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August 20, 2019

Call for 2020 Letters of Intent

May 2, 2019

PCCRC funded student Greg Merrill successfully defended his master's thesis!
In case you missed his live defense presentation, Greg Merrill recently successfully defended his master’s thesis. This project, with advisor Dr. Jennifer Burns, explored maternal foraging trip durations (MFTD) as an index of foraging conditions for northern fur seals in 3 colonies known to forage in 3 different oceanic domains around the Pribilof Islands.

If you would like to watch the presentation here is a link to the recorded presentation on .

April 29, 2019

New research published by PCCRC research fellow Dr. Elizabeth Figus
Drs. Elizabeth Figus and Keith Criddle recently published an article in the journal PLoS One about the preferences of commercial halibut fishermen in Southeast Alaska to different types of data collection methods on their vessels.

March 12, 2019

Pollock Bingo?!?!
Our friends at recently created a Bingo challenge on that highlights all the pollock products on the market during Lent. Did you know that Jack in the Box serves a fish burrito?

March 8, 2019

A noodle revolution?
The just reported that Trident Seafoods swept the awards for new products at the 26th annual Alaska Symphony of Seafood in Juneau. So what had everyone talking? The noodle is fully cooked and packaged to readily replace traditional noodles in a myriad of recipes. They are described by Trident as a ‘versatile, flavor neutral alternative to high-carb noodles’. So is the Alaska Pollock Protein Noodle a revolution?

New research published by PCCRC research fellow Cory Graham

PCCRC research fellow Cory Graham and coauthors Drs. Trent Sutton, Milo Adkison, and Megan McPhee at UAF College of Fisheries and Ocean Science as well as Philip Richards with ADF&G recently published work that evaluates growth, survival, and recruitment of Chinook salmon in Southeast Alaska. was published in Transactions of the American Fisheries Society.

February 26, 2019

'Filet-O-Fish season'?
Lent, a period of 40 days (not counting Sundays), is a religious observance in the Christian liturgical calendar that begins on Wednesday March 6th of this year. The word lent comes from the Proto-Germanic word for spring (�����Բ�����ī�Բ���) which itself is a combination of the words langaz (long)&�Բ�����;+‎&�Բ�����;tīnaz (day). So what does this have to do with Pollock you ask? In 1962, Lou Groen, a McDonald's franchise owner in Cincinnati, Ohio noticed he was losing business on Fridays as a result of many Catholics abstaining from eating meat on Fridays during this period. In response, the Filet-O-Fish was born.

Now McDonalds slings 25% of their wild-caught Alaska Pollock fish sandwiches during Lent! On social media people have referred to the season as ‘Filet-O-Fish season’ in response to many fast food restaurants offering fish sandwiches as an alternative. Here is a slightly dated article from QSR magazine which outlines various fast food restaurants and their lent menu additions: https://www.qsrmagazine.com/news/fast-food-preps-seafood-boom-during-lent

Wild-caught Alaska Pollock is available year round. There are a plethora of recipes online to construct your own Filet-O-Fish sandwich. If you want, every season could be Filet-O-Fish season!

February 19, 2019

Pollock behavior changing as climate warms?
A recent article by at reports on a trend both pollock skippers and scientists are observing. The distribution of Alaska pollock during the summer season is changing drastically which has forced commercial fishers to explore areas they have not fished previously. Last summer temperatures in the Bering Sea were nearly 9 degrees higher than normal. The article has a great overview of the Pollock fishery and how the warming climate may be responsible for the changes being observed.

February 8, 2019

2019 PCCRC PI Symposium
On the 1st of February the PCCRC board and researchers from around Alaska gathered in the Adventure room of the Captain Cook hotel in Anchorage Alaska. Principle investigators and their graduate students gave 30 minute presentations on the status of their projects. A total of 11 presentations (12 research projects and 1 graduate fellowships) were given on research topics ranging from pollock roe dumplings (we hear they are tasty!) to the interactions between arrowtooth flounder and pacific halibut!

On the 31st of December the PCCRC board held a board meeting to discuss current projects and project proposals from the 2019 LOI. Be sure to check the research projects page to see the new research the board decided to fund for the upcoming year!

The PCCRC Board (from L to R): Dr. Keith Criddle/CFOS, Karl Bratvold/Aleutian Spray Fisheries, Austin Estabrooks/At-Sea Processors Assn (non-board member), Dr. Ben Williams/ADF&G, Dr. Larry Hinzman/UAF, Jan Jacobs/American Seafoods Group, and Dr. Brad Moran/CFOS (Not present Stephanie Madsen/At-Sea Processors Assn.)

January 30, 2019

2019 PCCRC PI Symposium
The 2019 PCCRC PI symposium is taking place this Friday (February 1) in the Adventure Room at the Captain Cook Hotel in Anchorage. Eleven researchers and their graduate students will present their projects with a short question answer session.

January 30, 2019

Sexyback for Alaska Pollock?
A recent article on does a fantastic job describing the current market outlook for Alaska Pollock. At the Global Seafood Market Conference in 2017 Michael Holley, the commodity procurement manager for seafoods with US Foods, appealed to the industry to make pollock sexy. In an epic clapback, Trident’s Torunn Halhjem at the 2019 GSMC declared, “sexy is definitely back for wild Alaska pollock”. The undercurrent article goes in depth into the drivers that are making the current markets and demand so strong.

 

January 29, 2019

Two students funded by the PCCRC successfully defended!
Julie Nielsen and Kaitlyn Manishin recently successfully defended their PhD. dissertation and Master’s thesis respectively. Dr. Nielsen’s project investigated the large-scale movement patterns of demersal fish with electronic tags. Mrs. Manishin’s research evaluated under what scenarios salmon shark predation could influence the dynamics of Chinook salmon in the AYK region of Alaska. Video recordings of both defenses are available: () ()

September 17, 2018

New research published by Cunningham et al. investigates Chinook salmon survival
Project 15-01 investigated Chinook salmon survival with a life stage-structured statistical population dynamics model. The work is published in Global Change Biology. You can read more about the work by following the link in the citation below!

Cunningham, C.J., P.A.H. Westley, and M.D. Adkison. 2018. Signals of large scale climate drivers, hatchery enhancement, and marine factors in Yukon River Chinook salmon survival revealed with a Bayesian life history model. Global Change Biology 24(9): 4399–4416. 

September 17, 2018

New research published by Smith et al. describes functional properties of pollock roe
Project 16-03 proposed to develop alternative pollock roe product forms, but also lead to new insights into the physicochemical properties of Alaska walleye pollock. This research has been recently published in the . To find out more follow the link in the citation!

Anvari, M., B. Smith, C. Sannito, & Q.S.W. Fong. 2018. Characterization of rheological and physicochemical properties of Alaska walleye pollock (Gadus chalcogrammus) roe. Journal of Food Science and Technology 55(9): 3616–3624. 

September 14, 2018

Trade war between US and China cause increase Russian pollock price
In a , Tom Seaman describes the effect that a 25% tariff on Alaska pollock imported to China will mean on Russian pollock prices. Typically at the end of the year, with decreasing supply, headed and gutted pollock prices rise, but the price increase they are observing appears to be caused by Chinese buyers reluctant to purchase from US sources amid the possibility of a ~25% tariff.

September 11, 2018

Research Fellow Kaitlyn Manishin defense set for Thursday, September 27, 2018 @ 1:15 PM
Research fellow Kaitlyn Manishin will defend her Masters thesis Thusday September 27th at 1:15pm. If in ������̳ or Juneau you can attend! If interested you can webstream it with the link below. Find out more about Kaitlyn’s project!

Kaitlyn Manishin MS Fisheries Candidate
Advisor: Dr. Andrew Seitz
Thursday, September 27, 2018 | 1:15 P
������̳ - 201 O'Neill | Juneau - 101 LENA


Potential effects of marine predation on Chinook salmon populations
Populations of Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) have displayed a decrease in size-at-return resulting from declines in age- and size-at-maturity. These changes have precipitated the loss of the oldest age classes in some populations and have occurred throughout the range of this species, suggesting a perturbation in the common marine environment. A hypothesis for the cause of these changes is increased marine mortality after the first ocean winter, potentially from predators selecting for relatively large sub-adult Chinook. Here I consider the question: could predation on relatively old individuals by salmon sharks change the age structure of a Chinook salmon population? To address this question, I first estimated total per capita prey consumption by salmon sharks using three methods: 1) daily ration requirement, 2) bioenergetic mass balance, 3) and a von Bertalanffy growth model. Second, I examined the effects of additional predation on an indicator Chinook salmon population using simulated predation scenarios and a stage-structured population dynamics model. Due to the uncertainties in salmon shark diet and total population abundance, instead of scaling individual consumption to the population level and inputting that estimate into the model, scenarios were designed and run iteratively until a shift in age structure was observed. The daily ration yielded salmon shark estimates of 1461 and 2202 kg∙yr-1, the mass-balance produced estimates of 1870 kg∙yr-1, 2070  kg∙yr-1, 1610 kg∙yr-1, and 1762 kg∙yr-1, depending on assumed diet, and the growth model output estimates of 16,900 kg∙yr-1 or 20,800 kg∙yr-1, depending on assumed assimilation efficiency. Of the estimates, those from the mass-balance may be the most realistic because they incorporated salmon-shark life history data and do not produce extreme values. Taken as a whole, these estimates suggest salmon sharks have similar energetic requirements to piscivourous marine mammals and corroborates conclusions of prior work that endothermic fishes are similar to marine mammals in metabolic rate. The predation scenarios that most closely mimicked observed shifts in age structure of the indicator Chinook salmon population focused intense and selective predation on the ocean-3 stage. This simulated predation is corroborated by emerging results from an electronic tagging study in which tagged Chinook salmon experienced high predation rates, and research demonstrating that killer whales (Orcinus orca) prefer ocean-3 fish. In summary, salmon sharks likely have high energetic requirements which could result in a large biomass of prey consumed, Chinook salmon populations are sensitive to predation at the ocean-3 stage, and salmon sharks and other predators appear to frequently consume fish at that ocean stage. Taken together, these lines of evidence point to a potentially important mechanism of top down pressure on Chinook salmon populations may explain observed changes in age-at-return, which in turn can affect population productivity.

September 4, 2018

Trident Seafoods is developing the wild Alaska pollock market in Japan with new processing plant
A  released today reports on Trident Seafoods' plan to open a value-added processing plant in Tome Japan. The main goal of the plan is to differentiate single-frozen Alaska fillets from double-frozen Russian fillets processed largely in China. The Undercurrent article features excepts from an interview with Koichi Suzuki, who runs Trident’s Japanese business, and Honomi Sugihira, one of the new plant’s project members and manages overseas public relations. 

Video of Walleye Pollock
Ever wonder what Pollock look like below the surface of the water?  of Southeast Alaska has a of walleye pollock. Mr. Armstrong was a fishery biologist with ADF&G and an Associate Professor of Biology for the University of Alaska. 

August 30, 2018

MSC recertification for Russia Sea of Okhotsk Pollock fishery
The Russian Sea of Okhostsk Pollock fishery is a midwater trawl fishery composed of 30 fishing companies which land ~ 840,000 metric tonnes pollock annually. It has been certified by the (MSC) since September 2013. MSC recertification occurs every five years. 

What is the MSC you ask? The MSC is an international non-profit organization whose mission is 'to use our ecolabel and fishery certification program to contribute to the health of the world’s oceans by recognizing and rewarding sustainable fishing practices, influencing the choices people make when buying seafood and working with our partners to transform the seafood market to a sustainable basis.'

In addition to the perceived environmental benefits of certification, there have been some studies demonstrating the economic . These benefit, however, may . Currently both the Bering Sea & Aleutian Islands and the Gulf of Alaska Pollock fisheries are MSC certified while the Russia Bering Sea and Navarinsky pollock fisheries were withdrawn. 

Over the next five years there were three recommendations by the MSC panel: '(1) relating to incidental seabird mortality arising from bird interactions with fishery operations at sea, (2) relating to the perceived need for an occasional but regular review of the non-stock assessment part of the management system for the stock, to be independent and provided in English, and (3) to further enhance the independent observation database especially but not only relating to observation of endangered, threatened or protected species and other non-target species'.

The entire recertification assessment can be found on the .

August 29, 2018

The PCCRC welcomes Vice Chancellor Dr. Larry Hinzman to the advisory board!
Chancellor White has appointed  as his representative on the PCCRC Advisory Board. As the UAF Vice Chancellor for Research, Dr. Hinzman brings a wealth of expertise and deep connections to the broader research community. We look forward to his participation on the board!

August 28, 2018

Pollock ranging further north?
The of the southern Bering Sea has completed and preliminary results suggest lower abundances of pollock and cod than anticipated. The Cordova times recently released an  with an interview of Lyle Britt, a research fisheries biologist with NOAA’s Alaska Fisheries Science Center in Seattle. Data collected suggest a warming trend and showed pollock collected much further north than expected. Researchers believe that this may be due to the lack of a cold pool that normally functions as a barrier to dispersal. Formal results have yet to be released, but if you are interested in Alaska Research Surveys a wealth of information can be found on . 

August 23, 2018

PCCRC request for letters of intent (21 September 2018 deadline)
The Pollock Conservation Cooperative Research Center (PCCRC) at the University of Alaska ������̳ announces an opportunity for funding of marine research in the North Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea. The PCCRC funds investigators and students doing research on pollock, salmon, and other groundfish species, and the fishing of and fisheries for these species. In addition, the PCCRC funds research on habitat and ecosystems associated with these species, fishery management, marine mammals, resource utilization, marine resource economics, and policy. Total funding set aside for this competition cycle is $300,000. Proposals of any size within this limit will be considered. 

For more information regarding the LOI process and submission requirements . (link in News folder: PCCRC+2019+RLOI.pdf)

For more information regarding the PCCRCs funding process (deadlines, research priorities, etc) visit our request for proposal page.

August 20, 2018

New work published by PCCRC research fellow Julie Nielsen
Julie Nielson recently published work on a method she and fellow researchers developed for characterizing activity and inferring survival of Pacific halibut based on accelerometer data from Pop-up Satellite Archival Tags (PSATs). The metrics developed in this project help researchers infer activity patterns and resultantly survival which may be extended to other species.

Nielsen, J.K., C.S. Rose, T. Loher, P. Drobny, A.C. Seitz, M.B. Courtney, and J. Gauvin. 2018. Characterizing activity and assessing bycatch survival of Pacific halibut with accelerometer pop-up satellite archival tags. Animal Biotelemetry 6:10. 

August 10, 2018

Fork & Fin - Trident's food truck showcasing Alaska pollock
In 2017 Trident seafoods launched an engaging experiment to educate people about Alaska pollock. The food truck showcases pollock in a diverse array of dishes. You can find the tried-and-true 'Alaskan Beer Battered fish tacos' to the innovative 'Peanut Butter and Jelly Ultimate Fish Sticks'. 

“Alaskan Pollock is the most abundant certified-sustainable seafood species in the world. Plus, it leaves a much lower carbon footprint on our planet than land based proteins, such as cattle and poultry. It is our mission to show the world how delicious this often over-looked, under-appreciated cousin to cod truly is – one serving at a time. 

The truck operates all over Seattle and relocates daily! If you want to try delicious Alaska pollock you can locate the truck on the . Also you can take a look at their beautiful food on .

August 9, 2018

USDA is looking for Pollock suppliers for the National School Lunch Program!
The United States Department of Agriculture has solicited offers for Pollock products (514,800 pounds frozen bulk and 76,000 pounds breaded sticks), bound for the National School Lunch Program and other Federal Food and Nutrition Assistance Programs in Massachusetts, Virginia, Washington, New Mexico, and Ohio.

July 20, 2018

Pollock in the Press!
Alaska pollock was recently featured in an article by Laine Welch on Alaska Fish Radio! Alaska pollock remained the top fish catch in the world for the fourth consecutive year. More information can be found in .  .

 

June 25, 2018

PCCRC funded student Ben Williams successfully defended his Ph.D. dissertation
On 19 April 2018 Ben Williams successfully defended his Ph.D. dissertation entitled "The reproductive biology and management of walleye pollock (Gadus chalcogrammus) in the Gulf of Alaska". Ben was funded as part of Dr. Gordon Kruse's Walleye pollock maturity study. Dr. Williams works for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game in the Commercial Fisheries division.  

One chapter from his dissertation examining the variability in maturity of pollock in the Gulf of Alaska is available .

April 18, 2018

PCCRC funded student Tessa Minicucci successfully defended her Master's research
On Wednesday April 18th Tessa Minicucci presented her Master's research entitled 'Determining the effects of Asian pink (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) and chum (O.keta) salmon on western Alaska chum salmon growth' in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the MS in Fisheries. 

Information about her specific project including annual reports and presentations can be found here:

Effects of Asian pink and chum salmon on Alaskan chum and Chinook salmon growth.

A recording of Ms. Minicucci's presentation is online and available

January 29, 2018

2017 PCCRC Symposium in Anchorage Alaska
On the 26th of January the PCCRC board and researchers from around Alaska gathered in the Quadrant room of the Captain Cook hotel in Anchorage Alaska. Principle investigators and their graduate students gave 30 minute presentations on the status of their projects. A total of 15 presentations (13 research projects and 2 graduate fellowships) were given on research topics ranging from zooplankton to salmon sharks!

This years symposium was held in Anchorage, Alaska.

Cheryl Barnes gives a presentation on her doctoral research entitled 'Ecological interactions among groundfish predators in the Gulf of Alaska'. Photo by Elizabeth Figus.

January 12, 2018

PCCRC Symposium 26 January 2018
The PCCRC board will be convening in Anchorage, Alaska during the Alaska Marine Science Symposium to hear presentations (13 projects and 2 fellowships) on currently funded projects. 

November 17, 2017

Congratulations to Elizabeth Figus on a successful defense of her Ph.D.!
On Friday 17 November 2017 Elizabeth Figus defended her Ph.D. dissertation:

"Eyes on the Sea: Demonstrating the usefulness of local knowledge to inform commercial fisheries management in Poland and Alaska" Science and decision making in commercial fisheries management take place in the context of uncertainty. This research demonstrates ways that local knowledge held by fishermen can be used to mitigate that uncertainty. This dissertation documents how fishermen in Poland and Alaska perceive management strategies in their fisheries, and compares those perceptions with traditional measures of management performance. Specific case study examples were developed through exploratory interviews with stakeholders in two study regions. Interviews were conducted with Baltic cod (Gadus morhua) fishermen in Poland (n = 31) and Pacific halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepis) fishermen in Alaska (n = 78). Qualitative and quantitative methods were used to analyze stakeholder knowledge about ecosystems, as well as their preferences about regulations. Findings show how the inclusion of stakeholder input in fisheries management need not be limited to ad hoc data collection methods in order to be meaningfully interpretable by managers.

Photo credit: Molly Fox Zaleski

September 25, 2017

Karl Bratvold, Aleutian Spray Fisheries joins the PCCRC advisory board!
The PCCRC would like to welcome Karl Bratvold of Aleutian Spray Fisheries to the advisory board. Karl will bring to the board decades of experience fishing in Alaska's marine waters. He first began fishing for salmon and tuna in high school during the summers. In the early 1980's he participated in the Alaska crab fishery and later transitioned to trawlers. He has worked in nearly every capacity on a fishing boat: cook, deckhand, engineer, mate and captain. He has worked for Aleutian Spray Fisheries since 1981 and served as the captain of their catcher processor Starbound for 22 years. He currently serves as senior executive and part owner of the company. Recently he led a $40 million rebuilding of the CP Starbound to decrease fish waste and achieve fuller utilization of the Pollock harvest. His dedication to preserving the sustainability of Alaska marine resources is evident in his long history with Aleutian Spray Fisheries and we are excited to benefit from his 'on the water' perspective.

Karl Bratvold sits on deck of a trawler.

July 28, 2017

Pollock Conservation Cooperative Research Center Letters of Interest due September 18, 2017
Each LOI must include a cover sheet, a short narrative (3 pages or less), a one page anticipated budget request, and a one-page resume for each Principle Investigator (PI) or co-PI. The LOI and all ancillary documents must be formatted in 12-point Times, Times New Roman, or Arial font. Non-conforming LOIs will not be considered.

For more information download the call for LOI HERE