Applicability:

These instructions, with "FOCI Standard Operating Instructions for NOAA Ship MILLER FREEMAN, 1999" present complete information for this cruise.

General geographic area: Southeast Bering Sea.

10 April 1999: depart Kodiak, Alaska
19 April 1999: arrive Dutch Harbor, Alaska

NOAA - Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC)
NOAA - Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL)

CRUISE DESCRIPTION:

Fisheries Oceanography Coordinated Investigations (FOCI) is an effort by NOAA scientists to understand the physical and biological processes that determine recruitment variability of commercially valuable finfish and shellfish stocks in Alaskan waters. At present, FOCI consists of a Shelikof Strait walleye pollock project (western Gulf of Alaska), and a NOAA Coastal Ocean Program (COP) project: Southeast Bering Sea Carrying Capacity. The COP project is a collaborative effort by NOAA and academic scientists to understand the affects of abiotic and biotic variability on the SE Bering Sea ecosystem.

CRUISE OBJECTIVES:

1. Bongo tows and EK500 survey to locate area of pollock spawning/egg concentration over southeast shelf (Kendall).

2. Biological oceanographic sampling (CTD, water bottle, Bongo, and CalVET) at 13 stations at and around Mooring 2 , Mooring 3, and two stations on middle and outer shelf domain (Napp).

3. Depth-stratified MOCNESS tows to determine pollock eggs vertical distribution (Kendall).

4. Live Tucker trawls to obtain pollock eggs to return to Seattle for specific gravity measurements (Kendall).

5. Trawl for spawning pollock.

A. Incubate eggs to bring to Seattle for rearing (Porter) and specific gravity measurements (Kendall).

6. Live CalVET tows to obtain copepod eggs (Baier).

1.1. Chief Scientist:

Larry Mordock
NOAA/PMC (PMC1x4)
1801 Fairview Ave. East
Seattle, WA 98102-3767
(206) 553 - 4764
Larry.Mordock@noaa.gov

1.4 Program Contacts:

2.0. OPERATIONS

A standard oceanographic watch will be utilized which consists of a winch operator, a scientific staff of two and a Survey Tech on deck. Operations will be conducted 24 hours a day.

Pollock egg vertical distribution: A bongo survey of 48 stations will be conducted over the shelf of the southeastern Bering Sea to map pollock egg distribution and locate areas of high concentrations. Within the area of the survey, two locations will be selected for vertical distribution tows with the MOCNESS. At each of these selected locations, first, two MOCNESS tows with nets tripped at 15 to 20-m depth intervals, from surface to bottom, will be performed and the samples preserved for analysis ashore. Then live Tucker tows will be made near surface (0-20 m) and near bottom (ca. 80-100 m) to obtain live eggs to return to Seattle for specific gravity experiments.

Middle and Outer Shelf Domain monitoring observations: Biological oceanographic observations will be taken at up to13 stations over the shelf in the southeast Bering Sea.

Live Tucker trawl tows for pollock eggs: One or more Tucker trawl tows, with one net fishing near bottom (80-100 m), and the other from that depth to the surface will be conducted over the shelf in the Bering Sea to obtain live pollock eggs to bring back to Seattle for experimental work at AFSC. Taped codends will be used to minimize trauma to the eggs during collection. At the conclusion of the tows, the nets will be gently washed and live eggs will be sorted from them immediately. Those from the at-depth net will be placed in rearing refrigerators. At the end of the cruise these live eggs will be packed in insulated bottles for air transport to Seattle.

Pollock egg incubations: The ship will locate aggregations of walleye pollock over the shelf of the southeastern Bering Sea, using information from the fishing fleet. Ship and scientific personnel will monitor the EQ-500 echosounder to identify these aggregations. When walleye pollock are located, a midwater trawl will be deployed. Ripe walleye pollock caught in the trawls will be stripped and the eggs will be maintained in the large refrigerator located in the fish processing lab. Live eggs (~20,000) will be brought back to Seattle for experimental work at AFSC. Once sufficient eggs are obtained for the experiments, the ship will break off these operations.

2.2 PROCEDURES FOR OPERATIONS:

The following are operations to be conducted on this cruise. The procedures for these operations are listed in the FOCI Standard Operating Instructions (SOI). Operations not addressed in the SOI and changes to standard procedures are addressed below.

CTD/Water samples (SOI 2.2.1)

MARMAP bongo tow (SOI 2.2.2): Both Line 8 and standard 60 cm bongo tows will be taken. 0.333 and 0.505 mm mesh nets will be used for the standard bongo tows.

Live Tucker trawl tows (SOI 2.2.3): Live tows will be taken for pollock eggs using 0.505 mm mesh nets, and taped codends. Depths of tows may vary from those in SOI. After gentle rinsing, both codends will be sorted for pollock eggs immediately following retrieval.

MOCNESS (SOI 2.2.5): 0.505 mm mesh nets will be used. Sampling depth intervals will be 0 20, 20-40, 40-60, 60-80, and 80-100 m, as water depth permits. The gear may be deployed off the stern without the platform provided care is used to minimize damage to the gear.

Live CalCOFI Vertical Egg Tow (SOI 2.2.6): Live tows will be taken for collecting copepod eggs. The Chief Scientist or watch chief will decide station locations.

Midwater trawl (SOI 2.2.8): Trawling for spawning adult pollock will be conducted using whichever trawl is deemed most suitable. Midwater trawls will be deployed using standard procedures for the gear requested. The Chief Scientist or watch chief will decide trawl locations, times and depths. Midwater trawls will be conducted day or night and will depend on plankton catches or midwater sign seen on the EQ-50 echosounder. Once a trawl is called for, regardless of the time of day, the fishing crew will need to be activated quickly, with little time lost. Trawl time should be of short duration; only long enough to descend into the school, fish for 10-15 minutes, then be brought up. The trawl should be landed as quickly as possible and emptied into the sorting table on deck. Scientific personnel will quickly sort through the catch and put suitable fish into filled sinks in the wet and/or fish processing labs. Should it be necessary to obtain more ripe fish at the same location, the trawl should be readied and re-deployed as quickly as possible.

Tucker trawl (SOI 2.2.9): 0.505 mm mesh nets will be used.

Chlorophyll samples (SOI 2.2.10)

EK500 monitoring (SOI 2.2.12)

3.0. FACILITIES AND EQUIPMENT

The following systems and their associated support services are essential to the cruise. Sufficient consumables, back-up units, and on-site spares and technical support must be in place to assure that operational interruptions are minimal. All measurement instruments are expected to have current calibrations, and all pertinent calibration information shall be included in the data package.

3.1 Equipment and Capabilities to be Provided by the Ship

Simrad EQ-500 echo sounder,

Aleutian wing trawl for midwater trawls,

WesMar 3rd wire and Furuno wireless trawl sonar systems,

Commercial refrigerator,

Laboratory space with exhaust hood, sink, lab tables and storage space,

Sea-water hose inside fish processing lab,

Uncontaminated seawater,

Oceanographic winch with slip rings and 3-conductor cable terminated for CTD,

Wire-angle indicator and readout for oceanographic winch,

Oceanographic winch for bongo net (and other nets when used) with slip rings and 3-conductor cable terminated for the SeaCat,

Sea-Bird 911 plus CTD system to be used with PMEL stand (primary system)
(The underwater CTD unit should have mounts compatible with the PMEL CTD stand),

VHS cassette CTD tape backup system,

Sea-Bird 911 plus CTD system with stand (back up system),

(Each CTD system should include underwater CTD, weights, and pinger and there should be one deck unit and tape recorder for the two systems),

10-liter sampling bottles for use with rosette (10 plus 4 spares),

For CTD field corrections: IAPSO water and AUTOSAL salinometer,

Sea-Bird SBE-19 Seacat system (backup system),

Meter block for plankton tows,

Wire speed indicators and readout for quarterdeck, Fowe and Marco winches,

For meteorological observations: 2 anemometers (one R. M. Young system interfaced to the SCS), calibrated air thermometer (wet-and dry-bulb) and a calibrated barometer and/or barograph,

Freezer space for storage of biological and chemical samples (blast and storage freezers),

Simrad EQ-50 echo sounder,

JRC JFV-200R color sounder recorder,

RDI ADCP with PC-compatible data acquisition computer and Iomega Zip drives,

Use of appropriate model PC with current technology in Data Plot for data analysis,

SCS (Shipboard Computer System),

Laboratory space with exhaust hood, sink, lab tables and storage space,

Sea-water hoses and nozzles to wash nets (quarterdeck and aft deck),

Adequate deck lighting for night-time operations,

Navigational equipment including GPS and radar,

Safety harnesses for working on quarter deck and fantail,

3.2 Equipment to be Provided by the Project

Rope trawl,

3 small refrigerators,

Dissecting microscope,

Miscellaneous supplies for collecting and maintaining live eggs,

Sea-Bird SBE-19 Seacat system (primary system),

PMEL PC with SEASOFT software for CTD data collection and processing,

Fluorometer, light meter, and chlorophyll absorbance meter (ChlAM) to be mounted on CTD,

CTD stand modified for attachment of fluorometer,

Conductivity and temperature sensor package to provide dual sensors on the primary CTD,

CTD rosette sampler,

XBTs for project,

60-cm bongo sampling arrays,

20 cm bongo arrays,

Spare wire angle indicator,

Tucker trawl, complete 1 m sampling array,

MOCNESS,

Miscellaneous scientific sampling and processing equipment,

Sorting tables and baskets for processing trawl catches,

Scientific ultra-cold freezer.

Discrete Sample Data Base (DSDB) software and forms.

3.3. Ship's Computer System (SCS)

 
The (SCS) shall operate throughout the cruise, acquiring and logging data from navigation, meteorological, oceanographic, and fisheries sensors. The ship uses the NT version of SCS. The VAX is only available for data processing. An upgraded version of the NT SCS software will be installed on the transit to Ketchikan. See FOCI Standard Operating Instructions for specific requirements. Contact CST Wm. Floering for further information.

4.0 DATA AND REPORTS

Data disposition, responsibilities and data requirements are listed in the FOCI Standard Operating Instructions.

5.0 ADDITIONAL INVESTIGATIONS AND PROJECTS

5.1. Piggyback projects:

None at this time.

6.0 MISCELLANEOUS

6.1. Hazardous Materials:

The Chief Scientist shall be responsible for complying with NC Instruction 6280A, Hazardous Waste; policy, guidance, and training, dated February 4, 1991, paragraph 7.g and paragraph 9. By federal law, the ship may not sail without a complete inventory of MSDS, and appropriate neutralizing agents, buffers, and/or absorbents in amounts adequate to address spills of a size equal to the amount aboard.

The following hazardous materials will be provided and controlled by the scientists with the Chief Scientist assuming responsibility for the safe handling of such substances:
37 % Formaldehyde
95 % Ethanol

7.0 COMMUNICATIONS

7.1 Important phone numbers, fax numbers and e-mail addresses:

PMEL/CARD Fax: (206) 526-6485
PMEL/ADMIN Fax: (206) 526-6815
AFSC/RACE Fax: (206) 526-6723

MILLER FREEMAN INMARSAT B VOICE: 011-872-330-394-113
MILLER FREEMAN INMARSAT B FAX: 011-872-330-394-114
MILLER FREEMAN INMARSAT M VOICE: 011-872-761-267-346
011-872-761-267-347
MILLER FREEMAN INMARSAT M FAX: 011-872-761-267-348
CELLULAR: 206-660-7167
DUTCH HARBOR ROAMER: 907-391-7626
KODIAK ROAMER: 907-528-7626

PMEL person: PERSON@PMEL.NOAA.GOV
AFSC person: APerson@afsc.noaa.gov
PMC radio room: RadioRoom@rdc.noaa.gov
Direct to ship: person@freeman.pmel.noaa.gov

Temporary email access through ship's Ccmail system is also available through the Lead Electronic Technician.
 
 
 
 

8.0. APPENDICES