Mayumi L Arimitsu, Ph.D. (Former Employee)

The Alaska Forage Fish Database is a consolidation of survey catch data and predator diets from multiple partners including USGS Alaska Science Center, NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service Alaska Fisheries Science Center, USFWS Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, and others. The spatial coverage of the database encompasses the coastal and offshore...

Beginning in 2015, large numbers of dead seabirds have been appearing on beaches in most marine areas of Alaska. Although seabird die-offs are known to occur sporadically (e.g. 1970, 1989, 1993, 1997/1998, and 2004) in Alaska, these recent die-offs have been distinguished from past events by their increased frequency, duration, geographic extent, and number of different species involved.

A massive die-off of Common Murres was documented in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) during the fall and winter of 2015-2016 in association with a record-breaking marine heat wave in the GOA.

Changes in the body condition of a key forage fish species, Pacific sand lance ( Ammodytes personatus), are examined to understand how energy transfer to predators may have been disrupted during the recent marine heatwave in the North Pacific (late 2013 to mid 2016).