Vol. XXIV, No. 9
September 2004

Marine
Advisory
Program

MAP and Sea Grant Serve Alaska Shellfish

Alaska Sea Grant and the Marine Advisory Program showcased Alaska's shellfish farming potential by cooking up Alaska-grown oysters and clams for more than 400 people during Military Appreciation Day in Fairbanks, August 19.

The annual event drew members of the military and their families, Fairbanks residents, and local, state, and national public officials including Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, UA President Mark Hamilton, UAF Chancellor Steve Jones, and Alaska Lt. Governor Loren Leman. Sea Grant director Brian Allee and MAP aquaculture specialist Ray RaLonde, together with Sea Grant staff Kurt Byers, Adie Callahan, Sherri Pristash, and Koji Yanaka, shucked and cooked dozens of oysters and talked about the shellfish industry's economic contributions to the state.

Posters and literature at the event told about the virtues and growth potential of the industry in Alaska coastal communities, and explained university research aimed at assisting the industry.

Sea Lions of the World

Alaska Sea Grant will host the symposium "Sea Lions of the World: Conservation and Research in the 21st Century," September 30–October 3, 2004, at the Anchorage Marriott Downtown Hotel. The world community of researchers on sea lions will gather to share experiences and knowledge that will improve understanding of sea lion population fluctuations, especially Steller sea lions. Changes in the abundance of all five species of sea lions worldwide are of growing concern to fisheries and conservation groups, either because fisheries are feared to threaten sea lions, or because sea lions are feared to threaten fisheries.

About 140 oral and poster presentations will be given at the meeting, and Alaska Sea Grant plans to publish a peer-reviewed proceedings book of full papers in 2005.

Organizing committee members for the symposium are Shannon Atkinson, Michael Castellini, Doug DeMaster, Lowell Fritz, Tom Gelatt, Sherri Pristash, Andrew Trites, Bill Wilson, and Kate Wynne. Sponsoring agencies are the Alaska Sea Grant College Program, University of Alaska Fairbanks; Alaska Department of Fish and Game; NOAA Fisheries (National Marine Fisheries Service); North Pacific Fishery Management Council; and Wakefield Endowment, University of Alaska Foundation. The meeting is the twenty-second Lowell Wakefield Fisheries Symposium.

Oceans Alive Video Festival in Seward

Seward was one of the hardest-hit towns when multiple tsunamis slammed Alaska shores after the 1964 earthquake. The magnitude 9.2 temblor was the most powerful ever recorded in North America. Some memories of that destructive event were shared on August 24 at the IMS Rae Building auditorium in Seward, at a video festival sponsored by Alaska Sea Grant and coordinated by Kurt Byers with Phyllis Shoemaker.

The featured attraction was Ocean Fury: Tsunamis in Alaska. The 25-minute video begins with interviews of people in Seward, Kodiak, and Valdez who describe in chilling detail what they saw when the black waves attacked their towns.

With state-of-the art 3-D video animations, the program explains what causes tsunamis and describes Sea Grant–sponsored research that resulted in the first-ever computer model of an actual tsunami which occurred in Cook Inlet in 1883. The video goes on to explain how subsequent NOAA-funded research by scientists at the UAF Geophysical Institute Alaska Earthquake Information Center resulted in a computer model that allows scientists to create maps that show where tsunamis will flood towns under different conditions. Officials in Seward and Kodiak used the maps to plan evacuation routes and help win Tsunami-Ready designations for their communities. The program also describes how the tsunami warning system operates in Alaska from its headquarters in Palmer and points out how people should react when an earthquake occurs.

Winner of a 2004 International Cultural Film Symposium Screening Award, the tsunami video was selected to be shown at the Missoula, Montana, film symposium September 9. The video will also be aired October 21 statewide on AlaskaOne Public Television.

Also shown at the Seward video festival were a video highlighting the 2004 National Ocean Sciences Bowl (NOSB), produced by the Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program in Anchorage; and Life on the Beach: Among Friends and Anemones, on the rocky intertidal ecosystem of Alaska. The intertidal video was a joint effort of Alaska Sea Grant and the Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies in Homer, with assistance from the Alaska Conservation Foundation.

The three videos were shown throughout the day at the Alaska SeaLife Center, and more than 50 people attended an evening video showing. Local promoters included the Seward Police Department.

Humpback Whales Tagged, Tracked off Kodiak

As part of the Gulf Apex Predator-prey (GAP) program, MAP marine mammal specialist Kate Wynne recently attached sonic depth-transmitting tags to four humpback whales to determine dive depths and profiles of individual humpbacks. The whales were feeding in waters 15 miles northeast of Kodiak. Transmitters sent data to researchers at sea, enabling them to track the whales' paths and record diving activities. The data was then relayed to fisheries biologist Bob Foy at FITC, to determine prey species near the whales.

The primary goal was to find out what the humpbacks near Kodiak Island are feeding on. This information is key to determine the role of humpbacks in the ecosystem, and the potential for prey overlap with other apex predators including Steller sea lions.

MAFAC Meets in Juneau

The NOAA Marine Fisheries Advisory Committee (MAFAC) met in Juneau last month. National Sea Grant extension people were invited, to help address the National Bycatch Reduction Plan. Sea Grant extension and other groups are cooperating to implement bycatch reduction nationwide. Attendees viewed the Alaska MAP video Off the Hook in Alaska: Seabird Bycatch and Longlines, by Deborah Mercy. National Sea Grant extension director Jim Murray and Alaska MAP leader Paula Cullenberg were present.

Also on the agenda were aquaculture, recreational fisheries, and Individual Fishing Quota initiatives. Several presentations were made on aquaculture, in efforts to develop the NOAA marine aquaculture policy. Gunnar Knapp, UAA professor of economics, talked about the future of aquaculture in Alaska and worldwide. He advised the group to think about how the United States, including Alaska, can responsibly benefit from both wild fisheries and marine aquaculture. Knapp emphasized that global aquaculture will continue to develop, based on global markets, whether the United States joins the development or not. MAFAC's recommendations will include efforts to enhance U.S. aquaculture, such as creating incentives for small businessmen and answering environmental concerns.

MAFAC is federally chartered to advise the Secretary of Commerce on managing marine resources. Among the seventeen members are Kate Wynne, Alaska MAP marine mammal specialist; Alvin Osterback, port director in Unalaska; and Ralph Rayburn, Texas Sea Grant extension leader. For more details on the presentations at the meeting see http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/mafac/meetings/2004_08/.

New Fishlines Masthead

The new "look" to the Fishlines newsletter was created by Phil Raymond of Alaska Design Group in North Pole. Please let us know how you like it. (Web editor's note: The paper version, formerly blue, is now printed on white paper with a brand-new banner; this page showcases the new banner.)

Fishlines is a monthly in-house newsletter that highlights Alaska Sea Grant and Marine Advisory Program activities. Photo © 2004, Johnny Johnson, AlaskaStock.com. For an online subscription, contact Sue Keller, (907) 474-6703, fnsk@uaf.edu.