Investigation of Pacific herring stock structure in Alaska using otolith microchemistry and heart tissue fatty acid composition: 2005 - 2007

• Main Authors: Otis, Edward, Heintz, Ron, Maselko, Jaceck
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: Gulf of Alaska Data Portal 2013
• Subjects: mixed-stock fishery; stock identification; stock structure; togiak; prince william sound; sitka; elemental analysis; otolith microchemistry; LA-ICPMS; kuskokwim; kodiak; fatty acid; dutch harbor; bering sea; gulf of alaska; kamishak; EVOSTC; Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council; Oil Spill; Exxon Valdez; Alaska; Pelagic; Fish; Bering Sea; Gulf of Alaska; Otis; Pacific; Kodiak; Kuskokwim
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5063/f19g5jrf; https://goa.nceas.ucsb.edu/#view/doi:10.5063/F19G5JRF

Data collected during the course of fiscal year 2005-08 field activities include: herring age, sex, and size statistics, otolith micro-chemistry, and heart tissue fatty acid profiles from mature herring aged 3 to 15. Herring were collected during March-July 2005-2007 and November 2007 from focal spawning locations in Sitka Sound (two locations, total n = 300), PWS (two locations, total n = 221), Kamishak Bay (two locations, total n = 300), Kodiak Island (two locations, total n = 375), Togiak Bay (two locations, total n = 280), Bering Sea (two locations, total n = 229), and Dutch Harbor (one location, n = 39). Heart tissues (n = 629) that were analyzed for fatty acid profiles were necessarily destroyed during processing. However, we collected additional heart tissue samples from Sitka (180), PWS-NE (157), Kamishak (180), Kodiak (255), Togiak (161), and Bering Sea (190) to archive in frozen storage (-70 C) at the Auke Bay Lab (NMFS). Unused otoliths from approximately 735 herring collected in these same six areas in 2006-7 are archived in frozen storage (still in heads) at the ADFG office in Homer. Fin clips from approximately 1,010 herring collected in these six areas in 2006-2007 are archived in alcohol at the ADFG office in Homer. All electronic data (e.g., age, sex, size, fatty acid and otolith microchemistry profiles) are archived in an Excel spreadsheet at the ADFG office in Homer and were also submitted to EVOS for archival. These data were collected under EVOS Project 070769 for the purpose of attempting to identify stock structure among spawning aggregations of Pacific herring in Alaska. Publications: Otis, E.O., R. Heintz, and J. Maselko. 2010. Investigation of Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii) stock structure in Alaska using otolith microchemistry and heart tissue fatty acid composition. Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Restoration Project Final Report (Restoration Project 070769), Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Commercial Fisheries, Homer, Alaska.