This seminar is part of NOAA’s EcoFOCI bi-annual seminar series focused on the ecosystems of the North Pacific Ocean, Bering Sea and U.S. Arctic to improve understanding of ecosystem dynamics and applications of that understanding to the management of living marine resources. Visit the EcoFOCI webpage for more information (http://www.ecofoci.noaa.gov/).
NOAA's Pacific Marine Environmental Lab
7600 Sand Point Way NE, Building 3, Room 2104*
Remote Connection: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/390878509
*Anyone wishing to attend in person, must email Heather Tabisola (heather.tabisola@noaa.gov) at least 48 hours in advance and bring a valid ID. 

Speaker:  David W.McGowan Ph.D candidate, University of Washington Seattle, School of Aquatic and Fisheries Sciences, Seattle, WA
Date: May 2, 2018
Title: Capelin in the Gulf of Alaska: environmental influences on spatial dynamics and implications for monitoring
Abstract: Capelin (Mallotus villosus) are an important mid-trophic link within marine food webs, yet there is limited information describing fluctuations in their distributions and population abundance in the Northeast Pacific.  This study investigated environmental influences on spatial patterns of age-1+ capelin in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA).  Data from two independent,fisheries-oceanographic surveys (the GOAIERP’s offshore acoustic-trawl survey and the EcoFOCI late-summer, small-mesh trawl survey) were analyzed using generalized linear mixed models to quantify spatial and temporal variability in distributions and abundances of capelin over the GOA continental shelf during an 8-year period from 2000-2013.  Capelin were found to concentrate over or near shallow, submarine banks to the south and east of the Kodiak Archipelago.  Interannual fluctuations in abundance occurred in the western GOA, while capelin were observed infrequently in Southeast Alaska. Model results indicated that capelin concentrated in areas associated with increased vertical mixing and enhanced primary production.  Mean densities of capelin were not directly related to interannual differences in temperature.  Results from this study can be used to predict responses of capelin to climate-related changes to the GOA, and to improve monitoring efforts to detect changes in capelin biomass and availability to predators.