NOAA Fisheries’ Alaska Fisheries Science Center (Marine Mammal Laboratory), in collaboration with the Alaska Beluga Whale Committee and the North Slope Borough, will be conducting aerial surveys for the Eastern Bering Sea stock of belugas in Norton Sound and near the Yukon River Delta, Alaska. Through the surveys, NOAA hopes to derive an updated population […]
When you forage for food, you need hunt no further than your corner restaurant. When a sea lion forages for food, it could exhaust its time and energy and leave its young to starve while searching the ocean with little chance of success—if it didn’t know where to look. NOAA Fisheries scientist Mike Sigler at […]
Sablefish, butterfish, black cod – by any name, people call this fish delicious. Its delicate texture, buttery flavor and rich omega-3 content add up to a high value fishery: while sablefish make up a small portion of commercial catch by volume, their high price generates a lot of income for Alaska’s seafood industry—a big economic […]
NOAA Fisheries is proposing to integrate electronic monitoring (EM) into the North Pacific Observer Program. An EM system uses cameras and associated sensors to passively record and monitor fishing activities-work traditionally accomplished by a human fisheries observer. Observers are trained biologists who collect scientific information while aboard commercial fishing vessels. This information contributes to the […]