welcome to the Bering Sea Project Go to the north pacific research board Go to the national science foundation

project types

humans

  • Interview elders to conceptualize ecosystem in Native terms
  • Subsistence surveys + use patterns
  • Go to Humans projects

marine mammals

  • Broad-scale visual surveys
  • PATCH DYNAMICS: Foraging studies of fur seal + walrus; Colony-based fur seal pup studies (Pribilofs and St. Lawrence)
  • Go to Marine Mammals projects

seabirds

  • Visual surveys
  • PATCH DYNAMICS: Foraging studies of common murres + black-legged kittiwakes; Chick diet + condition studies (Pribilofs and Bogoslof)
  • Go to Seabirds projects

fishes

  • Acoustic surveys
  • Historical analysis
  • Fish stomach analysis
  • Surface + bottom trawl surveys
  • Go to Fish projects

forage species
+ trophic interactions

benthos + NPZ

  • Studies of benthos near sea ice edge
  • Stratification + circulation studies
  • Larval fish feeding rate studies
  • Energetics of juvenile fish
  • Zooplankton + ocean data collection
  • Mesozooplankton and euphausiids
  • Primary production near sea ice
  • Go to Benthos projects
  • Go to Plankton projects

moorings +
atmosphere + ocean

products

Focal Areas

Bering Sea fisheries account for nearly half of US catches. Our understanding of how climate affects this enormous productivity is incompletely understood. BEST-BSIERP will examine the fish, seabirds, marine mammals and people sustained by the Bering Sea. This presentation summarizes the impacts of climate change on fisheries.

vertical integration diagram for bering sea project Go to Data Management Go to Modeling projects Go to Moorings, Atmosphere and Ocean projects Go to Plankton projects Go to Benthos projects Go to Forage Species and Trophic Interactions projects Go to Fishes projects Go to Seabirds projects Go to Marine Mammals projects go to Humans projects

We will look at the Bering Sea ecosystem from atmospheric forcing and physical oceanography through humans and communities, as well as at the social and economic impacts of a changing marine ecosystem. Innovative ecosystem modeling, sound data management and exciting education and outreach activities will tie the program together.

NSF support

NPRB support