Deep Sea Coral Research and Technology Program: Alaska Coral and Sponge Initiative 2020-2024 Final Report

This report presents the results of 10 projects conducted using DSCRTP funds from 2020 to 2024 and other continuing efforts to promote the preservation and knowledge sharing about DSCS within the Alaska region. Four of the projects conducted as part of the Alaska Initiative included dedicated at-sea cruises (Section 2). These projects included the 1) Gulf of Alaska species distribution model validation study, 2) the Primnoa recruitment and reproduction study, 3) the Joint Canada-USA international seamount survey, and 4) the Aleutian closure area study. In all, these four projects included seven separate research cruises with a total of 82 at-sea days. The other six projects (Section 3) were supported by samples collected during these field projects or other Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC) supported surveys.