Discover the Ichthyofauna in Shallow-Water, Marine Habitats of Alaska: an Online Fish Atlas at Your Fingertips

NOAA Fisheries Auke Bay Laboratories and the Alaska Regional Office have designed an interactive, online atlas that provides spatially and temporally-explicit information on the distribution, species composition, catch, and habitat use of 115 fish species captured by beach seine in coastal waters (<6 m deep and <20 m offshore) of Alaska. Regions of Alaska included in the atlas are the Arctic, Bristol Bay, Aleutian Islands, Cook Inlet, Prince William Sound, and southeastern Alaska. The atlas database encompasses 13 years of nearshore fish surveys (1998-present); nearly 700,000 fish have been captured in 919 seine hauls. In addition to catch data by habitat type (e.g., eelgrass), multiple sampling trips to some sites provide baseline information for long-term monitoring. The atlas also contains sample site information including water temperature, salinity, GPS-mapped eelgrass meadows, and a photo catalog of all fish species. Commercially important and forage fish species, captured mostly as juveniles, include walleye pollock, Pacific sand lance, Pacific herring, chum salmon, and pink salmon. Patterns in distribution and habitat use were evident for many species; the most abundant species based on total catch were capelin in the Arctic, rainbow smelt in Bristol Bay, Pacific sand lance in the Aleutian Islands, saffron cod in Prince William Sound, and walleye pollock in southeastern Alaska. Based on habitat type, species richness and catch were greater in vegetated habitats (eelgrass, kelp) than in non-vegetated habitats (sand-gravel, bedrock outcrops). Resource managers, scientists, and the public can access the atlas online (www.alaskafisheries.noaa.gov/habitat/fishatlas). The atlas provides a valuable reference to identify species in areas designated for development, track changes in species composition that may occur with global climate change, and help in resource damage assessment following a human or natural disturbance such as an oil spill or earthquake.