Project Details Research vessel: r/v “Professor Kaganovskiy” Region: The Gulf of Alaska and adjacent northeastern Pacific Ocean Timing: February – March 2019 Objectives: The first comprehensive study of the winter ecology of juvenile and adult Pacific salmon in the Gulf of Alaska Project Leader: Richard Beamish Chief Scientists: Evgeny Pakhomov and Laurie Weitkamp Chief Administrator: Vladimir Radchenko Captain: Aleksander Pakker Coordinating Committee: R. Beamish, B. Riddell (co-chairs); V. Radchenko, E. Pakhomov, Laurie Weitkamp, Chrys Neville (members) Donors: The Government of Canada, private donors, Pacific Salmon Foundation, BC Salmon Farmers Association, the Province of British Columbia, and the Pacific Salmon Commission. In-kind contributions: Pacific Biological Station, Federal agency for Fisheries of the Russian Federation, FSBSI “VNIRO”, FSBSI “TINRO-Center”, University of British Columbia, University of Victoria, Hokkaido National Fisheries Research Institute.

Rationale The Gulf of Alaska expedition is the first comprehensive survey of Pacific salmon in the winter in the northeastern Pacific Ocean. It is generally believed that about one third of all Pacific salmon are in the Gulf of Alaska in the winter, but factors affecting their survival during the critical winter period have not been studied. There is consensus that ocean ecosystems are changing and ocean research on the impacts on Pacific salmon is urgently needed particularly for the virtually unstudied winter population dynamics in the Gulf of Alaska. In the absence of this understanding, it is impossible to assess the carrying capacity in the Gulf to support North American Pacific salmon stocks now and in a future of changing ocean ecosystems. This baseline information is urgently needed as current forecasts struggle to understand how climate and the changing ocean environment affect salmon production. This expedition will also be an example of the opportunities to coordinate international research on issues that have challenged the research community for over 100 years.