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Ecosystem-Based Fishery Management in the Bering Sea
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Ecosystem-Based Fishery Management in the Bering Sea

A special issue of Journal of Marine Science and Engineering (ISSN 2077-1312). This special issue belongs to the section "Marine Ecology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2022) | Viewed by 13182

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Jeffrey W. Short

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
JWS Consulting LLC, 19315 Glacier Highway, Juneau, AK 99801, USA
Interests: oil pollution; PAH; aquatic ecotoxicology; indirect effects of contaminants; oil source identification; marine ecosystem perturbations

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

While often embraced conceptually, implementation of ecosystem-based fishery management lacks consensus. In the eastern Bering Sea, EBFM is explicitly incorporated into management plans for the pollock fishery, the largest by volume in the United States. Although careful management has maintained a stable pollock population, increasing evidence suggests that this may have been in part at the expense of the northern fur seal population, which has been in continuous decline since the inception of the industrial-scale commercial pollock fishery in 1964. Recognizing these developments, I invite you to contribute a manuscript to a Special Issue of the Journal of Marine Science and Engineering that will focus on the scientific, traditional ecological knowledge and fishery management perspectives on evidence in support of or countering possible competition for pollock between the commercial fishery and northern fur seals, as well as the case for and potential socio-economic consequences of alternative management options. Perspectives from Native American communities, academia, government, industry, conservation interests and other stakeholders are especially welcome to advance the dialogue around what EBFM means, whether it should be implemented and, if so how, in the context of major fisheries operating in a large marine ecosystem.

Dr. Jeffrey W. Short
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Alaska Pollock
  • Northern fur seal
  • Bering Sea
  • Traditional ecological knowledge
  • Pribilof Islands
  • Commercial fishery interactions

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Editorial

Jump to: Research, Review

4 pages, 180 KiB  
Editorial
Ecosystem-Based Fishery Management in the Bering Sea
by Jeffrey W. Short
J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2023, 11(11), 2105; https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse11112105 - 3 Nov 2023
Viewed by 628
Abstract
The waters of the Bering Sea are among the most productive on earth, having supported major commercial fisheries for up to ~60 years and First Nations cultures for millennia [...] Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ecosystem-Based Fishery Management in the Bering Sea)

Research

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18 pages, 5328 KiB  
Article
Disentangling Population Level Differences in Juvenile Migration Phenology for Three Species of Salmon on the Yukon River
by Katharine B. Miller and Courtney M. Weiss
J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2023, 11(3), 589; https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse11030589 - 10 Mar 2023
Viewed by 1622
Abstract
Migration phenology influences many important ecological processes. For juvenile Pacific salmon, the timing of the seaward migration from fresh to marine waters is linked to early marine survival and adult returns. Seaward migration phenology is determined by interactions between the intrinsic attributes of [...] Read more.
Migration phenology influences many important ecological processes. For juvenile Pacific salmon, the timing of the seaward migration from fresh to marine waters is linked to early marine survival and adult returns. Seaward migration phenology is determined by interactions between the intrinsic attributes of individual species and environmental factors that are acting upon them. Temperature and discharge are two factors of the freshwater environment that have been shown to influence intra- and interannual variation in juvenile salmon phenology, but these factors may affect the migrations of sympatric species differently. Understanding how variations in phenology change with environmental heterogeneity is a critical first step in evaluating how the future climate may affect salmon. This is especially crucial for high-latitude rivers, where the pace of climate change is nearly twice as rapid as it is for more temperate areas. This research investigates the influence of river conditions on the seaward migration phenology of Chinook, chum, and coho salmon in the Yukon River. The results identified species-specific differences in the factors affecting migration duration, concentration, and skew and provide a starting point for a more detailed examination of how phenological variability may affect the temporal matching of juvenile salmon with biological resources and environmental conditions for optimal survival. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ecosystem-Based Fishery Management in the Bering Sea)
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28 pages, 10235 KiB  
Article
A Synthesis of Laaqudax^ (Northern Fur Seal) Community Surveys and Commercial Fishery Data in the Pribilof Islands Marine Ecosystem, Alaska
by Lauren Divine, Megan J. Peterson Williams, Jeremy Davies, Michael LeVine and Bruce Robson
J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2022, 10(4), 467; https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse10040467 - 25 Mar 2022
Viewed by 1987
Abstract
Indigenous communities on the Pribilof Islands have longstanding cultural and economic ties to their marine ecosystem and, in particular, to laaqudan (in Unangam Tunuu) or northern fur seals (NFS; Callorhinus ursinus). Indigenous and Local Knowledge holders from the Pribilof Islands have long [...] Read more.
Indigenous communities on the Pribilof Islands have longstanding cultural and economic ties to their marine ecosystem and, in particular, to laaqudan (in Unangam Tunuu) or northern fur seals (NFS; Callorhinus ursinus). Indigenous and Local Knowledge holders from the Pribilof Islands have long expressed concerns about declines in NFS abundance, and research increasingly suggests that nutritional limitation is a key factor in the decline. Using a co-production of knowledge approach, we explore perceptions of NFS ecology and commercial fishery interactions in the Pribilof Islands Marine Ecosystem (PRIME). We synthesize results from community surveys and analyses of commercial pollock (Gadus chalcogrammus) fishery catch data from 2004–2018 relative to documented NFS foraging areas. Community survey results highlighted ecosystem changes and nutritional limitation as primary drivers of recent declines in Pribilof Islands NFS. Consistent with these results, pollock catch data indicate there are concentrated areas of pollock harvest over time near the Pribilof Islands where female NFS forage. These results reinforce the value of considering Indigenous and Local Knowledge and western science together to better understand ecosystem interactions. Our findings also support the consideration of Indigenous and Local Knowledge-based approaches in combination with spatiotemporal management to mitigate NFS nutritional limitation and Pribilof Islands NFS declines. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ecosystem-Based Fishery Management in the Bering Sea)
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27 pages, 5567 KiB  
Article
Pathways between Climate, Fish, Fisheries, and Management: A Conceptual Integrated Ecosystem Management Approach
by Francis K. Wiese and R. John Nelson
J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2022, 10(3), 338; https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse10030338 - 28 Feb 2022
Viewed by 2753
Abstract
The abundance and distribution of marine fishes is influenced by environmental conditions, predator–prey relationships, multispecies interactions, and direct human impacts, such as fishing. The adaptive response of the system depends on its structure and the pathways that link environmental factors to the taxon [...] Read more.
The abundance and distribution of marine fishes is influenced by environmental conditions, predator–prey relationships, multispecies interactions, and direct human impacts, such as fishing. The adaptive response of the system depends on its structure and the pathways that link environmental factors to the taxon in question. The “Star Diagram” is a socio-ecological model of marine ecosystems that depicts the general pathways between climate, fish, and fisheries, and their intersection with climate policy and resource management. We illustrate its use by identifying the key factors, pathways and drivers that influence walleye pollock, crab, and sockeye salmon, under a warming scenario on the eastern Bering Sea shelf. This approach predicts that all three species will see reduced populations under a long-term warming scenario. Going forward, the challenge to managers is to balance the magnitude of the effect of harvest and the adaptability of their management system, with the scale and degree of resilience and the behavioral, physiological, or evolutionary adaptation of the ecosystem and its constituents. The Star Diagram provides a novel conceptual construct that managers can use to visualize and integrate the various aspects of the system into a holistic, socio-ecological management framework. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ecosystem-Based Fishery Management in the Bering Sea)
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25 pages, 3897 KiB  
Article
First-Year Survival of Northern Fur Seals (Callorhinus ursinus) Can Be Explained by Pollock (Gadus chalcogrammus) Catches in the Eastern Bering Sea
by Jeffrey W. Short, Harold J. Geiger, Lowell W. Fritz and Jonathan J. Warrenchuk
J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2021, 9(9), 975; https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse9090975 - 7 Sep 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3814
Abstract
The Pribilof northern fur seal (Callorhinus ursinus) herd in the eastern Bering Sea has declined by ~70% since the 1970s, for elusive reasons. Competition for pollock (Gadus chalcogramma) with the commercial fishery has been suspected as a contributing factor, [...] Read more.
The Pribilof northern fur seal (Callorhinus ursinus) herd in the eastern Bering Sea has declined by ~70% since the 1970s, for elusive reasons. Competition for pollock (Gadus chalcogramma) with the commercial fishery has been suspected as a contributing factor, but no correlative relationship between fishing activity and fur seal population declines has heretofore been demonstrated. Here, we present evidence for a moderately strong inverse relationship between fishery catches of pollock and first-year survival of fur seals, based on three different approaches to evaluation. We suspect this relationship results from the dependence of lactating female fur seals on locating dense and extensive schools of pollock near the Pribilof Islands to efficiently provide nutrition for their pups, because the pollock fishery also targets these same schools, and when fished, the remnants of these schools are fragmented and dispersed, making them more difficult for fur seals to locate and exploit. Inadequately fed pups are less likely to survive their initial independent residence at sea as they migrate south from the Pribilof Islands in the fall. Our results imply that pollock catches above ~1,000,000 t within ~300 km of the Pribilof Islands may continue to suppress first-year survival of Pribilof fur seals below the estimated equilibrium survival value of 0.50, leading to continued decline of the population. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ecosystem-Based Fishery Management in the Bering Sea)
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Review

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27 pages, 12764 KiB  
Review
Echoes of the 2013–2015 Marine Heat Wave in the Eastern Bering Sea and Consequent Biological Responses
by Igor M. Belkin and Jeffrey W. Short
J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2023, 11(5), 958; https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse11050958 - 30 Apr 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1282
Abstract
We reviewed various physical and biological manifestations of an unprecedented large-scale water temperature anomaly that emerged in the Northeast Pacific in late 2013. The anomaly dubbed “The Blob” persisted through 2014–2016, with some signs of its persistence through 2017–2018 and a possible reemergence [...] Read more.
We reviewed various physical and biological manifestations of an unprecedented large-scale water temperature anomaly that emerged in the Northeast Pacific in late 2013. The anomaly dubbed “The Blob” persisted through 2014–2016, with some signs of its persistence through 2017–2018 and a possible reemergence in 2019. The tentative timeline of The Blob’s successive appearances around the Northeast Pacific is suggestive of its advection by currents around the Gulf of Alaska, along the Aleutians, into the Bering Sea, and eventually to the Bering Strait. During the initial phase of The Blob’s development in 2013–2014, advection along the Polar Front might have played a certain role. The extreme persistence and magnitude of The Blob resulted in numerous and sometimes dramatic ecosystem responses in the eastern Bering Sea. The multi-year duration of The Blob might have preconditioned the Bering Sea for the record low seasonal sea ice extent during the winter of 2017–2018 and the disappearance of the cold pool in 2016 and 2018 that profoundly affected zooplankton, invertebrates, fishes, seabirds, and marine mammals. A comparison of the time series of population responses across trophic levels suggests that The Blob lowered primary production during spring, increased production of small copepods and jellyfish, and reduced the efficiency of energy transfer to higher trophic levels. While the Bering Sea’s water temperature, seasonal sea ice, and cold pool seem to return to the long-term mean state in 2022, it remains to be seen if the Bering Sea ecosystem will completely recover. The two most likely alternative scenarios envision either irreversible changes or hysteresis recovery. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ecosystem-Based Fishery Management in the Bering Sea)
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