West Bering Sea LME
Introduction
The Bering Sea is a semi-enclosed high-latitude sea with a deep basin (3,500m) and shallow (<200m) continental shelves. The broad shelf in the east (East Bering Sea) contrasts with the narrow shelf in the west (West Bering Sea).
The West Bering Sea LME lies off the northeast coast of Russia and faces the US coast in Alaska. For a map, go to the Atlas of the Oceans. Its bottom topography includes the deep Aleutian basin, making it deeper than the East Bering Sea, with different marine species. It is influenced by the very cold Subarctic Current and is dominated by storms. A physical driving force in this LME is the annual formation of sea ice. Bering Sea pack ice extends in winter to 58 deg N but clears completely in the summer, retreating through the Bering Strait to about 70 deg N. Winds control sea ice conditions, and sea ice controls many physical characteristics of the ocean in these regions. The West Bering Sea is considered a moderately high (150-300 gC/m2-yr) productivity ecosystem. This Sea contains animals adapted to sea ice, including 450 species of fish, crustaceans and mollusks, and 25 species of marine mammals such as polar bears, whales (including gray whales), walruses, and sea lions (including the endangered Steller sea lion) as well as a variety of seabirds. The West Bering Sea has the largest fish biomass in the world for Pacific cod and cod-like fishes (Alaskan pollock, walleye pollock). Other species harvested include salmon, flatfish, rockfish, halibut, flounder, herring, squid and a variety of crab species and other crustaceans.
The West Bering Sea LME lies off the northeast coast of Russia and faces the US coast in Alaska. For a map, go to the Atlas of the Oceans. Its bottom topography includes the deep Aleutian basin, making it deeper than the East Bering Sea, with different marine species. It is influenced by the very cold Subarctic Current and is dominated by storms. A physical driving force in this LME is the annual formation of sea ice. Bering Sea pack ice extends in winter to 58 deg N but clears completely in the summer, retreating through the Bering Strait to about 70 deg N. Winds control sea ice conditions, and sea ice controls many physical characteristics of the ocean in these regions. The West Bering Sea is considered a moderately high (150-300 gC/m2-yr) productivity ecosystem. This Sea contains animals adapted to sea ice, including 450 species of fish, crustaceans and mollusks, and 25 species of marine mammals such as polar bears, whales (including gray whales), walruses, and sea lions (including the endangered Steller sea lion) as well as a variety of seabirds. The West Bering Sea has the largest fish biomass in the world for Pacific cod and cod-like fishes (Alaskan pollock, walleye pollock). Other species harvested include salmon, flatfish, rockfish, halibut, flounder, herring, squid and a variety of crab species and other crustaceans.
Socioeconomic Conditions and Governance
Fish and game have supported the lives of people on both sides of the Bering Sea for many centuries, with more recent human activities including mining, industrial fishing, oil exploration and development. Tourism is almost non-existent but there is huge economic potential. Sustainability of these sectors is a focus of international management activities. The Western Bering Sea Large Marine Ecosystem is bordered by Russia and the USA (Alaska). Japan also impacts the biological resources of the Bering Sea, one of the most important fisheries areas in the world. The region is a global commons that requires international cooperation for sustainable use. Areas that need to be coordinated are resource extraction (mining, oil exploration and development), conservation strategies, legal issues, fisheries economics, and scientific monitoring. Under the US-Russia Agreement on Cooperation in the Field of Environmental Protection, activities include:
Picture taken by the Pacific Oceanological Institute (POI) scientists in 2004 working on board the research vessel "Michael Lavrentiev" (Vladivostok) near the Chukotka coast of the Bering Sea.
- conservation and management of sea bird populations,
- conservation and study of polar bears,
- marine mammals, including instrument surveys of Pacific walrus,
- dynamics of Arctic marine ecosystems including Bering and Chukchi Seas, and
- ichthyology and aquaculture.
Picture taken by the Pacific Oceanological Institute (POI) scientists in 2004 working on board the research vessel "Michael Lavrentiev" (Vladivostok) near the Chukotka coast of the Bering Sea.