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

Retrospective analysis of pollock, seabird + fur seal productivity
Persistence of foraging "hotspots"
Seasonal bioenergetics
Go to Forage Species + Trophic Interactions projects

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

M2 - M8 moorings
Sea ice studies and modeling
Spring + summer ocean conditions
Go to Moorings projects
Go to Atmosphere + Ocean projects

products

Modeling
Data Management
EducatIon + Outreach

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

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

lower trophic levels | benthos, primary production near sea ice, nutrients, modeling, meso-zooplankton, euphausiids
social science research | relationships between a changing marine environment and Bering Sea communities

NPRB support

lower trophic levels | benthos, micro-zooplankton, biophysical moorings
forage fish | euphausiids, myctophids and capelin
commercially-fished species | arrowtooth flounder, Pacific cod, and walleye pollock
marine mammals | fur seals, walrus and whales
seabirds |common murres, thick-billed murres, and black-legged kittiwakes