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APPENDIX B NPRB 2002-2003 Research Priorities 2002 Marine ecosystem form and function: Factors affecting marine produc- tivity, including nutrient transport and availability, water column stability and the role of sea ice; influence of climate variability on physical, chemical, and biological processes; unusual occurrences of specific organisms such as the coccolithophorid blooms; development of ecosystems models that will aid resource managers Endangered and stressed species: Factors affecting survival of stressed and endangered species, particularly marine mammals and seabirds; responses to ocean climate trends and prey availability Fish habitat: Mapping of bottom habitats to document presence of corals or other sensitive substrates; studies of factors affecting habitat including physical forcing, variations in energy flux, and overwintering conditions; impacts of fisheries and other human influence on benthic habitat and its capacity to support communities of organisms Fishing capacity reduction: Studies of ways to reduce fishing capacity, including rights-based systems Bycatch: Studies that assess impacts of, or lead to reductions in, bycatch of juvenile fish or non-target species (including salmon), including gear designs to improve selectivity 98
APPENDIX B 99 Salmon stock dynamics: Studies of factors affecting salmon stock dynamics, mortality, and migration throughout their range and life cycle, particu- larly for Western Alaska salmon stocks Stock assessment and ecology: Studies to improve stock assessment tech- niques and understanding of larval fish ecology Contaminants: Studies of sources, transport, and accumulation of con- taminants in subsistence, recreational, and commercial species and other ecosystem components; effects on ecosystem structure and function; and effects of climate change on contaminants 2003 Marine ecosystem structure and processes: · Factors affecting marine productivity, including nutrient transport and availability, water column stability, and role of sea ice · Influence of climate variability on physical, chemical, and bio- logical processes; unusual occurrences of specific organisms such as coccolithophorid blooms · Development of ecosystems models that will aid resource managers · Origins and impacts of invasive species · Long-term monitoring of biophysical parameters and phytoplankton and zooplankton Endangered and stressed species: · Factors, including fisheries, that affect survival of stressed and endangered species, particularly marine mammals, seabirds, and sea ducks · Responses to ocean climate trends and prey availability Fish habitat: · Habitat mapping and substrate classification, including documen- tation of the presence of corals or other sensitive substrates, studies of factors affecting habitat including physical forcing, variations in energy flux, and overwintering conditions · Impacts of fisheries and other human influence on habitat and its capacity to support communities of organisms, including adaptive man- agement research · Fishery management tools to facilitate fish habitat protection Fishery management and economics: Economic implications of fishery management approaches, including rights-based systems and fishing capacity reductions
100 APPENDIX B Bycatch: · Studies that assess the impacts of or lead to reductions in bycatch, especially in groundfish fisheries, including gear designs to improve selectivity · Stock composition research on bycatch species, including salmon, in the Gulf of Alaska and the Bearing Sea and Aleutian Island groundfish fisheries · Improved methods of estimating bycatch mortality Stock assessment and recruitment processes: · Studies to develop or improve fish stock assessment techniques, including estimates of all sources of fishing mortality and quantifying estimates of natural mortality · Research on interdependence of fisheries or stocks of fish · Studies of factors affecting salmon stock dynamics, mortality, and migration throughout their range and life cycle, particularly for Western Alaska salmon stocks · Improved genetic identification of salmon stocks Contaminants: · Studies of sources, transport, and accumulation of contaminants in subsistence, recreational, and commercial species, and other ecosystem components · Effects on ecosystem structure and function · Effects of climate change on contaminants · Studies of pollution from oil spills, increased runoff as a result of logging and other coastal development, and development of predictive models