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International Arctic Fisheries Symposium Proceedings now available

More than 180 delegates from eight nations met in Anchorage Oct. 19-21, 2009 to discuss conservation of fish stocks and the potential for future fisheries management in the Arctic Ocean.

With scientists, policy makers and stakeholders in attendance, the International Arctic Fisheries Symposium provided a forum to discuss the impact of climate change on fish stocks and the new accessibility to the central Arctic with ice retreat.

The conferees discussed possible common management regimes with consideration for migratory, transboundary and straddling species; and heard concerns about subsistence issues. Download Symposium Proceedings (PDF)

Insects after kasatochi

kasatochi volcano

Fairbanks lecture to focus on post-eruption insect survivors

The University of Alaska Museum of the North will present a free public lecture, “Survivor Kasatochi: Insects After the Eruption,” Thursday, March 18th at 7 pm at the museum.

Scientists funded by NPRB, the US Geological Survey and the US Fish and Wildlife Service (Project 923) have visited Kasatochi to look for signs of life on the island after the catastrophic eruption.

Museum insect curator Derek Sikes will talk about his experience on Kasatochi Island in the Aleutians, both before and after the August 2008 eruption that virtually sterilized the island. Learn about the insect life of the island before the eruption and some surprising post-eruption finds. (Photo courtesy Jerry Morris)

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Albatross Translocation Team moves chicks, plans to mitigate landslide threat

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Scenes from the albatross translocation project on Mukojima and Torishima. Click any photo to see a larger image with caption. (Photos courtesy of the field team)

In early February, field team members from the NPRB funded project Increasing Short-tailed Albatross Population Growth and Stability through Translocation of Post Guard Chicks (Project 723) reported the translocation of 15 short-tailed albatross chicks from Torishima Island to Mukojima Island.

Just in time, too

Apparently these chicks were removed just in time, because back on Torishima, strong rains on 12-13 February caused a landslide that buried some of the chicks. The crew rescued two live chicks under the sand, but two were found dead and another 6 may have been killed. Some valuable nesting habitat was lost as well.

The albatrosses are being translocated to Mukojima in an attempt to give the small population of this endangered species a chance to recover. The birds are registered by the Japanese government as special natural treasures. Read more about this phase of the project in the Mainichi Daily News (English translation)

Crab bycatch mortality research spotlighted

snow crab

KUCB-TV Unalaska recently featured ongoing cooperative research between NOAA-NMFS and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Researchers want to learn the survival rates of female and sublegal male opilio, or snow crabs (right) that are caught and then returned to the water. See the KUCB report

NPRB Project 917 funds a cooperative effort between the crab fishing fleet and fishery scientists to quantify and reduce bycatch mortality. Using recently established procedures, scientists measure bycatch mortality on vessels fishing for snow crab in the Bering Sea.

Read a February 2010 article in Fishermen's News that highlights this work