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SFOS Newsletter
Spring 2008

PCCRC awards $500,000 to scientists

The Pollock Conservation Cooperative Research Center at UAF has funded more than $500,000 for the study of Alaska’s marine ecosystems. The eight projects funded by the center this year include studies of Alaska’s fish species, educational support for fisheries students, an investigation into how scientists tag sea lions and an analysis of the marine food chain in the Bering Sea.

Administered through UAF SFOS, the PCCRC provides funding for peer-reviewed research of North Pacific fisheries, marine mammals and coastal ecosystem issues, as well as for training and education in issues important in Alaska’s fisheries.

Nearly $85,000 was awarded to Alexandra de Oliveira at the Fishery Industrial Technology Center to study the development of pollock liver oil as a nutritional supplement. If successful, pollock oil could join cod liver oil, salmon oil and other fish oils on supermarket shelves as a source of healthy Omega-3 fatty acids.

Another project, awarded to Amanda Rosenberger, Trent Sutton and Nicola Hillgruber, includes more than $50,000 to increase field research, internship and on-the-job training opportunities for UAF’s fisheries undergraduates. A major component of the current expansion of the UAF fisheries program, project leaders say that training outside the classroom will help prepare students for jobs.

Mark Johnson was awarded funding for a project that includes sending data-gathering floats out into the fishing grounds of the Bering Sea to measure water temperatures. Information gathered from the instruments will be transmitted to scientists on a weekly basis and then posted on the Alaska Ocean Observing System website. The temperature data will provide important information on temperature changes as well as help Alaska’s fishermen and fisheries managers determine fishing locations.

Other PCCRC awardees include Anthony Gharrett, Terrance Quinn, Shannon Atkinson, Jo-Ann Mellish, Alan Springer and Sara Iverson.

The research center was founded in 2000 with a donation from the Pollock Conservation Cooperative. The cooperative is composed of North Pacific pollock fishing companies of the At-sea Processors Association. These companies, Alaska Ocean Seafood, American Seafoods Company, Arctic Storm, Glacier Fish Company, Highland Light, Starbound LLC and Trident Seafoods, have funded 55 research projects and contributed more than $8.5 million to UAF for marine research and education. The group also provides funding for the Ted Stevens Distinguished Professor of Marine Policy, Professor Keith Criddle.