CRUISE REPORT
	Cruise Number: MF0708
	FOCI Number: 5MF07
Ship:
	NOAA Ship Miller Freeman
Area of Operations:
	Gulf of Alaska
Itinerary:
	Date depart / port:	May 19, 2007  / Dutch Harbor, AK
	Date arrive / port:	May 28, 2007  / Kodiak, AK
Participating organizations:
	NOAA - Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC)
Chief Scientist:
	Annette Dougherty 	F / AFSC
	(206) 526-6523
	Annette.Dougherty@noaa.gov
Personnel:
	Steve Porter	M / AFSC
	Tiffany Vance	F / AFSC
	Matt Wilson	M / AFSC
Cruise Objectives:
	The objectives of this cruise are to conduct an ichthyoplankton survey and process oriented studies in the region between Unimak Pass, the Shumagin Islands, and through Shelikof Strait to Kodiak Island, Alaska, so that we may estimate the abundance, transport, and factors influencing the survival of young walleye pollock larvae. We will also occupy stations of Line 8 to continue our 22-year time series of environmental and biological conditions in Shelikof Strait.
Summary of Operations:
	Operation	Tows
	20cm bongo (20Bon)	6
	60cm bongo (60Bon)	126
	Seabird SeaCAT CTD (CAT)	125
	CTD without bottle samples (CTD)	2
	CTD with bottle samples (CTDB)	6
	Samples Collected	Tows	Number
	misc species in EtOH (AMGEN)	115	1340
	
	SeaBird SeaCat CTD (CAT)	125

	Extracted chlorophyll (Chlor)	6	36
	SeaBird CTD (CTD)	8
	Stimulated fluorescence collected during CTD casts (Fluor)	8
	Live lengths for Steve (Lmeas)	81	625
	Larval pollock collected for otolith analysis (L-Oto)	98	1046
	60BonPlastics Study (MDBON)	11	11
	Surface tow of a bongo net collected while Steve was doing his 	1	1
	extrusion experiment. (MDSurf)
	Microzooplankton samples preserved in formalin (MZ)	6	36
	Nutrient samples collected from CTD casts (Nut)	6	63
	Photosynthetically Active Radiation data collected during CTD casts 	8
	(PAR)
	Quantitative tow preserved in formalin (QTowF)	137	141
	Rouch count of pollock larvae (RCountL)	117	1055
	Steve's extrustion experiment (Sext)	1	1
Summary of Cruise:
Narrative:
	Sampling with the 60cm bongo array began on May 20 and continued until the evening of May 28.  A total of 124 stations were occupied from the original 169 planned stations.  Due to a severe storm, approximately 17 hours of sampling time was lost but the main objectives of the cruise plan were still met. Larval walleye pollock were collected for otoliths and live 	measurements from Net 2.  Plankton samples from Net 1 were preserved for quantitative analysis.  Samples of other misc. larvae were also preserved for future genetics analyses.  Line 8 was completed in less than 10 hours and sampling continued up Shelikof Strait until the evening of May 28. In general, the abundance of larval walleye pollock seemed low with the numbers spread out over the grid but with few rough counts of zero.  For this year, the larval pollock were much smaller in length in comparison to previous years.
Days Lost to Weather:
	1
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 NOAA research 
	Vessel Miller Freeman. We especially wish to thank the Survey Department for their assistance in our sampling.
Attachments:
Table 1.  Cruise Summary
Figure 1.  Station Map