Results of the acoustic-trawl surveys of walleye pollock (Gadus chalcogrammus) in the Gulf of Alaska, March 2019 (SH2019-04)

The Midwater Assessment and Conservation Engineering (MACE) Program of the Alaska Fisheries Science Center's (AFSC) Resource Assessment and Conservation Engineering (RACE) Division conducts annual acoustic-trawl (AT) surveys in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) during late winter and early spring. The goal of these surveys is to estimate the distribution and abundance of pre-spawning walleye pollock (Gadus chalcogrammus; hereafter pollock) at several of their main spawning grounds (i.e., pre-spawning surveys), which includes the Shelikof Strait, the continental shelf break near Chirikof Island, and Marmot Bay. Shelikof Strait has been surveyed annually since 1981 except in 1982, 1999, and 2011. Prior to 2019, Marmot Bay was surveyed in the winter 12 times (1989, 1990, 1992, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2013, and 2014-2018). The GOA continental shelf break east of Chirikof Island to Barnabas Trough has been surveyed annually since 2002 except in 2011, 2014, 2016, and 2018. This report presents the results from AT surveys conducted in the aforementioned areas of the GOA during March 2019. 2019 NMFS (National Marine Fisheries Service) AFSC (Alaska Fisheries Science Center) Submitted https://doi.org/10.25923/fa6j-1y43 Public Domain 1930