U.S. Dept. of Commerce / NOAA / OAR / PMEL
Bering Sea FOCI was active from 1991 through 1997.
For a detailed summary of BS FOCI, see the Final
Report, a PDF (help)
document.
An Overview of Bering Sea FOCI
GOAL - The objective of Bering Sea FOCI is to understand the effect of
the physical and biological environment on recruitment of walleye pollock.
Because of its rich abundance of fish, the Bering Sea has been the focus
of much international fisheries research. Although interpretation of fishery
data varies sometimes with political need, a case can be made for a counterclockwise
movement of pollock with life stage. Eggs are predominantly spawned along
the southern and eastern slopes and basins, hatch into larvae along the
eastern and northeastern slopes, and develop into juveniles that may be
found predominantly on the western slope and shelf. One component of FOCI
research attempts to define the basin-wide ocean circulation and characteristics
of various pollock populations. The second component considers the contrast
in characteristics between the oceanic and shelf domains. Previous research
(e.g., PROBES) indicates that the basin and the shelf are biologically
separate domains with different likelihoods of pollock survival. In FY1994
Bering Sea FOCI began focus on the eastern Bering Sea, examining the ocean
circulation, the food supply, predators, egg and larval transport, biological
rates, and other criteria for the basin and shelf environments. FY1997
will be the final year of funding for Bering Sea FOCI.
OPERATIONS AND RESOURCES - The program has a core of principal investigators
at the Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC) and the Pacific Marine Environmental
Laboratory (PMEL), both in Seattle, Washington, and a number of investigators
from academic institutions across the nation. Principal leadership is supplied
by Gary Stauffer/AFSC and Jim Overland/PMEL. Scientific guidance is furnished
by Jim Schumacher/PMEL, Art Kendall/AFSC, and Jeff Napp/AFSC. Allen Macklin/PMEL
serves as program coordinator. Two NOAA research vessels, Miller Freeman
and Surveyor, provide working platforms in the Bering Sea during late winter,
spring, and fall.
Work has proceeded in the laboratory and in the field according
to research plans developed by the program's principal investigators. Broad
areas addressed are pollock populations, distributions of phytoplankton,
ichthyoplankton, pollock eggs and larvae, juveniles, oceanography, and
fisheries oceanography.
COLLABORATION - Bering Sea FOCI shares its information freely with other
research projects of NOAA's Coastal Ocean Program, with Shelikof Strait
FOCI, and with the academic community. An important operational goal of
Bering Sea FOCI is to provide information to the North Pacific Fisheries
Management Council to help manage the pollock resource.
FOCI home page
PMEL home page
NOAA's Coastal Ocean Program.