Pacific salmon survey from research vessel Hokko Maru in the North Pacific from 2023-07-18 to 2023-07-31, cancelled science program (NCEI Accession 0281868)

This cruise was dedicated to salmon survey in the North Pacific, but its scientific program was cancelled due to COVID-19 outbreak on board of the ship on the way to the Bering Sea. No data are expected.

Original cruise plans are as follows. Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) is one of the most important fishery resources in the North Pacific. Japanese research vessels have monitored the condition of Pacific salmon stocks since 1952. The current R/V Hokko maru was launched in 2004 and the salmon research cruise using a surface trawl in the summer Bering Sea has been carried out since 2007. The main objective for this cruise is to conduct the annual monitoring survey for Japanese chum salmon (O. keta) stocks in the Bering Sea known as their major feeding ground. A positive correlation between annual CPUE of immature chum salmon in each research cruise and a subsequent harvest along Japanese coasts of the corresponding blood-year stocks has found in most cases to date, suggesting the possibility to predict future resource conditions. The annual monitoring survey includes the collection of data on physical oceanography, trophic interactions among zooplankton, salmonids, and organisms at higher trophic levels, and genetic analysis of stock composition of chum salmon.

This dataset is U.S. State Department MSR U2023-004 as part of the World Data Service for Oceanography. Cruise reports are in PDF.