4 April 1976 Annual Reports from Principal Investigators Volume: 1. Marine Mammals 2. Marine Birds 3. Marine Birds 4. Marine Birds 5. Fish, Plankton, Benthos, Littoral 6. Fish, Plankton, Benthos, Littoral 7. Fish, Plankton, Benthos, Littoral 8. Effects of Contaminants 9. Chemistry and Microbiology 10. Chemistry and Microbiology Il. Physical Oceanography and Meteorology 12. Geology 13. Geology 14. Ice Environmental Assessment of the Alaskan Continental Shelf Volume 6. Fish, Plankton, Benthos, Littoral Fourth quarter and annual reports for the reporting period ending March 1976, from Principal Investigators participating in a multi-year program of environmental assessment related to petroleum development on the Alaskan Continental Shelf. The program is directed by the :~ationa[ Oceanic and ~ rmospheric Administration under the sponsorship of the Bureau of Land Management. ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LABORATORIES i Boulder, Colorado / 1976 -— — — -— —— . — — CONTENTS Research Unit Proposer Title Page ‘ 19 Peter B. Jackson Herring Spawning Surveys - Southern 1 ADF&G Bering Sea . 24 Rod Kaiser Razor Clam Habitat Survey - Gulf of 17 ADF&G Alaska ● 27 Loren B. Flagg Kenai Peninsula Study of Littoral 33 ADF&G Zone (jc2xTn(j~\wlL&xl] $ 58 G. C. Anderson A Description and Numerical 35 Ronald K. Lam Analysis of the Factors Affecting Beatrice Booth the Processes of Production in the Dept. of Ocean. Gulf of Alaska U. of Wash. 64/ W. T. Pereya Review and Evaluation of Historical 59 354 M. O. Nelson Data Base on Non-Salmonid Pelagic NMFS/NWFC Resources of the Gulf of Alaska Shelf and Slope 78/ S. T. Zimmerman Baseline Characterization: Littoral 75 79 T. R. Merrell Biota, Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea NMFS/Auke Bay Fisheries Lab. iii OUTER CONTI1lEi?TAL SHELF AS SESSME;JT PROJECT ilERRIIJG SPAitiTJING SURVLY - SOUTHERN BE RIii G SEA Peter B. Jackson, Pririci pal Investigator OCSLAF Cocrd. inator Alaska Department of Fish & Game Kodja.k, Alaska April 1, 19’76 Rep~rt Prepared Ey: Irving ?1. Warner OCS Fishery 3iologist Alaska Department of Fish & Game Kodj.ak, Alaska Prepared For: i’latjonal Oceanic & Atrilospher.ic Administration Envjronmel;tal Research Laboratory Boulder, Colorado SUMMARY This study investigates the spawr. i.ng ground uti. li zati. on by forage fishes in the Bering Sea, principally, the Pacific herring (Clupea ——pallasii.] , and capelin (Mallotus villoseis).— . The current state of knowledge i.s largely generalize IXQature with little co’mple-ted. work i.n relation to the physical habitat of either species. The northeriunost extension of Pacific herring currently known is Cape ‘l’hompson i.n the Chukchi Sea, while Capelin and boreal smelt (Osmexus eperlanus) are known to occur north of Der~arcatic,n Point near= Alaska-Canaai.an border i.n the Bea.ufort Sea. Iierring spawning activities were seen and clocumented in FY 76 within the study area. Habitat types were recorded for future surveys. Osr~ier,i.cis are thought to be more important as spawners between Ucjashik 13ay an”? Cape Sari chef on the north Alaska peninsula. Foreign fishing harvest levels were ir.vesti.gated. and tiiscussed. Interviews were conducted with coastal residents to determine magnitude of forage fishes within the vjllages socioeconomic needs. Needs for further study, along with probable investi.gdtive methods, are reviewed. -2- 1. INTRODUCTION This study i.s involved, with spawn jr.g ground utilization by the Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii) as well as five species of smelt (Osmeridi.as) that ii~habit these—waters. Enull~era.tion and descrip- tion of spawning grounds will take place, as well as a socio- ecoriomi.c survey of the demands upon the resource by coastal residents . Herring stocks of the North Pacific Ocearlr which ha-ve suppcrted. a substantial American corrmercial fishery since the late 19th century, have never received any significant corzmercia.1 American. harvest i.n the Bering Sea, yet fcr thousands of years the Pacific herring - has been a vital part of the subsistence catch of Alaska coastal residents. In receilt years the Bering Sea and Bristol Bay regicns have become subject to petroleum exploration and d.evelopnent. Full commercial development of petroleum resources appears eminent i.n these areas; hence, increased attention has been focused on ~ile nerririg -smelt resources of the i3eri.ng Sea and Bristol Bay. It is generally assumed that accidental spillage of crude oil would be detrimental tc herri.rig and smelt spawr.ing grounds. Actual proof that such an accident would be harmful is lacking, however it seem a correct prel~minary hypothesis to assume that a spill of crude oil WOU16 be harmful. II. CURREIW’ STATE OF K?JOW~EDGE Most existing knowledge of herring and smelt spaw~ing grounds in the study area has been gathered as ancillary data from other studies in progress. Distribution: All available data sources indicate that the ~i.fi.c herring extends well r,orth into the nearctic and palearcti.c zones. Regnart (personal communication) r.entions that they have been collected by Canadian investigators as far north as the McKenzie River delta jn the Canadian arctic. Several age classes of capelin i’.a.ve been caught off the Sag River delta near Prudhoe Bayr Alaska, and are part of a subsis- terlce fis’nery in Point Barrow (Eendock, P-DE’&G; personal comr.lunica- tion, 1976). Bendock also mentions catchi boreal smelt (Osmerus eperlan-us) in this regi.or.. Herring occuran~e has not been =u-— mented between the Demarcation Point and Point Eope, as of this writing. iierring were caught i]: the Cape Thompson area during research activities of project “Chariot” (Alverson and Wi.limovsky, Cape Thompson Report, 1966) . –3– Herrinc3 and smelt resources south of Cape Thompson consti tute an integral part j:n the subsistence fisheries of coastal residences of Alaska and (as an assumption) Siberia. In such vjllages as Shi.smareff and Teller, herring are taken in large numbers during the spring spawning period. They are then dried anti used for food . Other fishes use the herring as food. I?egnart (Regnart, ADF&G; personal cmwmnication, 1976) noted that he found numerous herring i.il Sheefi.sh stomacils collected i.n Norton S,ound. R.egnart (Ron Regnart, interagency report, 1976) noted spawning herring on the north side of Norton Sound whjle involved in aerial surveys. From the v_illage of St. Mi.chaels (near Stephens Passage) to Unakaleet, numerous schools cf spawning herring have been cat.a- logued. Raw data has not been analyzed although sampling of this population has been conducted. The waters i.n “the Yukon/Kuslsokwirn delta are often turbjd and of poor habitat type for herring spawning; the importance of. anatiron.ous smelt i.n this area is not known. Excellent habitat for herring spawning is present i.ri the area of Cape P.omanzof, and such activities have been documented (Regnart, interagency report, 1976)= In the vi.cini.ty of Cape Vancouver, large quanti.ti.es of herring have been seen spawning and P.egnart considers this a prj.me area for lierrir.g. Herring spaw-njng is extensive in the Bristol Bay area i.n the vicinity of Togiak, ~.~hj.ch at one time su.p.ported a small commercial herring fishery. Presently extensive subsistence fisheries are active j.n tnj.s regjon durjng the spring. Herrjng spawning and smelt activity on the north side of the Alaska Peni.ns-ula has been documented (Glen Davenport, .ADF&G ~~eri~orandum, 1976) . Soreal smelt are common Gverwi.r<teri iqg resj dents of rivers leading i.rlto 13ri.stol Bay and the Beri.nq’ Sea. They spawn in the spring, then descend into the ocean where they carry on feeding activities until they again ascend their native rivers jn late autuim. (McPhail and Lindsev’s Freshwater Fishes of Northwestern Canada and Alaska, 1970.) ‘Large wi.lidrows of cap=in have been observed along the beach between Cape Sena.vin and the Three Hills region (Davenport, ADF&G memorandum, 1976). Davenport mentions that, “s~~lelt are locally more important than herring. .whjch spawn i.n ~ar~-e n’dmbers along th.’e north ~~erljnsuld. They (smelt) are common from Moffet Poj.nt to Port Eejden and suspect they spawn from Urilia Bay (N. Unimak Is.) on up jnto Bristol 3ay”. (Davenport, ADF&G memorandum, 1976.) Davenport (in the sanie memo) interviewed long-term residents of the north peninsula and wrote that signj.fjcant herring spawnjng acti.vitj.es probably take place only in Herendeen 13ay and Bechevi.n Eay. T1hese areas are noted as contajni.ng substantial amounts of eel grass, which are assumed to be of proper substrate type to offer herring spawning habitat. Although Unalaska lies somewhat west of the study area, extensive herring spawning there has beerl 4 -4- well documented. In 1928 the herring fishery became so intense at Unalaska, that seining for this species was made illegal by the Federal Government; during the 19401s nine herring salteries existed in Unalaska (Marlin 13ricker, ADF&G memorandum, 1972) . Biology: Very little American biological research has been carried on wjth herring stocks in the studly area. AI? estiillated catci~ of 1,000 Pacific herring wi tn ar. average si ze of 224 mm were captured a few miles off Cape Thompson in 1959 (AIVe~SOn and Ni lirnovsky, Cape Thompson report, 1966) . Rqna.rt 12enti0ried. thatintermjttent s.ampli.ng had been conducted in the Cape Vancouver dlrea, b’ut analysis of this data is yet to be completed. Eerri ng in tilis region are commonly regarded to be of larger body size than r~!ore southernly stocks. Yet Bricker’s work does not substantiate this (Bricker, ADF&G memorandum, 1972) . A satis- factory biological profile for herring stocks in the Bering Sea is lacking.