Research vessel OSCAR DYSON in Dutch Harbor, Alaska

The Alaska Fisheries Science Center, Bering Arctic Subarctic Integrated Survey (BASIS) group within the Marine Ecosystem Stock Assessment (MESA) Program supports NOAA Fisheries role in the stewardship and management of marine resources through fisheries and oceanographic investigations in support of NMFS Ecosystem Approach to Management. Fisheries and oceanographic data collected during surveys in the Bering Sea, Arctic (Chukchi Sea), Gulf of Alaska, and salmon marine growth time series function as ecosystem indicators to reduce uncertainty in groundfish assessments and inform fishery managers of changes in marine ecosystems related to climate variablility.

Age-0 pollock distribution during the 2007

Bering Sea
Current research in the Bering Sea includes cooperative effort with the North Pacific Research Board, Bering Sea Integrated Ecosystem Research Project (BSIERP) BEST-BSIERP Ecosystem Partnership examining the impact of atmospheric forcing on the eastern Bering Sea ecosystem and the social and economic impacts related to a warming climate. Our role within BSIERP focuses on providing biological indices of abundance, distribution, diet, and fitness of age-0 pollock and Pacific cod prior to winter to input into functional forage and trophic interaction models to link productivity of the eastern Bering Sea ecosystem to climate variability.

Gulf of Alaska
Fisheries oceanographic surveys within the Gulf of Alaska are planned for the future to focus on the effect of climate variability on five commercially or ecologically valuable species that represent different life history strategies in the GOA: arrowtooth flounder, Pacific cod, Pacific ocean perch, sablefish, and walleye pollock. Surveys within contrasting regions of the GOA will define a critical environmental window for these five focal species by examining the gauntlet they endure while crossing from offshore spawning to nearshore settlement areas. Regional differences will be linked to on-shore and off-shore transport, ecosystem productivity, and essential fish habitat during the first year of life.

Arctic (Chukchi Sea)
The BASIS group has sampled the epi-pelagic ecosystem of the Chukchi Sea during 2003 and 2007. Results suggest a diverse group of fish species including saffron cod, arctic cod, and an abundance of juvenile pink and chum salmon. Further investigations into the Arctic are planned in support of AFSCs, Habitat and Ecological Processes Research Program, Loss of Sea Ice research effort.

Anadromous Fish
Current research supports Pacific Salmon Treaty and North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission (NPAFC) international treaty obligations through marine ecosystem monitoring and retrospective growth studies of salmon. Cooperative research efforts by member nations of NPAFC to study the effect of climate change on the epi-pelagic ecosystem of the Bering Sea have been underway since 2002 under the research titled Bering-Aleutian Salmon International Survey (BASIS). Further information on NPAFC-BASIS and the recent NPAFC-BASIS Symposium can be found at: http://www.npafc.org/new/index.html.

Featured Research, Publications, Posters, Reports, and Activities

• Spatial distribution, energetic status, and food habits of eastern Bering Sea age-0 walleye pollock.
  MOSS, J. H., E. V. FARLEY, A. M. FELDMANN, and J. N. IANELLI. 2009. Spatial distribution, energetic status, and food habits of eastern Bering Sea age-0 walleye pollock. Trans. Am. Fish. Soc. 138:497-505. 
   
• Density-dependent growth of Alaska sockeye salmon in relation to climate-oceanic regimes, population abundance, and body size, 1925 to 1998.
  MARTINSON, E. C., J. H. HELLE, D. L. SCARNECCHIA, and H. H. STOKES. 2008. Density-dependent growth of Alaska sockeye salmon in relation to climate-oceanic regimes, population abundance, and body size, 1925 to 1998. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 370:1-18. 
   
• Stock-structured Distribution of Western Alaska Juvenile Chinook Salmon from U.S. BASIS Surveys, 2002-2007
  By:  JAMES MURPHY, WILLIAM TEMPLIN, EDWARD FARLEY, JAMES SEEB
  Conference:  Salmon Ocean Ecology 11th Annual Meeting, Juneau, AK, Apr 2009
  (2009 poster, .pdf, 174 KB.)   Online.
   
• Spatial Distribution, Energetic Status, and Food Habits of Eastern Bering Sea Age-0 Walleye Pollock
  By:  J. H. MOSS, E. V. FARLEY, A. M. FELDMANN, J. N. IANELLI
  Conference:  Alaska Marine Science Symposium, Anchorage, AK, Jan 2009
  (2009 poster, .pdf, 109KB)   Online.
   

See the publications and posters databases for additional listings.