Noaa Fisheries Service Inserts Alaska Region Headquarters Northeast Region Northwest Region Pacific Islands Region Southeast Region Southwest Region PDF Download

"The Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC) acquires and distributes the scientific information necessary to fulfill the mission of the National Marine Fisheries Service, which supports responsible stewardship of the Nation's living marine resources and their habitats (NOAA Fisheries Mission), and collaborates with the Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL) to do so. The enabling legislation for the NOAA Fisheries mission is found in the Magnuson-Stevens Fisheries Conservation and Management Act (MSA), the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), and the Endangered Species Act (ESA). To continue to fulfill this mission in the face of climate change, the AFSC seeks to acquire information and develop science-based strategies for sustaining fisheries, healthy ecosystems, protected species, and coastal communities in a changing climate. The Alaska Regional Action Plan (ARAP) for the southeastern Bering Sea (Figure 1) conforms to a nationally consistent blueprint, the NOAA Fisheries Climate Science Strategy. The Strategy guides efforts by NOAA Fisheries and its partners to address information needs organized into seven science objectives that represent the process of managing the Nation's fisheries in the face of changing climate conditions. The goal of the RAP is to increase the production, delivery and use of climate related information for marine resource management in the region. The ARAP identifies strengths, weaknesses, priorities, and actions to implement the NOAA Fisheries Climate Science Strategy in Alaska over the next 3-5 years, and contributes to implementation of the Strategy by focusing on building regional capacity and partnerships to address the Strategy's seven science objectives (Figure 2). Successful implementation of the ARAP will require enhanced collaboration with our academic and agency partners"--Executive Summary. [doi:10.7289/V5/TM-AFSC-336 (http://dx.doi.org/10.7289/V5/TM-AFSC-336)]