ME70 Water Column Sonar Data Collected During DY0803

Echo Integration-Trawl Surveys of Walleye Pollock in Shelikof Strait and Along the Gulf of Alaska Shelf Break Between Chirikof and Middleton Islands 13-31 March, 2008 (OD2008-03). The Midwater Assessment and Conservation Engineering (MACE) program of NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC) conducted an acoustic-trawl (AT) stock assessment survey in the Shelikof Strait area of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) and along the GOA shelf break between Chirikof and Middleton Islands in the late winter/early spring of 2008 to estimate the distribution and abundance of walleye pollock (Theragra chalcogramma). The survey was conducted 13-31 March, departing from Kodiak, Alaska on 13 March and arriving in Kodiak, Alaska 31 March. The Shelikof Strait, Chirikof shelf break and part of the Gulf of Alaska shelf break surveys were conducted 13-21 March, followed by an acoustic system calibration and weather delay 22-23 March. Gear selectivity and trawl net codend comparison experimental gear trials were conducted 24-26 March. The vessel transited to the Gulf of Alaska at Middleton Island on 27 March, and the survey of the Gulf of Alaska shelf break area was conducted 28-31 March. The vessel arrived in Kodiak, Alaska on 31 March. A calibration of the Simrad EK60 echosounder system (the primary survey instrument) was conducted in Captains Bay, Unalaska Island, Alaska on 15 March. A second calibration was conducted on 22 March in Kizhuyak Bay, Kodiak Island Alaska on 22 March. The survey was conducted aboard NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson, a 64 meter fisheries research stern trawler equipped with acoustic and oceanographic instrumentation.