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Survey of U.S. GLOBEC NEP Retrospective Projects

NAME OF PROJECT:

Retrospective analysis of growth rate and recruitment for sablefish, Anoplopoma fimbria, from the Gulf of Alaska and the California Current System.

POINT OF CONTACT FOR RETROSPECTIVE COMPONENT:

Name: Steven A. Berkeley
Institution: Oregon State University
Address: Hatfield Marine Science Center
2030 Marine Science Dr
Newport, OR 97365
E-mail: berkeles@ccmail.orst.edu
WWW URL:
FTP site:

LIST OF PROJECT'S OTHER INVESTIGATORS:

Dudley B. Chelton, co-PI, William Pinnix, Graduate Research Assistant (both at OSU)

SUMMARY OF RETROSPECTIVE WORK - YEAR 1:

Geographic area being studied: West coast of the US from central California to Vancouver Island, and the Gulf of Alaska from Queen Charlotte Islands through Prince William Sound.
Time periods being studied: Approximately 1940 - present
Types of data or derived indices being analyzed: We are accessing archived sablefish otoliths that have been collected since the early 1980's for use in stock assessments. Large numbers of sablefish otoliths (>20,000 pairs) have been aged from both west coast and Gulf of Alaska stocks. We are retrieving these otoliths and will develop a time series of juvenile sablefish growth for each year class beginning in the 1940s, based on the relationship between otolith size at the first annulus and fish length. Growth and recruitment indices for each year class will be analyzed relative to prevailing environmental conditions. Oceanographic and climatological datasets include sea surface temperature (SST), North Pacific hydrography, sea level pressure (SLP), surface wind, comprehensive ocean-atmosphere data set (COADS), coastal sea level, larval fish and zooplankton abundance and hydrographic data from the California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations (CalCOFI).
Progress Anticipated at the end of year 1: A large collection of sablefish otoliths have been identified and associated size and age data have been collated for several collections from the Gulf of Alaska and the west coast. At the end of year 1 we will have retrieved and processed approximately half the target samples from the Gulf of Alaska (approximately 1400 otolith pairs). The relationship between otolith size and fish length at age will be completed and statistically evaluated and compared across collections (otoliths have been collected and aged by different laboratories and agencies). The potential effect of aging error will be tested and preliminary models developed under a variety of possible aging error scenarios. Preliminary models relating juvenile growth to subsequent adult recruitment will be developed for the Gulf of Alaska stock. All available west coast otoliths will have been located and associated data entered into a comprehensive dataset. We will have begun, but not completed, similar measurements and analyses for west coast sablefish. If sufficient progress has been made, we will begin preliminary comparisons of growth and recruitment between stocks within a year class and within a stock among years. We will begin analyses of biological responses to large scale (decadal or longer) climatic events.

NAME OF PROJECT:

Analysis of Ichthyoplankton Abundance, Distribution, and Species Associations in the Western Gulf of Alaska.

POINT OF CONTACT FOR RETROSPECTIVE COMPONENT:

Name: Richard D. Brodeur
Institution: Alaska Fishery Science Center, NOAA
Address: 7600 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, WA 98115
E-mail: rbrodeur@afsc.noaa.gov
WWW URL: (under construction)
FTP site:

LIST OF PROJECT'S OTHER INVESTIGATORS:

Kevin Bailey, Ann Kiernan, Miriam Doyle, AFSC, NOAA, Seattle

SUMMARY OF RETROSPECTIVE WORK- YEAR 1:

Geographic area being studied: Main focus on Western Gulf of Alaska (GOA) but some data from Bering Sea, eastern GOA, and West Coast will be included.
Time period(s)being studied: Main focus from 1981 to 1996 but data from the 1970s including some prior to the Regime Shift will be examined.
Types of data or derived indices being analyzed: Yearly and seasonal abundance and distribution patterns of egg and larval stages of 41 species of marine fish, species associations of ichthyoplankton.
Progress anticipated at the end of year 1: Much effort during the first year will be devoted to cleaning up and standardizing the AFSC ichthyoplankton data base and to producing a geographic atlas of the abundance and distribution patterns of the eggs and larval stages of the dominant species. To this end, we have hired on a database specialist and GIS mapping specialist and detailed maps should be available for about 41 species which will be available in color plates and on our web site by the end of the year. In addition to the data we proposed to analyze, we have added a number of years prior to 1981 and some parallel collections in the Bering Sea and along the US West Coast for comparison. We now anticipate that 105 cruises will be available for analysis. We have begun to examine the distribution of select taxa for the presence of an El Niņo signal in our data and hope to have some results by the fall.

NAME OF PROJECT:

GLOBEC Northeast Pacific Retrospective Study: Long-term Variability in Salmon Abundance in the Gulf of Alaska and California Current Systems

POINT OF CONTACT FOR RETROSPECTIVE COMPONENT:

Name: Bruce Finney
Institution: Institute of Marine Science, University of Alaska Fairbanks
Address: Institute of Marine Science
University of Alaska Fairbanks
Fairbanks AK 99775
E-mail: finney@ims.alaska.edu
WWW URL: http://www.ims.alaska.edu:8000/faculty/bruce.html
FTP site: denali.ims.alaska.edu, IP number: 137.229.41.118
Phone: (907) 474-7724
Fax: (907) 474-7204

LIST OF PROJECT'S OTHER INVESTIGATORS:

Anne Beesley (Graduate student-UAF)

SUMMARY OF RETROSPECTIVE WORK- YEAR 1:

This project is utilizing analysis of sediment cores from sockeye salmon nursery lakes to reconstruct past changes in sockeye abundance. Reconstructions are based on stable isotope analysis (N-15 and S-34) combined with standard paleolimnological techniques. See GLOBEC proposal for details regarding the basis of this technique. Several sites have been selected in each of two regions, one influenced by the California Current Systems (CCS; Washington, Idaho, Oregon), and the other adjacent to the Gulf of Alaska (GOA; Kodiak Island, Alaska Peninsula). The time period the study is focused on is the last 500 years, with anticipated time-resolution of about 5 years. In addition, sites in Alaska will be studied to examine trends over a longer timescale, the past 2000 years. Data from sites will be compared within and between regions to assess the similarity of trends. Reconstructed trends in salmon abundance will also be compared to paleoclimatic data to determine relationships between salmon abundance and climate change. For the GOA sites, cores are in hand and the data is being finalized for period of the past 500 years; a manuscript should be submitted for review by the end of the year. Analysis of the 2000 year record is in progress, and should also be completed by the end of the year. Fieldwork for the CCS sites will take place this summer, and preliminary results should be completed by the end of the year. As part of this project, all relevant data on paleoclimatic and paleoceanographic variability of the North Pacific will be synthesized over these time-periods. The data generated by this project will help evaluate key GLOBEC hypotheses regarding relationships between climate and production regimes in the CCS and GOA.

Geographic area being studied: Gulf of Alaska and California Current (primarily WA state).
Time period(s) being studied: 500 to 2000 years BP
Types of data or derived indices being analyzed: Estimates of past sizes of runs of adult sockeye salmon. Information on paleoclimate. Anticipated time-resolution is on the order of 2-5 years.
Progress anticipated at the end of year 1: For GOA, cores are in hand and salmon population estimates are in progress for 6 individual systems for the past 300 - 600 years, and for 2 systems over the past 2000 years. A MS on GOA results should be sunmitted by the end of the year For the CC system, fieldwork will begin this summer, and preliminary information should be available by the end of 1998.

NAME OF PROJECT:

A Retrospective Study of Top Predator Trophic Positions, Productivity, and Growth in the Gulf of Alaska for 1960-75 and 1975-90

POINT OF CONTACT FOR RETROSPECTIVE COMPONENT:

Name: Richard Merrick
Institution: Protected Species Branch, NEFSC, NMFS, NOAA
Address: 166 Water Street, Woods Hole, MA 02543
E-mail: richard.merrick@noaa.gov
WWW URL:
FTP site:

LIST OF PROJECT'S OTHER INVESTIGATORS:

Keith Hobson, Canadian Wildlife Service, John Piatt, Biological Research Division, US. Dept. Int.

SUMMARY OF RETROSPECTIVE WORK- YEAR 1:

Geographic area being studied: Gulf of Alaska
Time period(s) being studied: 1960-75 and 1975-90
Types of data or derived indices being analyzed:
Progress anticipated at the end of year 1:

NAME OF PROJECT:

Long-term Changes in California Current Zooplankton Assemblages: A Retrospective Analysis

POINT OF CONTACT FOR RETROSPECTIVE COMPONENT:

Name: Mark Ohman (or David Checkley; on sabbatical at present)
Institution: Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Address: MLRG 0227
9500 Gilman Dr.
La Jolla, CA 92093-0227
E-mail: mohman@ucsd.edu
WWW URL: http://gdcmp1.ucsd.edu/plankton/
FTP site:

LIST OF PROJECT'S OTHER INVESTIGATORS:

David Checkley (dcheckley@ucsd.edu), Bertha Lavaniegos (berlav@cicese.mx), Ginger Rebstock (grebstock@ucsd.edu), Gregory Rau (rau4@llnl.gov)

SUMMARY OF RETROSPECTIVE WORK- YEAR 1:

Geographic area being studied: (1) Extended S. California Bight and (2) Offshore Monterey Bay
Time period(s) being studied: 1949 to present; with particular focus on springtime patterns (March-April)
Types of data or derived indices being analyzed: Zooplankton samples collected by bongo nets in the CalCOFI program are being enumerated. All holozooplankton taxa are enumerated to some taxonomic level; several taxa (esp. copepods, salps, doliolids, hyperiid amphipods, euphausiids by E. Brinton) to the species level. Stable isotope content of 2 species of particle-grazing copepods is being analyzed in relation to El Nino and lower frequency climate signals.
Progress anticipated at the end of year 1: We have completed analyses of all holozooplankton taxa from 10 of the springtime CalCOFI cruises during the period 1951 to 1997. Detailed reconstructions of zooplankton biomass, by taxonomic group, suggest that the biomass of some major taxa (e.g., copepods, euphausiids) has remained relatively constant over this 47-year period, despite the 70% decline in total zooplankton biomass. Other taxa (e.g., hyperiid amphipods and some of their gelatinous hosts such as doliolids, salps, and hydromedusae) show great interannual variability, but appear to have declined significantly in more recent years. Species-specific analyses reveal that the dominance structure within some taxa has occurred, despite relative constancy of biomass. E. Brinton found a persistent increase in abundance of a warm-water, coastal euphausiid (Nyctiphanes simplex) dating from the 1976-77 Regime Shift, while other euphausiid taxa show no long-term changes. The species diversity of hyperiid amphipods also appears to have changed at the time of the Regime Shift, a further indication of altered availability of their gelatinous hosts. Preliminary results from analysis of the 15N composition of Calanus pacificus off Monterey Bay with G. Rau suggest that the copepods became isotopically heavier during the El Nino events of 1958 and 1982; we await analyses of the 1998 event.

NAME OF PROJECT:

Patterns, Sources and Mechansims of Decadal-Scale Environmental Variability in the Northeast Pacific: A Retrospective and Modeling Analysis

POINT OF CONTACT FOR RETROSPECTIVE COMPONENT:

Name: Frank Schwing
Institution: Pacific Fisheries Environmental Laboratory
Address: 1352 Lighthouse Ave.
Pacific Grove, CA 93950-2097
408/648-9034
fax 648-8440
E-mail: fschwing@pfeg.noaa.gov
WWW URL: http://www.pfeg.noaa.gov/
FTP site:

LIST OF PROJECT'S OTHER INVESTIGATORS:

Grigory Monterey, Richard Parrish, Roy Mendelssohn (all at PFEL) and Tom Murphree (Naval Postgrad. School)

SUMMARY OF RETROSPECTIVE WORK- YEAR 1:

Geographic area being studied: entire North Pacific basin, with emphasis on coastal ecosystems of California Current and GOA
Time period(s) being studied: comparing two decades, 1966-75 and 1977-86
Types of data or derived indices being analyzed: Gridded 2-degree fields (monthly averages for each decade and climatology) and monthly time series for selected geographic regions (1946-present) from two data sets:
Progress anticipated at the end of year 1: The overriding objective of this project is to examine interdecadal ocean variability in the North Pacific using retrospective analysis of environmental data sets with innovative statistical modeling techniques, combined with numerical modeling. The goal is to describe and understand the characteristic modes of oceanic variability that may affect the distribution, abundance and production of marine animals. During year 1 of this project, we will develop the data bases and data extraction methods to generate time series and gridded fields of surface and subsurface variables. Analysis will begin on gridded fields of monthly and seasonal climatologies of key environmental variables (SLP, wind, SST, and quantities derived from these), and on decadal averages for two periods (1966-75 and 1977-86), to describe changes due to the 1976 climate shift. Gridded surface and subsurface fields will also be developed for forcing a numerical ocean circulation model. These data sets and extraction methods will be available to other NEP investigators and the oceanographic community by the end of this year.

NAME OF PROJECT:

Retrospective analysis of Northeast Pacific microzooplankton

POINT OF CONTACT FOR RETROSPECTIVE COMPONENT:

Name: Suzanne Strom
Institution: Shannon Point Marine Center, Western Washington University
Address: 1900 Shannon Point Road
Anacortes, WA 98221
Phone: (360) 293-2188
Fax:
E-mail: stroms@henson.cc.wwu.edu
WWW URL:
FTP site:

LIST OF PROJECT'S OTHER INVESTIGATORS:

none

SUMMARY OF RETROSPECTIVE WORK- YEAR 1:

Geographic area being studied: Ocean Station P (50N, 145W) and Line P extending from Vancouver Island to Station P
Time period(s) being studied: 1987, 1988, 1993-1998 (inclusive)
Types of data or derived indices being analyzed: Microzooplankton samples; Samples from winter, spring, and late summer seasons are available for nearly all years, and will be used to evaluate seasonal and interannual variation in this planktonic group. Microzooplankton are known to be the major trophic link between primary producers and higher trophic levels in oceanic subarctic waters, and may play an equally important role in coastal ecosystems. Retrospective analysis of this key trophic link will be combined with data on meteorology, ocean physics, and plankton biology to provide a window onto the mechanisms by which climate shifts may alter food web structure and function.
Progress anticipated at the end of year 1:
By the end of year 1 we expect to have analyzed all samples microscopically and be well into data work-up. Specifically, data on abundance, size structure and taxonomic composition of the microzooplankton community will be available for most if not all samples. During year 2 of this two-year project we will focus on relating shifts in the above microzooplankton parameters to shifts in plankton biology and climatology of the northeast Pacific. Note that sample collection is on-going and should continue at least through the year 2000.

NAME OF PROJECT:

Remote Sensing of the NE Pacific: Retrospective and Concurrent Time Series Analysis Using Multiple Sensors on Multiple Scales

POINT OF CONTACT FOR RETROSPECTIVE COMPONENT:

Name: Ted Strub
Institution: College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences (COAS), Oregon State University
Address: 104 Ocean Administration Building
Corvallis, OR, 97331-5503
Phone: (541) 737-3015
Fax: (541) 537-2064
E-mail: tstrub@coas.oregonstate.edu
WWW URL: coming soon
FTP site: pisco.coas.oregonstate.edu

LIST OF PROJECT'S OTHER INVESTIGATORS:

Corinne James and Mark Abbott (OSU); Andrew Thomas (Univ. of Maine); Jan Svejkovsky (Ocean Imaging, Inc.)

SUMMARY OF RETROSPECTIVE WORK:

Geographic area being studied: North Pacific Basin - East of 170W Time period(s) being studied:
Types of data or derived indices being analyzed:
Types of analysis:
Progress anticipated at the end of year 1:

This page was last updated on June 8, 1998.

Maintained by:
Hal Batchelder
Dept. of Integrative Biology
University of California
Berkeley, CA 94720-3140
phone: 510-642-7452; FAX 510-643-1142