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Date: 25 January
2000
(Includes addendum of 31 January 2000) FINAL CRUISE INSTRUCTIONS
Cruise No:MF-00-01A
Applicability: These instructions, with FOCI Standard Operating Instructions for NOAA Ship MILLER FREEMAN dated June 25,1999 or later, present complete information for this cruise. Area: Shelikof Strait, Gulf of Alaska. Itinerary: 7-15 February, 2000 Sampling is to take place during the transit from Seattle, WA to Dutch Harbor, AK Participating organizations: NOAA - Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC) CRUISE DESCRIPTION: Fisheries-Oceanography Coordinated Investigations (FOCI) is an effort by NOAA and associated academic scientists. At present, FOCI consists of a Shelikof Strait (western Gulf of Alaska) walleye pollock project, and a NOAA Coastal Ocean Program project: Southeast Bering Sea Carrying Capacity. FOCI also supports associated projects, such as the Arctic Research Initiative, U.S. GLOBEC, and NSF Inner Front Study, that address scientific issues related to FOCI's. FOCI's goal is to understand the effects of abiotic and biotic variability on ecosystems of the North Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea in order to discern the physical and biological processes that determine recruitment variability of commercially valuable finfish and shellfish stocks in Alaskan waters. Material obtained during this cruise will help determine what effect variation in the late-summer/early-winter size of YOY pollock has on recruitment. The instructions herein pertain to collecting young-of-the-year (YOY) pollock in Shelikof Strait to help determine if otoliths can be used to indicate size-selective mortality of pollock during their first winter, and to help determine the optimal timing of future collections. For some unexplained reason, material deposited onto otoliths during winter is different from summertime depositions. A hyaline (translucent) zone indicates wintertime deposition while summertime deposits are opaque. Delineation between these two zones is usually abrupt. Furthermore, otolith size is indicative of fish size. Since otolith material is not resorbed, it should therefore be possible to determine otolith size at winter onset for subsequently collected individuals. Within a cohort, individuals that were small at winter onset may experience high removals (eg., mortality) relative to their larger counterparts so that otolith size at winter onset should increase as the duration between sampling and early winter increases. CRUISE OBJECTIVES: Obtain samples of YOY pollock for determination of wintertime deposition on their otoliths, determination of otolith size at winter onset, and fish size and diet. 1.0. PERSONNEL 1.1. Chief Scientist: Lisa Rugen, AFSC/F
The Chief Scientist has the authority to revise or alter the technical portion of the instructions as work progresses provided that, after consultation with the Commanding Officer, it is ascertained that the proposed changes will not: (1) jeopardize the safety of personnel or the ship; (2) exceed the overall time allotted for the project; (3) result in undue additional expenses; (4) alter the general intent of these project instructions. 1.2 Participating Scientists: None 1.3 NOAA Pacific Marine Center Operations Contact: Larry Mordock
1.4 Program Contacts: Dr. Art Kendall
Matt Wilson
2.0. OPERATIONS The EK-500 (38 kHz) display will be monitored along a predetermined zigzag cruise track for indication of YOY pollock (Figure 1 and Table 1). The vessel should not operate other echo sounders or acoustic equipment if this causes interference with the EK-500 display. Ship speed is expected to average 12 knots in favorable weather. Trawling may take place at any time during the day or night, depending upon when the ship arrives at the study area. When echo sign believed to be YOY pollock is first observed, break transect and sample it with the Aleutian Wing Trawl (AWT), the chief scientist will determine this. To reduce the chance of hitting the bottom, do not let the headrope come within 35 m of the bottom (This allows for a 10-m clearance, vertical opening is 20 m. Be cautious, the AWT will be used during subsequent MACE cruises). Fishing the AWT should follow standard MACE procedures. The codend, however, will be equipped with the same _" liner that was used by Beth Sinclair (NMML) in 1999. The chief scientist and the fishing officer will determine tow duration and depth. Ideally, one sample of YOY pollock will be collected between each pair of waypoints. If, however, YOY sign is not observed by about the middle leg (between the fourth and fifth waypoints) fish the net to verify YOY absence. Fish where the bottom depth is about 225-250 m and retrieve the net obliquely from 40 m off bottom to the surface taking no more than 30 min for retrieval. It may be preferable to fish the net at stepped depths instead of obliquely. If so, fish it at three depths: 40 m off bottom, at mid-depth, and at 40 m from the surface. Upon completion of all trawling, ensure that the liner is not damaged and that it is clean. Arrangements have been made with the deck department to swap the codend with one that does not have a liner installed. Sampling will be done with time available so that timing of the following TNG in Dutch Harbor is not impacted. 2.1. SUMMARY OF ACTIVITIES: See above 2.2 PROCEDURES FOR OPERATIONS: Haul-Position Forms will be provided to the bridge for recording each tow. Processing of each catch should proceed as follows. The entire catch should fit on the sorting table. If splitting is necessary, an estimate of the percentage placed on the sorting table can be "eyeballed". Record this percentage on the On-Deck Catch Processing Form. Also record the number of YOY pollock. YOY pollock are expected to be 9-15 cm FL, however, some may be smaller or larger. They almost always form a distinctly smaller size mode than older individuals, and this is usually apparent when the catch is sorted. Freeze all YOY pollock if there are less than about 50 individuals; otherwise, take a random sample of about 50. Record the number frozen but they do not need to be lengthed. To freeze them, place in one bag, insert a label (cruise, station, haul) so that it can be read through the bag, write the same information on the outside of the bag (an indelible-ink pen will be provided), and put the entire bag in the —20 freezer (in the slime lab). If catch weights and numbers on the remaining part of the catch, including larger pollock, can be obtained without losing any transecting time, please do so and follow standard RACE procedures, individual fish lengths are not desired. In addition, Beth Sinclair has asked that small random sample (no more than about 25 individuals per "species") of any blackfish (mytophid-like or other mesopelagic fishes), snailfish, lumpfish, or squid be frozen. Extra bags and labels will be included for this purpose and once frozen these and the pollock samples can be boxed together. Wax boxes will be provided for packaging the frozen samples. 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 Sorting table3.2 Equipment to be Provided by the Project EK-500 acoustic system3.3. Ship's Computer System (SCS) No data collection requested 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 5.3 Piggyback projects: None at this time. 6.0 MISCELLANEOUS 6.5. 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: NONE, samples will be frozen 7.0 COMMUNICATIONS 7.4 Important phone numbers, fax numbers and e-mail addresses: PMEL/CARD Fax: (206) 526-6485
MILLER FREEMAN COMSAT (government account numbers): These are much cheaper than INMARSAT direct numbers and should always be used first. 800-678-0872, after voice prompt
dial 330-394-113, after tone dial customer ID# (Voice)
INMARSAT (direct numbers)
CELLULAR: 206-660-7167
8.0. APPENDICES Figure 1. Transect along which
the EK-500 will be monitored during FOCI-1MF00 for echo sign believed to
be YOY walleye pollock (see Table 1 for waypoint coordinates).
Table 1. Transect waypoints and
cumulative distance from south to north (see Figure 1). Aside from trawling,
it should take about 12 hr to travel 145 nm, assuming ship speed is 12
kt.
The following activities (see figure and table) are added
to MF00-01A (Seattle — Dutch Harbor transit). This addition will occur
only after an adequate number of juvenile pollock have been collected along
the trackline defined in the Final Cruise Instructions. In this case, an
adequate number is defined as 50 YOY pollock from each of three locations.
The three locations must be at least 10 nm apart.
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