Prior to FOCI, only very limited knowledge existed of either the physical environment or the life history of pollock in the western Gulf of Alaska. What was known suggested the following hypothesis: optimum survival and subsequent recruitment result when larvae are transported to nursery grounds in coastal regions along the Alaska Peninsula, rather than into the Gulf of Alaska. Further, biophysical processes occurring during transport have significant impact on survival. Initially studies focussed on the life history of pollock and the nature of the regional circulation. As these aspects became known, field operations switched to maintenance time series of selected biological and physical characteristics, studies of biophysical processes, and development of methods to examine preferential survival. Simultaneously, we began implementation of coupled biophysical and correlative models, and development of methods to transfer FOCI results to the assessment and prediction models used to provide biomass scenarios to management.