AFSC/RACE/MACE: Results of 2014 Pollock Acoustic-Trawl Survey Shelikof- DY1403

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) stock assessment surveys in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) during late winter and early spring to estimate the distribution and abundance of walleye pollock (Gadus chalcogrammus). Historically, most of these efforts have been focused on the Shelikof Strait area, which has been surveyed annually since 1981, except in 1982, when no survey was scheduled, and in 1999 and 2011, when all winter GOA surveys were cancelled due to vessel delays. The Shumagin Islands area has been surveyed annually since 2001 (except in 2004 and 2011) with prior surveys in 1994-1996. Sanak Trough has been surveyed annually since 2002 (except in 2004 and 2011), and the GOA continental shelf break east of Chirikof Island to Barnabas Trough has been surveyed annually since 2002 (except in 2011). Marmot Bay has been surveyed in the winter six times (1989, 1990, 1992, 2007, 2009, and 2010). This report presents the results from AT surveys conducted in the aforementioned areas of the GOA during February and March 2014.