18  Northern California Current Forage

Description The Northern CCE survey (known as the Juvenile Salmon Ocean Ecology Survey, JSOES) occurs in June and targets juvenile salmon in surface waters off Oregon and Washington (Morgan et al. 2019). It also collects adult and juvenile (age 1+) pelagic forage fishes, market squid, and gelatinous zooplankton with regularity. A Nordic 264 rope trawl is towed for 15-30 min at approximately 6.5 km/hr. The gear is fished during daylight hours in near-surface (upper 20 m) waters, which is appropriate for targeting juvenile salmon.

Several other taxa (e.g., anchovy, sardine, herring and mackerels) collected by the June JSOES surface trawl are not considered to be sampled quantitatively due to their behavior (i.e., depth in the water column during daylight hours) and mesh size of sampling gear. Thus, we do not report catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE) of these species, rather noting them in terms of their relative prevalence - the proportion of stations where they were caught.

Pelagic forage data from the Northern CCE are provided by B. Burke, NMFS/NWFSC and C. Morgan, OSU/CIMRS. Data are derived from surface trawls taken during the NWFSC Juvenile Salmon & Ocean Ecosystem Survey (JSOES; https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/west-coast/science-data/ocean-ecosystem-indicators-pacific-salmon-marine-survival-northern). Similarity analysis and cluster plot by A. Thompson, NMFS/SWFSC.

Forage Biomass:

• Species:
  • Market squid
  • Juvenile chum
  • Pompano
  • Subyearling Chinook
  • Yearling Chinook
  • Yearling Coho
  • Juvenile sockeye
  • Adult Anchovy
  • Adult Sardine
  • Total Krill
  • Market Squid
  • Total Myctophids
  • Octopus
  • Pyrosomes
  • Salps
  • Thetys
  • YOY Anchovy
  • YOY Pacific Hake
  • YOY Rockfish
  • YOY Sanddabs
  • YOY Sardine
  • YOY sablefish
  • Aequorea Water Jelly
  • Moon jelly
  • Chrysaora Sea Nettle
  • Egg yolk jelly
• Component Category: Ecological Integrity
• Time Range: 1998 - 2024
• CCIEA Data Contact: brian.burke@noaa.gov
• Institution: NOAA NWFSC
• Source Data: Dr. Brian Burke (NOAA; brian.burke@noaa.gov); derived from surface trawls taken during NOAA Northwest Fisheries Science Center Juvenile Salmon & Ocean Ecosystem Survey (JSOES). Additional calculations by Cheryl Morgan (OSU - CIMERS; cheryl.morgan@oregonstate.edu). Partial funding is from the Bonneville Power Administration (1998-014-00).
• Additional Calculations: To be included in this analysis, stations must have been 1) sampled during the day time, 2) on the continental shelf (greater than 200 m water depth), and 3) sampled during at least half of the years of the JSOES effort. Sampling occurs from the northern tip of Washington (48N 13.7’) down to Newport, Oregon (44N 40.0’) in late June. A Nordic 264 rope trawl (Nor’Eastern Trawl Systems, Bainbridge Island, WA) is towed at the surface (upper 20 m) for 15 - 30 min at approximately 6.5 km/hr. The total abundance for each nekton species caught in each haul was either determined directly or estimated from the total weight of the species in a catch and the weight and number of individuals in a subsample of that catch. Trawl catches were standardized to linear density by dividing catch of each species at a station by the distance between the start- and endpoints of the tow as determined by a global positioning system receiver and log10 transformed (Log10(no. km-1+ 1)).

Forage Prevalence:

• Species:
  • Jack mackerel
  • Northern anchovy
  • Pacific chub mackerel
  • Pacific hake
  • Pacific herring
  • Pacific sardine
  • Pacific spiny dogfish
  • Pyrosome
  • Surf smelt
  • Whitebait smelt
  • YOY Pacific hake
  • YOY Rockfish (spp.)
• Component Category: Ecological Integrity
• Time Range: 1998 - 2024
• CCIEA Data Contact: brian.burke@noaa.gov
• Institution: NOAA NWFSC
• Source Data: Dr. Brian Burke (NOAA; brian.burke@noaa.gov); derived from surface trawls taken during NOAA Northwest Fisheries Science Center Juvenile Salmon & Ocean Ecosystem Survey (JSOES). Additional calculations by Cheryl Morgan (OSU - CIMERS; cheryl.morgan@oregonstate.edu). Partial funding is from the Bonneville Power Administration (1998-014-00).
• Additional Calculations: To be included in this analysis, stations must have been 1) sampled during the day time, 2) on the continental shelf (greater than 200 m water depth), and 3) sampled during at least 10 of the years of the JSOES effort. Sampling occurs from the northern tip of Washington (48N 13.7’) down to Newport, Oregon (44N 40.0’) in late June. A Nordic 264 rope trawl (Nor’Eastern Trawl Systems, Bainbridge Island, WA) is towed at the surface (upper 20 m) for 15 - 30 min at approximately 6.5 km/hr. Prevalence is defined as the total number of stations with each nekton species present divided by the total number of stations sampled (proportion of samples present).

Indicator Downloads

ERDDAP™ links:

https://oceanview.pfeg.noaa.gov/erddap/tabledap/cciea_EI_FBN.html

https://oceanview.pfeg.noaa.gov/erddap/tabledap/cciea_EI_FPN.html

References

Morgan, Cheryl A, Brian R Beckman, Laurie A Weitkamp, and Kurt L Fresh. 2019. “Recent Ecosystem Disturbance in the Northern California Current.” Fisheries 44 (10): 465–74.