Table 4a.
Data Needs for Monitoring(7)
- Hydrography
- A few moorings are needed to document water properties in representative subareas, especially source water regions along the Aleutian Islands, e.g., Amchitka and Amukta Passes. Monitoring of flow through Unimak Pass by CTD sections should continue.
- A number of CTD sections from 1000 m onto the shelf, with comprehensive chemical measurements, would be very useful.
- Currents
- A few moorings are needed to document flow in representative subareas, especially source water regions along the Aleutian Islands, e.g., Amchitka and Amukta Passes. Monitoring of flow through Unimak Pass perhaps should be supplemented by current meters.
- Satellite
- SAR or altimetric satellite sensors to detect, monitor, and census eddies
- Sea Ice
- Sea ice data currently available should be monitored routinely.
- Atmosphere
- Insolation
- Primary and Secondary Production
- Monitoring of primary productivity and phytoplankton species composition is needed to assess total system production and trophic interactions.
- Species composition, biomass, and physiological condition of the crustacean and gelatinous zooplankton community should be monitored. Direct monitoring of microheterotrophs is not recommended.
- Fisheries
- NMFS should continue its monitoring of pollock and other groundfish. Monitoring of juvenile pollock and other forage fish (capelin, sand lance, and herring) abundances needs improvement.
- Diets of pollock and other fishes, including cannibalism, should be monitored. Physiological condition of the fishes could provide additional clues to variability in production processes at lower trophic levels.
- Marine Bird and *Mammal Abundance
- Routine annual monitoring of seabirds and marine mammals on the Pribilofs by the USFWS and the NMML should continue. Large seabird populations on St. Matthew Island are not monitored regularly.
- Improved monitoring of diets and foraging of birds and mammals could shed light on the roles of zooplankton, pollock and other food web organisms. Seabird diets and reproductive parameters are especially sensitive to fluctuations in prey abundance.
* Data sets that are thought to span at least 30 years
Continue to Table 4b
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