Prince William Sound Science & Technology Institute

Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council Programs:Herring Research and Monitoring ProgramThis is an Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council-funded program designed to improve our ability to predict herring populations in Prince William Sound. This is to be achieved by a mixture of monitoring efforts to provide information needed by the age-structure-analysis model, and research projects that provide a better understanding of aspects of the herring life cycle that is necessary for the development of new models. The program also addresses assumptions in the measurement program and looks to incorporate new technologies. This program includes investigators from PWSSC, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, United States Geological Survey, and the University of Washington. The program works closely with the Gulf Watch Alaska program.Gulf Watch AlaskaThe Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council (EVOSTC) is supporting a long-term monitoring program in the Gulf of Alaska region affected by the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill. The monitoring program, called Gulf Watch Alaska, involves more than 25 scientists from multiple agencies, universities, and non-profits and seeks to provide data to identify and help understand the impacts of multiple ecosystem factors on the recovery of injured resources. This program is expected to be 20 years in length but is planned and funded in five-year increments. It builds a legacy of restoration research and monitoring by the EVOSTC and federal and state agencies dating back to 1989. The program includes sites in Prince William Sound, lower Cook Inlet, the Gulf of Alaska, and the outer Kenai Peninsula coast. This year has an overlap between two five-year segments.Mariculture ReConThe Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council (EVOSTC) is supporting a mariculture research program. The overall objective of the Mariculture Research and Restoration Consortium (Mariculture ReCon) is to support resporation, habitat enhancement, and economic development through research and partnerships between scientists and seaweed and shellfish farmers. This suite of applied research components takes a farm-centered approach to address EVOSTC restoration, economic development, outreach, administration, and data management interests that overlap top priorities identified by stakeholders and the Alaska Mariculture Development Plan Developed by the Governors Mariculture Task Force. Results will inform shellfish and seaweed production with farmers as full participants in the research.

Oil Spill Recovery Institute Programs:Oil Spill Recovery Institute (OSRI)This program funds the administration and awards of the Oil Spill Recovery Institute, a federally established program to support research, education, and demonstration projects designed to respond to and understand the effects of oil spills in Arctic and sub-Arctic marine environments. Initiated in 1997, funding is provided directly from the interest earnings on a $35.3 million principal allocationadministered by the U.S. Coast Guard (from the National Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund). The Institute is governed by an Advisory Board which includes representatives from Federal and State agencies, Alaska Native and PWS communities, and industry representatives appointed by the Governor of Alaska. The Advisory Board Chair is a U.S. Department of Commerce representative.PWSSC OSRI Program ManagerThe OSRI Program Manager supports OSRI by identifying research needs, working with the Work Plan Committee to develop annual work plans, and track progress on contracts. The Program Manager also interfaces with other research efforts to share the information learned by OSRI.PWSSC H2O Headwaters to Ocean Program & Education ProgramThe H2O Headwaters to Ocean Program is the umbrella under which all our education and outreach efforts occur. This program has four primary components this year: (1) the Discovery Room, a program which supplements elementary school science education; (2) Secondary School Outreach, programming designed to keep older students engaged in marine science-centric activities that promote critical thinking, problem solving and ecological literacy; (3) Outreach Discovery to support delivery of STEM education programming to audiences outside of Cordova; (4) Mini Discovery, such as Seq Squirts and Little Dippers, are designed to engage youth who are not yet school age in hands-on activities. Headwaters to Ocean is funded in large part by OSRI. Other funding comes from ConocoPhillips Alaska, Saltchuk, Boeing, iindividual and small business donations, foundations, and program fees.PWSSC Herder/BurnerThis is a Joint Industry Program that uses funding from OSRI, ExxonMobil, Shell, Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, North Caspian Operation Company, and Clean Caribbean Americas for the development of new oil spill response technology. A remotely operated surface vessel is being developed that can apply chemical herders and ignite herded slicks for in-situ burns. The system will carry remote sensing capabilities and can be controlled locally or through a satellite link.

Government Programs:EVOSTC New FacilitiesThe Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council is supporting the development of new facilities for the Prince William Sound Science Center. The new facilities include warehouse, office, and research and education spaces. Over $23 million has been pledged to cover costs associated with the new campus. The funds are being administered by the Alaska Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development. CORaL NetworkThe Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council is supporting an education and outreach program titled, Community Organized Restoration and Learning [CORaL] Network. The purpose is to create and maintain an ongoing framework that builds the capacity of existing resources withing the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill impacted region to ensure that current scientific information, skills, and activities are publicly accessible and serve ongoing needs as identified by local communities. These funds are being administered by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.BSEE Herder/BurnerThis is a Joint Industry Program that uses funding from OSRI, ExxonMobil, Shell, Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, and Clean Caribbean Americas for the development of new oil spill response technology. A remotely operated surface vessel is being developed that can apply chemical herders and ignite herded slicks for in-situ burns. The system will carry remote sensing capabilities and can be controlled locally or through a satellite link.AOOS - Alaska Ocean Observing SystemThis project, funded by NOAA via the Alaska Ocean Observing System, continues implementation of the Prince William Sound (PWS) Observing System (PWSOS). The PWSOS collects ocean, atmospheric and biological observations for use by stakeholders. PWSOS supported tracking of marine organisms using the passive acoustic Ocean Tracking Network, salinity measurements at the Cordova tide station, and the maintenance of the SNOTEL meteorological stations. NRL - MooringThe Naval Research Laboratory contracted with PWSSC to assist in deployment, servicing, and recovery of a pair of moorings near the mouth of Cook Inlet. The moorings monitored particles in the upper ocean to evaluate the performance of satellite remote sensing systems.SK Image and ID systemsFunding from NOAA through the Saltonstall-Kennedy program was received to test the ability to detect and enumerate salmon within an index stream. The project worked with ADF&G to set a camera system on a river with a weir and observers. Automatic analysis of the camera images were then compared to the observations to examine the ability to automate a process that currently requires personnel in remote areas.AKSSF Sockeye SalmonThe Alaska Sustainable Salmon Fund provided support to radio tag sockeye salmon traveling up the Copper River. The fish were measured and weighed prior to tagging to determine their fitness. Radio towers allowed the fish to be detected as they moved upstream. The fish were also searched for on the spawning grounds. This provided the information needed to determine how fitness determined survival during migration and success at the spawning grounds.NPRB - Automation of Sockeye Salmon Scale EstimationThis project examines the ability of using machine vision and deep learning to automate the reading of Sockeye Salmon scales to determine their age. Automation has the potential to improve management of salmon fisheries. Precise age information is critical to the evaluation of escapement goals, the generation of pre-season forecasts, and the long-term monitoring of population structure.NOAA - Kelp the SoundNOAA is providing funds to support sharing of expertise among kelp growers to develop local access to regional expertise and local capacity for a kelp nursery to rear seedlings. This project supported local researchers and farmers to travel to meet with other mariculturists in the region.NOAA Empowering kelp famingThe seaweed mariculture industry in Prince William Sound needs market development, science-backed information on best practices, and local capacity to improve the probability of success. This work has kelp farmers and biologists collaborating to establish a kelp nursery in Cordova, AK, and evaluate best practices for collecting seed stock from fertile tissue.NOAA Climate adaptation and resilienceThis project addresses the critical need for fishing communities in the Gulf of Alaska to formalize fisheries resilience strategies in adaptation plans, focusing on three of the most highly dependent and divers fishing communities in the region Cordova, Kodiak, and Sitka. The project will advance integrated scientific research and build partnerships between scientists, fishermen, Tribes, and Tribal citizens to enhance local planning capacity and responsiveness to climate change.NPS Migratory success of Copper River Sockeye SalmonThis project aims to integrate prior and ongoing radio-telemetry data on Copper River sockeye spawning migration with several long-term ADF&G data sets to develop forecasting models to predict migratory success by incorporating new information from a recently available hydrological model developed by USGS.BOEM Cook Inlet Physical OceanographyWith support from the Bureau of Ocean and Energy Management this project is pulling together the existing data from Cook Inlet, modeling factors that affect circulation, and make field measurements as needed to fill gaps identified in the analysis of the existing data.USFWS Aleutian TernThe Aleutian Tern Technical Committee working group is undertaking a project to determine the current distribution and abundance of Aleutian terns at a statewide scale. This project uses aerial surveys to identify current breeding colonies, and on-the-ground access to estimate tern abundance.UC Davis OWN Crude Oil ToxicityState of California funding was provided through the Oiled Wildlife Network to support research on oil toxicity to embryonic herring. The funding supports analysis of data collected during earlier experiments where herring eggs were exposed to oil and the lethal and sublethal effects were evaluated.