Unalaska, AK – Last week, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ship Fairweather passed through Unalaska on its way to the Eastern Bering Sea. The ship's crew is mapping the seafloor of the ocean to look at the composition of the bottom relative to the populations of fish that live there.

NOAA has combined two different departments to work on this project. The two pronged approach to this research will benefit both the National Marine Fisheries Services and will update nautical charts in low-traffic areas.

Captain Doug Baird, Commanding Officer of the Fairweather, will be working on the nautical charts while his colleague Dr. Bob McConaughey looks at the habitat and the fish.

"I think Dr. Bob's methods of mapping the habitat are the future. I think that's the way to go. But we're also going to use the data to provide updated soundings for nautical charts, so it helps. Our main mission when we're not working with Dr. Bob is to actually update nautical charts. Most recently, we've been working in the Shumagin Islands," Captain Baird said. "When we go up to the Eastern Bering, that's what we'll be doing. We'll be doing his work as well as getting this corollary information to help with the charting."

Dr. Bob McConaughey is a fisheries biologist at the Alaska Fisheries Science Center in Seattle. He says that because of the abundance of fish in the Bering Sea, it's important to understand their habitat. He says that the characteristics of the sea bed affect the types of fish, the population size, and the size of the fish that live on or near the sea floor. If researchers know the characteristics of the sea-floor they can better predict what types of fish will live there.

This project began in 2006, and while the researchers continue to look at the patterns and distributions of fish relative to the different habitats, Dr. McConaughey said that the researchers aboard the vessel are now primarily focused on a sonar experiment.

"The basic experiment we're doing is comparing the usefulness of the different types of sonars for measuring these characteristics of the seafloor," he said.

Dr. McConaughey says that often times mapping only takes place in high-traffic, shallow areas, but this project focuses on the deeper areas where many fisherman seek out their catch.

"We're working out in deeper waters, further offshore where this nautical charting is typically not the highest priority. As you can imagine, the places where charting is most important are areas where there are the highest traffic, the highest risks, approaches to harbor, shallow water, and there is this general need to understand all of the sea floor in the U.S. 200 mile limit," Dr. McConaughey said.

In addition to the sonar, the researchers are also gathering physical samples, video samples, and taking photos of the sea floor. So far, Dr. McConaughey says they haven't found any strong relationships between fish populations and the sea floor.

"There is this basic relationship between the strength of the return and the characteristics of the sea bed. It's very complicated and it's not necessarily a direct one-to-one relationship. That, [for example] you could get a weak return if you have a sloped bottom, and you could get an identical return from a softer bottom that was flat," Dr. McConaughey said. "There are a number of variables that could affect the return, and so, basically we're just working with numbers and information to help us interpret."

The reason this research is important is because it measures the health of the fisheries, which affects fishing communities. Dr. McConaughey said that it is important to ensure that fisheries are being harvested in a sustainable way and to protect the habitats that support the fish populations.