The major objectives of the Gulf of Alaska project are:

• Quantify the importance, timing and magnitude of the climactic and oceanographic mechanisms that control ocean conditions in the eastern and western Gulf of Alaska regions. 

• Determine how physical and biological mechanisms influence the distribution, timing, and magnitude of primary and secondary productivity in nearshore, inshore, and offshore areas of the eastern and western Gulf of Alaska regions. 

• Provide a synoptic view, from the shoreline out to beyond the shelf-break, of the distribution and abundance of forage fishes and the early life stages of five focal groundfish species. 

• Use a comparative approach to assess spatial and temporal variability in the ecosystem, primarily between the eastern and western Gulf of Alaska regions among spring, summer, and fall. 

• Analyze habitat associations, create habitat suitability maps, and use that information to study the influence of habitat requirements on the spatial overlap among species and resulting predation and competition. 

• Use multiple techniques to analyze the diets of species from different trophic levels and use these data to elucidate trophic relationships. 

• Assess nutritional condition and determine rates of growth and consumption to determine how physical and biological factors influence the physiological ecology of the focal fish species. 

• Use historical datasets to analyze temporal variability in potential climatic, oceanographic, or biological drivers influencing the early life survival of key groundfish species. 

• Build a system of linked models that describe the connections among climate, oceanography, primary and secondary productivity, and the early life survival of the focal fish species.