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.
The Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC) of NOAA Fisheries, National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), conducts research on marine mammals off the coasts of Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and California.
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.