EK60 Water Column Sonar Data Collected During IYSTINRO22

Pacific salmon are an important cultural, commercial, and biological resource for countries of the North Pacific rim. The geographic distribution of these salmon spans the North Pacific Ocean (NPO), where they occupy a variety of ecosystems and water masses throughout their ocean life history phase. There are significant gaps in our understanding of the mechanisms that regulate distribution, productivity/survival in coastal and high seas environments. These gaps hamper our ability to usefully inform management decisions related to fisheries and habitat across freshwater, coastal and high seas ecosystems. As a changing climate and associated anomalous events in the large marine ecosystems of the NPO progressively expose Pacific salmon to conditions that are outside the "normal" climate cycles, society will confront new resource management issues. These include the future of the cultures and subsistence lifestyles of local Indigenous communities, potential impacts of industrial activities (e.g., commercial fishing), potential changes to regional ocean carrying capacity, and resilience of North Pacific marine ecosystems. In addition, the growing threat of illegal, unreported, and unregulated high seas fishing and the recovery of salmon populations listed under the US Endangered Species Act and Canadian Species at Risk Act has increased the need for timely advice about salmon distribution. An international effort is required to detect and monitor changes in salmon and their ecosystem because stocks from all major salmon States of origin are distributed in the NPO. Salmon originate in producer nations’ rivers migrate through the exclusive economic zones of coastal states and intermingle in the high seas. In response to this need, the NPAFC, with partners and collaborating scientists in academia, NGOs and the private sector, is conducting an ambitious high seas research expedition with up to five research vessels surveying the full breadth of the NPO in late winter 2022. The expedition will test a collaborative research framework to better understand the mechanisms and processes that regulate the distribution and abundance of Pacific salmon and steelhead trout; to promote sustainable populations of anadromous populations in the NPO; to allow for better forecasts of salmon production trends in the future; and to enhance the sustainable fisheries management, food security, and economic security in salmon States.