This project will develop a modeling system and tools to predict ocean conditions in the northeast pacific, covering the critical pan-american fisheries area stretching from mexico to alaska, to…

This project will develop a modeling system and tools to predict ocean conditions in the northeast pacific, covering the critical pan-american fisheries area stretching from mexico to alaska, to help communities plan and prepare for the impacts of environmental variability on the ocean and fisheries. This variability impacts fish catches, closes fisheries, and threatens the jobs, food supply, and economies of coastal communities. This project is implementing NOAA gfdl's world-class modular ocean model at high resolution to make predictions and projections of conditions in this region more accurate. This is especially important in this particular region because of its highly varied environments, from the cold and ICY waters near alaska to the warmer, nutrient-rich waters off california. The complex features of this region and the strong impacts of the EL nino southern oscillation (ENSO) make IT challenging for models to accurately simulate and predict how the ocean will behave, and this project will help improve the accuracy of these simulations. This new system, and the analyses of its performance, including how IT captures ensos significant footprint, will improve how the model represents temperature, nutrients, and fish habitats, giving fisheries managers better information. This will result in more-informed decisions so that fish populations remain healthy and fishing communities can thrive