Ocean Acidification Funding Received

The AFSC received $493,700 for ocean acidification research in FY 2011. These new funds primarily will be used to conduct species-specific physiological research. The species-specific physiological response to ocean acidification is unknown for most marine species. Lacking basic knowledge, research will be directed toward several taxa including king crab, coldwater corals, and walleye pollock. The research will be conducted at the Kodiak, Auke Bay, and Newport Laboratories. The king crab results also will be incorporated into a king crab bioeconomic model; this work will be completed by the AFSC’s Socioeconomics Assessment program in Seattle.

Report of the Bering Sea Project (BEST/BSIERP) Principal Investigators’ Meeting

Principal investigators of the Bering Sea Project (BEST/BSIERP) met 22–24 March 2011 in Anchorage, Alaska, to discuss and exchange research findings. About one hundred scientists attended the meeting. The goals of the meeting were to present summary results organized around related projects, to organize focal group discussions, and to review progress toward a road map for synthesis of Bering Sea Project results.

Participants presented key research findings on the following topics: physical oceanography, iron and nutrients, benthos, ice algae and primary production, zooplankton, ichthyoplankton, fish surveys, fish and ocean conditions, seabirds and whales, patch dynamics, local and traditional knowledge and subsistence, lower trophic level models, upper trophic level models, competing models, data management, and outreach. Thanks to everyone who contributed to this interesting and productive meeting.

By Mike Sigler