Aleutian and Bering Sea Initiative
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Resilience through partnership: where the needs of communities, resource managers, and industry meet. Our work is a collaboration of many partners including industry, federal and Tribal governments, and academia with the goal of developing the science and unique connections needed to take on the 21st century’s challenges and opportunities.
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Current Announcements
  • We have a new name! As of late 2018, the Aleutian and Bering Sea Islands Landscape Conservation Cooperative is now called the Aleutian and Bering Sea Initiative. Same goals, partners, and plans as before, just with a catchy new moniker. Please bear with us as we update our materials with our new name. 
  • Do you have a good story to tell about research and management of natural/cultural resources in the Aleutian and Bering Sea Islands region? If so, let us help you tell it! Send us your announcements, poster presentations, YouTube videos, etc. and we will gladly share them with our rapidly-growing partnership community.​Contact Aaron Poe, ABSI Coordinator, with details and links.

Recent Highlights of the ABSI Partnership

Aleutian Waterway Safety Committee

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Stakeholders across the Aleutians have established an Aleutian Islands Waterways Safety Committee. The new committee convenes diverse waterway users to discuss and recommend safe navigational practices in a non-regulatory setting. Following a public meetings and work sessions, the group  nominated a first Board of Directors, which will carry the work forward through establishing the committee and various workgroups.

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Projecting Future Vessel Traffic Dynamics

PictureThe vessel projections shown for the high scenario in 2025 for monthly ship cargo ship traffic.
 developed a simulation model to better show how various projections associated with increased marine traffic in the Bering Sea might look in the coming decades. These simulations are able to help communities and managers better understand future patterns of traffic in the Bering Sea region as a whole, and look more specifically at possible changes in key areas of concern like the Bering Strait.
 
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Steering Committee News

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ABSI welcomes Jeanette Koelsch to the Steering Committee. Jeanette has been the superintendent of the Bering Land Bridge National Preserve since 2009. She is responsible for establishing short and long-term goals, planning and developing programs, and implementing NPS policies and procedures that ensure th​e preservation and protection, interpretation and study of the park resources. 

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Climate Vulnerability Assessment

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ABSI and our partners from Alaska Ocean Observing System (AOOS) and the Alaska Climate Science Center launched the Aleutians and Bering Climate Vulnerability Assessment (ABCVA) in late 2013. This project convened a team of 30 top researchers to evaluate the vulnerability of natural resources and communities to climate change. Over the past 18 months this team with expertise in marine mammals, seabirds, fisheries, subsistence practices and culture resources has volunteered their time to assess how climate change might affect the important resources of this region.

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Marine Invasive Species

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Introductions of marine invasive species to the Bering Sea have historically been relatively low, most likely due to geographic isolation and limited human activity; however, with changing global shipping patterns and warming ocean temperatures, introductions are likely to increase. More than 70 marine invasive species have been identified as either occurring, or having the potential to occur in Alaska waters based on proximity of species in neighboring regions, presence of suitable habitat in Alaska, and active vectors that could lead to unintentional introductions (Alaska Invasive Species Working Group 2010). Our goal is to perform a marine invasive species risk assessment that will provide the most up-to-date information for the Bering Sea and investigate risk factors associated with commercial shipping and fishing traffic.
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​This project is a partnership among University of Alaska Anchorage’s Alaska Center for Conservation Science, ABSI, Alaska Sea Grant and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge.

Adapt Alaska: Coastal Resilience in Western Alaska

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In Alaska, changes in snow, ice, and weather, have resulted in risks to human lives, infrastructure damage, threats to valuable natural resources, and disruption of hunting, fishing, and livelihoods.
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