SHELFZ – Shelf Habitat and Ecology of Fish and Zooplankton
| Principal Investigators | Leandra de Sousa, Ph.D. |
| Collaborators | NOAA/AFSC, UAF, University of Washington |
| Funding | USFWS/CIAP |
Summary:
The NSB-DWM, along with NOAA/Alaska Fisheries Science Center, UAF, and University of Washington, is conducting a study to collect baseline data on the habitat, abundance, distribution and species composition of fish and zooplankton in the Chukchi Sea between Barrow and Wainwright. This project is funded by the USFWS through the Coastal Impact Assistance Program.
Led by Dr. Leandra de Sousa, this study will compare nearshore (less than 65 feet depths) and offshore (greater than 65 feet depths and out to 55 miles) habitats and their fish and zooplankton communities. This information will help to better understand the available forage for marine mammals, including bowhead and beluga whales, ringed and bearded seals, and others.
The nearshore work will be conducted using the R/V Ukpik, and the offshore work will be conducted from the F/V Alaska Knight. The vessels will be collecting data between August 15th and September 6th, 2013, from about 25 different stations along the planned cruise lines (see map above).
R/V Ukpik (photo by NSB-DWM)
F/V Alaska Knight (photo by Soterio Rebman, MarineTraffic.com)
Fish will be collected using beach seine nets, bottom and midwater trawls. Tucker trawls and nets will be used to sample for zooplankton (including krill). An acoustical transducer (or fish finder) will be used to obtain better information about the density and abundance of fish. Physical oceanographic data will also be collected using a CTD (conductivity, temperature, depth) sensor providing information on salinity as well as temperature at various depths at the sampling locations.
This study should help identify the availability of these prey species and any feeding “hot spots” or areas of high prey density. In turn, the results will be used to help make informed decisions about oil and gas activities. Preliminary results will be distributed to North Slope villages during the cruises and more details will follow later in the fall or winter.
Poster presented to the 17th Biennial Ocean Sciences meeting in February 2014:
Posters presented at the Alaska Marine Science Symposium, Anchorage, Alaska, in January 2015:
Publications:
- Sousa, L. et al. 2015. SHELFZ – connections between nearshore and offshore fish habitats on the Chukchi Sea shelf. Abstract of oral presentation at the CERF Biennial Conference, Portland, Oregon, November 2015.
- Rand, K., et al. 2018. Using biological traits and environmental variables to characterize two Arctic epibenthic invertebrate communities in and adjacent to Barrow Canyon. Deep-Sea Research Part II 152:154-169.
- Logerwell, E., et al. 2018. Environmental drivers of benthic fish distribution in and around Barrow Canyon in the northeastern Chukchi Sea and western Beaufort Sea. Deep-Sea Research Part II 152:170-181.
