Planning Calendar

Cruise Objectives

FOCI Winter Ichthyoplankton cruise

Cruise Objectives – We will conduct an ichthyoplankton survey in the waters contiguous to Kodiak Island, Alaska. This work is needed to describe larval fish assemblages on the shelf and slope in winter, and to study the transport and early life history of larval fishes. Data on physical characteristics of the water column will also be collected.

FOCI Gulf of Alaska Mooring cruise

Cruise Objectives – Fisheries-Oceanography Coordinated Investigations (FOCI) is an effort by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and associated academic scientists. 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. The primary objective of the cruise will be the recovery and deployment of moorings in the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea. The second objective will be physical oceanographic property sampling at and near the mooring locations.

FOCI Bering Sea Mooring cruise

Cruise Objectives – To Recover and deploy oceanographic instrumentation moorings, both surface and subsurface. To complete CTD casts and CalVET and Plankton tows at designated locations.

FOCI Spring Ichthyoplankton cruise

Cruise Objectives – We will conduct an ichthyoplankton survey in the Bering Sea in the vicinity of Unimak Island, Alaska. This work is needed to describe larval fish and zooplankton assemblages in the Bering Sea (outer shelf, middle shelf) in spring. In particular, this area is a known spawning ground for walleye pollock, and abundances of pollock larvae at this time of year are high. Zooplankton data and data on physical characteristics of the water column will also be collected.

FOCI / GLOBEC spring cruise

Cruise Objectives – This cruise is a Conductivity, Temperature, and Depth (CTD) and Marine Assessment Monitoring and Prediction (MARMAP) Bongo survey. A large eddy is often centered near 58° 30’ N, 145° 00’ W in May. If it is present and weather allows us to reach it, we plan to spend four to five days surveying the eddy with CTDs and Bongos. We will also do CTDs at the GLOBEC moorings deployed earlier and occupy CTD transects near Gore Point, over Portlock Bank, and over Stevenson and Chiniak Troughs. We may also recover a mooring with an iron meter, if there was time to deploy it on an earlier cruise.

FOCI late larval cruise

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 on Line 8 to continue our 19 year time series of environmental and biological conditions in Shelikof Strait.

FOCI Fall Ichthyoplankton cruise

Cruise Objectives – We will be conducting an ichthyoplankton survey in the waters contiguous to Kodiak Island, Alaska. This work is needed to describe larval fish assemblages on the shelf and slope in late summer and early fall, and to study the transport and early life history of larval forage fishes (ex: capelin). Zooplankton data and data on physical characteristics of the water column will also be collected. Limited trawling activities for juvenile groundfishes (age-0 pollock) and adult forage fishes (capelin) will be conducted as well to study differences in production between offshore banks and troughs and nearshore Kodiak Island.

Last updated: 11/02/04