NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS T O F C E N O M M T M R E A R P C E E D SEPEMBER 2006 U N A I C T I E R D E M ST A AT E S OF ICHTHYOPLANKTON, PARALARVAL CEPHALOPOD, AND STATION DATA FOR OBLIQUE (BONGO) PLANKTON TOWS FROM THE OREGON, CALIFORNIA, AND WASHINGTON LINE-TRANSECT EXPEDITION (ORCAWALE) IN 2001 Sharon R. Charter Barbara S. MacCall Richard L. Charter Susan M. Manion William Watson Lisa T. Ballance NOAA-TM-NMFS-SWFSC-393 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Marine Fisheries Service Southwest Fisheries Science Center The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), organized in 1970, has evolved into an agency which establishes national policies and manages and conserves our oceanic, coastal, and atmospheric resources. An organizational element within NOAA, the Office of Fisheries is responsible for fisheries policy and the direction of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). In addition to its formal publications, the NMFS uses the NOAA Technical Memorandum series to issue informal scientific and technical publications when complete formal review and editorial processing are not appropriate or feasible. Documents within this series, however, reflect sound professional work and may be referenced in the formal scientific and technical literature. NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS ATMOSPH ND E This TM series is used for documentation and timely communication of preliminary results, interim reports, or special A RI C C I A N D purpose information. The TMs have not received complete formal review, editorial control, or detailed editing. A E M I C N O I S L T A R N A T O I I O T A N N U . E S C . R D E EP M AR OM TMENT OF C SEPEMBER 2006 ICHTHYOPLANKTON, PARALARVAL CEPHALOPOD, AND STATION DATA FOR OBLIQUE (BONGO) PLANKTON TOWS FROM THE OREGON, CALIFORNIA, AND WASHINGTON LINE-TRANSECT EXPEDITION (ORCAWALE) IN 2001 Sharon R. Charter, Barbara S. MacCall, Richard L. Charter, Susan M. Manion, William Watson, and Lisa T. Ballance National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Marine Fisheries Service Southwest Fisheries Science Center 8604 La Jolla Shores Drive La Jolla, California, USA 92037 NOAA-TM-NMFS-SWFSC-393 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Carlos M. Gutierrez, Secretary National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration VADM Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Jr., Undersecretary for Oceans and Atmosphere National Marine Fisheries Service William T. Hogarth, Assistant Administrator for Fisheries CONTENTS Page List of Figures..............................................................................................................................................iii List of Tables ...............................................................................................................................................iii Abstract......................................................................................................................................................... 1 Introduction................................................................................................................................................... 1 Sampling Area and Pattern ........................................................................................................................... 3 Zooplankton Sampling Gear and Methods ................................................................................................... 3 Laboratory Procedures.................................................................................................................................. 4 Identification................................................................................................................................................. 4 Species Summary.......................................................................................................................................... 6 Explanation of Tables ................................................................................................................................... 7 Acknowledgments......................................................................................................................................... 8 Literature Cited ............................................................................................................................................. 8 Figures ........................................................................................................................................................ 13 Tables.......................................................................................................................................................... 16 Phylogenetic Index to Table 6 .................................................................................................................... 39 Alphabetical Index to Table 6..................................................................................................................... 41 ii LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 1. Nominal tracklines for the ORCAWALE 2001 survey............................................................... 13 Figure 2. Actual tracklines during the ORCAWALE 2001 survey............................................................. 14 Figure 3. Bongo net tow stations for the ORCAWALE 2001 survey......................................................... 15 LIST OF TABLES Page Table 1. Station and Bongo net tow data for ORCAWALE survey in 2001 .............................................. 16 Table 2. Pooled occurrences of paralarval cephalopods taken in Bongo net tows on ORCAWALE survey in 2001.......................................................................................................................................... 19 Table 3. Pooled counts of paralarval cephalopods taken in Bongo net tows on ORCAWALE survey in 2001 .............................................................................................................................................. 20 Table 4. Pooled occurrences of fish larvae taken in Bongo net tows on ORCAWALE survey in 2001 .... 21 Table 5. Pooled counts of fish larvae taken in Bongo net tows on ORCAWALE survey in 2001............. 23 Table 6. Standardized counts of paralarval cephalopods and fish larvae taken in Bongo net tows at stations on ORCAWALE survey in 2001, listed by taxon, tow number, and month ................... 25 Table 7. Summary of oceanographic and ecosystem samples collected during the 2001 ORCAWALE survey aboard the NOAA ships Jordan (Legs 1-5) and McArthur (Leg 6) ................................ 38 iii ABSTRACT This report provides ichthyoplankton and paralarval/juvenile cephalopod data from oblique (Bongo) net tows, and associated station and tow data collected during the Oregon, California, and Washington Line-Transect Expedition (ORCAWALE) survey in 2001. This survey was the second comprehensive survey of marine mammals and ecosystem measurements fully encompassing the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and adjacent international waters out to 300 nautical miles (nmi) along the West Coast of the contiguous United States. In total, 71 Bongo net tow samples were collected between 31 July and 7 December in 2001 aboard the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) research vessels David Starr Jordan and McArthur, during which the two ships surveyed the area extending from the Canada/Washington border south to the California/Mexico border, and westward to about 130° W. The data are presented in a series of six tables; the background, methodology, and information necessary for interpretation of the data are presented in the accompanying text. INTRODUCTION Under the 1994 amendments to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) are required to produce Stock Assessment Reports (SARs) for all stocks of marine mammals within the waters of the United States Exclusive Economic Zone (U.S. EEZ), to review new information every year for strategic stocks and every three years for non-strategic stocks, and to update the stock assessment reports when significant new information becomes available (Barlow 1997; Barlow et al. 1995, 1997, 1998; Carretta et al. 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006; Forney et al. 1999, 2000). The Protected Resources Division (PRD, formerly the Marine Mammal Division) of the Southwest Fisheries Science Center (SWFSC, La Jolla, California), along with the National Marine Mammal Laboratory (NMML, Seattle, Washington) produce the SARs guided by the MMPA and the Endangered Species Act. Individually, and sometimes jointly, the two laboratories conduct research on the marine mammals, seabirds, and sea turtles of the eastern Pacific Ocean, primarily in the EEZ and the greater Eastern Tropical Pacific (ETP). Their research is designed to aid in the management and conservation of these protected species. Often the PRD participates in projects directed toward individual species, taxa, or other geographic areas. The first marine mammal stock assessment was compiled from published sources, with additional unpublished data included where it contributed to the assessment (Barlow et al. 1995). The first major revision of the NMFS marine mammal stock assessment reports for the eastern Pacific region occurred in 1996. SWFSC and the Office of Protected Resources planned and executed a survey where transects were mapped in a grid to uniformly encompass the whole area. To date, it was the largest and most comprehensive