The loss of Arctic sea ice and warming climate conditions are altering ecosystem processes within the NBS. These conditions are more conducive for larger and recurrent HABs as well as increases in HAB toxins in food webs that may impact wildlife health.
In 2023, NOAA Fisheries’ Alaska Fisheries Science Center conducted two surveys within U.S. territorial waters of the Bering Sea: the southeastern Bering Sea shelf bottom trawl survey and the northern Bering Sea bottom trawl survey.
In 2017, the 36th annual eastern Bering Sea shelf bottom trawl survey was extended northward to include 144 additional stations in an area bounded by the Bering Strait, Norton Sound, and the U.S.–Russia Maritime Boundary.
In 2018, the 37th annual eastern Bering Sea shelf bottom trawl survey was extended northward to include 49 additional stations in an area bounded by the Bering Strait, Norton Sound, and the U.S.–Russia Maritime Boundary.