CRUISE REPORT

                                                                    Cruise Number: OM02-01

                                                                       FOCI Number: 1OM02

Ship:

   Oshoro Maru

Area of Operations:

   Bering Sea

Itinerary:

   Date depart / port:           July 28, 2002 / Seward, Ak

   Date arrive / port:            August 11, 2002 / Dutch Harbor, AK

Participating organizations:

   NOAA - Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC)

Chief Scientist:

   William Rugen                                     M / AFSC

   (206) 526-4339

   bill.rugen@ noaa.gov

Personnel:

   Jay Clark                                              M / AFSC

   Jennifer Lanksbury                              F / NMFS

   Destry Wion                                         M / NMFS

Cruise Objectives:

The objective of this cruise was to continue the long-term acquisition of biological and physical data relating to the summer abundance of walleye pollock (Theragra chalcogramma) larvae and juveniles in the eastern Bering sea shelf region.  This is a continuing cooperative research effort between FOCI and the scientists at Hokkaido University in Hakodate, Japan.

Summary of Operations:

    Operation                                                                                       Tows

    20cm bongo (20Bon)                                                                         7

    60cm bongo (60Bon)                                                                         7

    CalCOFI vertical egg tow net (CalVET)                                           6

    Methot net on Japanese trawl frame (MBT)                                   28

Samples Collected	Tows	Number
Microzooplankton samples preserved in formalin (MZ)	6	6
Pollock removed and frozen by Dr. T. Nishiyama. (NishFish)	9	222
Quantitative tow preserved in formalin (QTowF)	40	47
Rough count of pollock juveniles (RCountJ)	26	721

Summary of Cruise:

Narrative:

We were able to complete all of our station objectives during the course of this cruise.  Pollock abundance appeared to be lower than in many past years, though pollock were collected at almost all stations.  The gear used, a Methot inner and outer net attached to a Japanese rigid frame, worked as expected with few exceptions.  Much other physical and biological data were collected by the Japanese scientists on board using CTDs, water bottles, bongos, Norpac, Secchi discs and other gears.

Days Lost to Weather:

   None

Days Lost to Equipment Failure:

   None

Recommendations:

   None

Acknowledgments:

The scientific party would like to acknowledge the hard work and support of the officers and crew of the Oshoro Maru.  The captain, crew and scientists were once again very accommodating and helpful.  Without their continuous support fulfilling our objectives would have been quite difficult.  We were once again very pleased with our results and thank those aboard           the Oshoro Maru and look forward to sailing on her again.

Attachments:

Table 1:  Cruise Summary

Figure 1:  Station Map

Figure 2:  Pollock Abundance Map