Project Information

Title: Surveys and age, sex, and size collection and processing 23160111-F

Project Year and Number: 2023: 23160111-F

Other Fiscal Years and Numbers for this Project: 2024: 24160111-F , 2022: 22160111-F , 2021: 21160111-F, 2020: 20160111-F, 2019: 19160111-F, 2018: 18160111-F, 2017: 17160111-F, 2016: 16120111-F, 2016: 16160111-T, 2015: 15120111-F, 2014: 14120111-F, 2013: 13120111-F, 2012: 12120111-F

Principal Investigator (PI): Jennifer Morella (Alaska Department of Fish & Game)

Managing Agency: ADFG

Assisting Personnel: None

Project Website: https://pwssc.org/spawn-surveys-2/

Research Location: Prince William Sound

Restoration Category: Monitoring

Injured Resources Addressed: Pacific Herring

Abstract:

The proposed project will conduct spring aerial surveys to document Pacific herring milt distribution and biomass as well as the distribution and abundance of sea lions, other marine mammals, and birds associated with herring schools or spawn. This proposed project will also provide a research platform (R/V Solstice) for an adult herring disease sample collection and processing. Finally, this proposed project will collect and process age, sex, and size samples of herring collected by the acoustics survey, spawning surveys, and disease sampling. Aerial survey and age, sex, and size data have been collected since the early 1970s and are an essential part of the age-structured models used by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to estimate the historical and future biomass for fisheries management. This project will help to meet the overall program goals of providing sound scientific data and products to inform resource managers and the public of changes in herring stocks and in the PWS ecosystem.

This project was approved for the FY22-FY26 funding cycle. Please see project 22160111-F for the original proposal. The FY23 proposal amendment request is posted below.

In FY23, the project proposal was amended to include the collection of samples for investigating the association of Ichthyophonus with walleye pollock eggs and attempt to transmit the parasite to herring by feeding with wild pollock eggs. Samples will be analyzed by project 23120111-E during FY24 and FY25. This work was previously approved by the Council for project 22220203 which was terminated by ADF&G.


Proposal: View (399 KB)

Reports:
FY23 Annual Report: View (1,092 KB)

Publications from this Project: None Available

Resolutions: