Don't Forget! Annual Fish Raffle Tickets Are on Sale NOW!
Did you know that in Sitka you can now swing by Old Harbor Books during their business hours to buy your raffle tickets? You can also come by the ALFA office on the second floor of the Sitka Sound Science Center to buy your tickets from an eager ALFA staff person. We gladly accept payment through snail mail as well, and will send you your tickets back to you in the mail too, so call us at (907)747-3400 to purchase your raffle tickets now!
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SEASWAP Article by Anna Wietelmann
Skipper Stephen Rhoades of the Marilyn J (left), University of Alaska BLaST student Kate Hauch, Dr. Thomas Gordon (foreground), and Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association program coordinator Dan Falvey (right) coordinate the release of hydrophone arrays for tracking sperm whales that strip fish from commercial fishing gear. (Photo Provided by Anna Wietelmann)
A unique alliance between fishermen and scientists has attracted attention and participation from international scientists.
A world-renowned marine mammal scientist from Scotland and his brother, an expert in underwater microphone technology, came to Sitka to test a new technique to locate sperm whales. The two, Dr. Jonathan Gordon of the Scottish Oceans Institute of St. Andrews and Thomas Gordon were in Sitka last month working with their new device. If successful, the technology would allow fishermen to identify the presence and location of sperm whales within 5 miles of their boat, allowing fishermen to more easily avoid sperm whales and reduce the chances of having whales take fish from their longline gear.
The sperm whale issue began as early as the 1980s, when longline fishermen approached Tory O’Connell, then a groundfish manager for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, with reports of sperm whales feeding on sablefish (black cod) from longline gear. This behavior, known as depredation, is not only economically costly to the fishery but also potentially dangerous for the whales. Like garbage bears of the ocean, the whales are engaging in an unnatural behavior that increases chances of human conflict, like getting caught in gear.
In the 1990s interactions increased, Tory O’Connell, reached out to Jan Straley, University of Alaska Southeast (UAS) whale biologist and Linda Behnken and Dan Falvey of the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association (ALFA). With funding from the North Pacific Research Board they formed Southeast Alaska Sperm Whale Avoidance Project (SEASWAP) in 2003. SEASWAP hopes to understand the complex relationship between sperm whales and the longline fishery and ultimately provide recommendations to decrease or eliminate depredation. SEASWAP has since formed other collaborations, including Scripps Institution of Oceanography to work on deterrent methods.
“It is not common, still, after all these years for fishermen, scientists, and managers to work so closely and collaboratively together. Some of the best and innovative experiments we have tried and techniques we have in our toolkit are because of the knowledge of the fleet, they are just good at thinking through solutions. So this is kind of a rare and very rewarding partnership. The fleet has been very proactive in helping drive this research,” says O’Connell.
Now with funding from the Central Bering Sea Fishermen’s Association, Jonathan Gordon, one of the world’s leading sperm whale experts, is joining in the effort in sperm whale avoidance all the way from Scotland.
“It’s nice that the fishing industry came looking for answers,” reflects Jonathan Gordon on the partnership between fishermen and scientists. “I think Sitka is very good in that respect.”
Gordon and his brother, spent three weeks this June working with local fisherman Stephen Rhoades, skipper of the F/V Marilyn J, and Lauren Wild, a PhD student at the University of Alaska Fairbanks' School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences. Lauren grew up in Sitka and has been a part of SEASWAP since 2009. In 2013 she received her master's degree in Marine Mammal Science from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, where she worked with Jonathan Gordon on her dissertation, which focused on sperm whale acoustics.
“The way to study sperm whales is acoustics,’’ says Wild, who first joined SEASWAP as a research biologist and acoustic technician and is now looking at sperm whale diet and ecology for her PhD research. This is because “they are deep divers, hard to track [visually] really far offshore, and come up miles away. If they are diving, they are clicking.” Sperm whales, like bats, produce clicks to echolocate, or navigate by reflected sounds, during dives to depths where there is very little or no light. Rather than trying to spot sperm whales when they are at the surface, scientists find it more effective to record their clicks.
Last month, the team took two trips offshore, and two day-trips within the Sitka Sound, to test the equipment they have been developing for years.
The Gordons equipment, called a towed array, consists of a 200 meter long cable, ending in an oil-filled, plastic tube containing two underwater microphones, or hydrophones, one situated three meters in front of the other. The array is towed behind the fishing vessel. Unlike the use of a traditional hydrophone, which requires the vessel to be stopped while it is deployed, the towed array is meant to be used while fishermen are moving to provide real-time information.
The towed array relies on clicks produced by sperm whales to locate where they are. Sperm whales spend 75 percent of their dives, which typically last up to 60 minutes, producing clicks to navigate to locate prey. The two hydrophones pick up these incredibly powerful clicks. The device converts the clicks into electrical signals and sends that signal up the cable to be filtered and amplified. It is then run through a computer software called Pamguard, for analysis.
The computer program times the difference in arrival times of the sperm whale clicks between the two hydrophones and uses this to provide the user with a bearing for the whale. The program also uses the rate of change of the whale’s bearing to figure out how far away the sperm whale is.
The Gordons used their time in Sitka to work on some of the issues that stand in the way of widespread use by the longline fleet. “We still have more work to do, mostly with the details of how to make it more appropriate: to figure out a simpler power supply, and make the software interface more straightforward, ” says Jonathan. The ultimate goal is to have a product that any longline fisherman can take out and use themselves to tell where whales are and then avoid them.
“This will give fishermen a powerful tool to help them make informed decisions when on the fishing grounds,” remarks Dan Falvey, fisherman and project coordinator for ALFA. “When you’re out there now, you don’t know if there are whales in the area unless you see a spout. The towed array will tell you if there are whales within 5-6 miles of you and in which direction. If there are whales in the area and the fishermen know it, they can keep moving until they find a whale free area.”
The towed array is the most recent attempt at avoiding sperm whales. Other attempts have included acoustic decoys that play sounds mimicking the sound of boat engines, beads on longline gear meant to confuse the whale’s echolocation, and a reporting network where fishermen use texting devices to report whale locations and are given location of tagged whales to aid the fleet in avoiding whale interactions. For more information about SEASWAP, please visit www.seaswap.info.
(Photo Provided by Anna Wietelmann)
This article appeared in the "Daily Sitka Sentinel" on Tuesday, July 26, 2016. It was written by Sitka Sound Science Center Science Outreach Intern Anna Wietelmann. Wietelmann received her B.S. in Earth Systems from Stanford this Spring (2016) and is a M.S. candidate in Earth Systems at Stanford.
ALFA Executive Director Linda Behnken Named as IPHC Interim Commissioner
BOARD OF FISHERIES EMERGENCY PETITION
Sablefish fishermen, please call the ALFA office at 907-747-3400 to let us know your thoughts about this emergency request to allow pots in the Clarence Strait sablefish fishery.
UAS Offering Fisheries Technology Program
UAS has a healthy program in Fisheries Technology, and it is being offered using a variety of platforms -- perfect for people who cannot always make it to a physical classroom. Visit the UAS website to find out more detailed information about how you can study in the fisheries field: http://www.uas.alaska.edu/career_ed/fisheries/
Alaska Sustainable Fisheries Trust Awarded Grant for Local Fish Fund
Sperm Whales Tagged Near Sitka
On July 13 and 14, 2016 the SEASWAP team placed satellite tags on 4 individual sperm whales offshore of Cape Edgecumbe and Shelikof Bay out of Sitka, AK. In addition, 7 skin samples were collected, which will be used to analyze genetics and stable isotopes as a proxy of diet. The information gathered will allow fishermen to avoid fishing near tagged whales to minimize depredation, and help our team better understand sperm whale movements and population dynamics in the Gulf o Alaska. To follow whale movements, go to the SEASWAP website at www.seaswap.info/whaletracker.
For more information, please contact SEASWAP personnel at seaswap03@gmail.com or call 907-738-4494.
Coast Guard Changes from ASCP to EOP
AK Seafood Industry Shows Good Growth
Check out this Fish Radio report
Fish Radio, April 28, 2016, by Laine Welch
This is Fish Radio. I’m Laine Welch – Alaska’s seafood industry impacts go far beyond the state. Updated numbers after this –
The Alaska Marine Safety Education Association offers free ergonomics training to seafood processing workers and fishermen to reduce injuries and increase productivity. Visit www.amsea.org to schedule a training at your plant or vessel.
Federal grants are available to help “Made in America” companies compete with imports and save US jobs. Learn more at www.nwtaac.org.
Oil and gas might be the big Kahuna, but Alaska’s seafood industry still directly employs more people than any other private industry in the state, and jobs, earnings and harvests showed good growth through 2014. That’s the breakdown in a report by the Juneau-based McDowell Group for the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute.
Called the Alaska Seafood Impacts report, it combines yearly averages for 2013 and 2014. Here are some highlights:
Alaskans harvest more seafood than all of the other US states combined.
One fifth of Alaska’s private sector economy is seafood-based. The industry directly employs roughly 60,000 workers in Alaska each year. The catches from 8,618 vessels add $6 Billion in economic output each year.
On the processing side, Alaska has 176 shore based plants, 73 at-sea catcher processors and more than a dozen floating processors.
By species, salmon provides for the greatest economic impacts in terms of jobs, incomes and total value each year. And get this: Alaska salmon’s contribution to the national economy includes roughly 38,400 full time equivalent jobs and just under $2 Billion in annual labor income.
Pollock, the nation’s largest US fishery by volume, is a close second. Halibut, sablefish and crab account for only 2 percent of total Alaska seafood volume, but those three account for 18-20 percent of the industry’s labor income.
Southeast Alaskans own the most boats and seafood accounted for 20 percent of the region’s monthly employment. One third of Alaska resident fishermen live in South-central, more than other region, with Cordova and Anchorage leading for first wholesale values.
Kodiak provides 11 percent of Alaska’s total fish harvests and 8 percent of total processing. For the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands, 53 percent of the region’s value comes from pollock.
By far, most of Alaska’s seafood goes to market as whole, headed and gutted at 36 percent, followed by fillets at 22 percent. Canned products were just 6 percent of total wholesale seafood value.
The Alaska Seafood Impactsreport is on ASMI’s home page and find links atwww.alaskafishradio.com
Fish Radio is also brought to you by Ocean Beauty Seafoods. Ocean Beauty has contributed over 10 million meals to the U.S. Food Bank network, and is committed to ending hunger in America.www.oceanbeauty.com In Kodiak, I’m Laine Welch.