This award is for a three year project with Dr. W. Wiebe. Both investigators are at the Institute of Ecology and Zoology at the University of Georgia. The studies address the hypothesis that bacterial production is temperature limited in high latitude ocean areas and this limitation allows a larger fraction of the surface production to reach the benthos. Such an hypothesis would help to explain the productive bottom fisheries often found in high latitude waters. This work also will examine the possible mechanisms responsible for the hypothesized temperature effect.