U.S. Department of Commerce / NOAA	/ OAR/ PMEL   / OERD \  \ NMFS / AFSC / RACE /	FOCI
	Fisheries-Oceanography Coordinated Investigations

Kevin Bailey, Edward Cokelet, Martin Dorn, Janet Duffy-Anderson, Al Hermann, Anne Hollowed, Sarah Hinckley, Nancy Kachel, Carol Ladd, Allen Macklin, Ann Matarese, Jeff Napp, Jim Overland, Ron Reed, Chris Wilson and Peter Proctor (rapporteur)

• The Southeast Bering Sea Carrying Capacity (SEBSCC) Pribilof Islands working group met last week and is the process of formulating a draft report.

• The SEBSCC Indices working group will meet at NOAA-Sand Point, May 29-30, 2002.

• SEBSCC Phase 3 annual reports from principal investigators are due to Allen Macklin by August 15, 2002.

• Steller Sea Lions: A report by Thomas and Thorne in Nature suggests that Steller sea lions in Prince William Sound feed largely on herring rather than pollock.  William Hogarth is refuting this idea in an upcoming issue.

• There will be an EPOC conference in September 2002 at the Timberline Lodge, Oregon.

Topics discussed included:

• FOCI PI meeting format

• FOCI seminar format

• FOCI coffee hour.

FOCI's directors are considering appropriate changes to better serve progam interests.  A committee has been formed to develop a plan for a FOCI coffee hour.

• The Miller Freeman sails on Monday, April 29, 2002, for the first FOCI cruise of the spring 2002 field season.  Included in the operations schedule are recoveries and deployments of approximately 25 Bering Sea, Aleutian Islands, and Gulf of Alaska moorings.

• Cod-pot studies have been conducted near Unimak Pass to ascertain prey availability for Steller sea lions.  It is estimated that cod make up as much as 30% of the sea lion diet, suggesting that overfishing by humans may be a factor in sea lion population decline.

Chris Wilson reported on the results of the RACE spring pollock hydroacoustic survey of Shelikof Strait during March 2002.  The cruise was remarkable for not finding significant abundance of adult pollock in the NE section of the strait.  Although adult fish were found in the SW area, the numbers were significantly down from previous years.  Discussion followed as to the reasons for the decreased numbers:  Was it was the wrong time to sample?  Was there a sampling bias due to selection of sample location?  Were the fish just some place else?

FOCI Directors will decide on the time and place for the next PI meeting.   Please submit to Allen Macklin (allen.macklin@noaa.gov), no later than the day before the meeting, agenda items and fax-ready copies of figures or handouts that you intend to present at the meeting. Alternately, presentation materials may be posted on the WWW or e-mailed to remote participants before the meeting.

Mail corrections and addenda to the FOCI Coordinator .