Project Information

Title: HRM Program: Tracking Seasonal Movements of Adult Pacific Herring in Prince William Sound 13120111-B

Project Year and Number: 2013: 13120111-B

Other Fiscal Years and Numbers for this Project: 2014: 14120111-B, 2012: 12120111-B

Principal Investigator (PI): Mary Anne Bishop

Managing Agency: NOAA

Assisting Personnel: Sean Powers

Project Website: https://pwssc.org/tracking-seasonal-movements-of-adult-pacific-herring/

Research Location: Prince William Sound

Restoration Category: Monitoring

Injured Resources Addressed: Pacific Herring

Abstract:

Knowledge of fish movements and migrations are critical to understanding fish population dynamics. In Prince William Sound (PWS) adult herring disperse after spawning, however their movement patterns are poorly understood. Currently the only information on adult herring movements are a small number of observations from fishers that suggest PWS herring are regularly migrating out of PWS and onto the shelf. This proposal focuses on verifying adult Pacific herring movements using detections of tagged fish. The Herring Marking Workshop sponsored by EVOS in December 2008, reviewed all potential marking methods for herring and conditionally endorsed acoustic tagging as a method for determining herring movements. This pilot project will acoustic tag adult herring during November around Port Gravina, a spring spawning area. During the second season a small sample of adult herring will be tagged during spring at other spawning areas. We will then examine detections from two, established Pacific Ocean Shelf Tracking (POST) Project’s acoustic arrays as well as new arrays to be deployed at the major entrances and passages to Prince William Sound. These acoustic arrays will enable us to determine seasonal movement patterns within and out of Prince William Sound. The proposed project builds on our previous and current research on acoustic-tagged fishes. This project will synergize with efforts of POST and the Ocean Tracking Network (OTN). The ability to track herring is critical to answer many questions including those about stock structure, migration habits, and the occurrence of skip-spawning. Determining the capabilities of this technology will help guide our choice of future research emphasis.


Proposal: View (757 KB)

Reports:
Annual Report FY13: File Unavailable
Final Report: See Project 14120111-B

Publications from this Project: None Available