C, 2020: 20120111-C, 2019: 19120111-C, 2018: 18120111-C, 2017: 17120111-C, 2016: 16120111-Q, 2015: 15120111-Q, 2014: 14120111-Q, 2013: 13120111-Q

Principal Investigator (PI): Trevor Branch (University of Washington)

Managing Agency: NOAA

Assisting Personnel: None

Project Website: https://pwssc.org/modeling-herring/

Research Location: Prince William Sound

Restoration Category: Research

Injured Resources Addressed: Pacific Herring

Abstract:

Robust Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii) populations, suitable for exploitation by commercial fisheries, are typically sustained by periodic recruitment of strong year classes into the adult spawning population. However, the Prince William Sound (PWS) herring population has not had a strong recruitment class since 1989, when the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill (EVOS) occurred. In the EVOS settlement herring were identified as an injured resource and they remain listed as an unrecovered species by the EVOS Trustee Council (EVOSTC). Understanding why herring have not recovered in Prince William Sound requires understanding potential bottlenecks in the herring life cycle. The identification of the limiting conditions to herring recovery requires a series of focused process studies combined with monitoring of the natural conditions that affect herring survival. Described here is a single project that is a part of an integrative program that will enhance the current monitoring efforts of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G), and examine aspects of particular life stages to allow better modeling of herring populations. The long-term goal of the program is to improve predictive models of herring stocks through observations and research. While we do not anticipate that there will be a major change in our modeling ability in the next five years, we expect that the combination of monitoring and focused process studies will provide incremental changes over the next twenty years and result in a much better understanding of herring populations by the end of the program.


Proposal: View (204 KB)

Reports:
Annual Report FY12: View (1,112 KB)
Final Report: See Project 16120111-Q

Publications from this Project: None Available