EK60 Water Column Sonar Data Collected During DY1103

Gulf of Alaska Acoustic-Trawl Survey of Walleye Pollock (DY1103, EK60). The Midwater Assessment and Conservation Engineering (MACE) program of NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC) conducted acoustic-trawl (AT) stock assessment surveys during the late spring/summer of 2011 in the Gulf of Alaska to estimate the distribution and abundance of walleye pollock (Theragra chalcogramma). The survey was conducted on the Gulf of Alaska shelf extending from the Islands of Four Mountains to the Chiniak Trough east of Kodiak Island, 14 June to 12 August 2011, in three legs (leg 1, 14-29 June; leg 2, 5-22 July; leg 3, 6-12 August) aboard NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson, a 64 meter stern trawler equipped with acoustic and oceanographic instrumentation. The vessel departed Kodiak, Alaska on 14 June with intermediate port calls in Kodiak, Alaska. An extended port call occurred between legs 2 and 3 (22 July to 6 August) due to vessel mechanical issues. Smaller surveys were also conducted in several bays and around islands including Morzhovoi Bay (22 June), Sanak Trough (23 June), Pavlof Bay (25 June), the Shumagin Islands area (7-8 July), Mitrofania Island (9-10 July), Nakchamik Island (11-12 July), Shelikof Strait (16-21 July), Chiniak Trough (7-8 August), Barnabas Trough (9-10 and 11-12 August), and Alitak Bay (10-11 August). The cruise ended when the vessel arrived in Kodiak, Alaska on 12 August 2011.