A Recent Indicator-Based Assessment for the Eastern Bering Sea

An Eastern Bering Sea Ecosystem Synthesis Team was assembled in 2010 to bring together a multidisciplinary group of experts to choose ecosystem indicators that could form as the basis of a new ecosystem assessment for the eastern Bering Sea (EBS). The goal of this assessment was to provide current and relevant scientific advice for fisheries managers. The team first met to develop a list of synthetic ecosystem indicators for the EBS. The suite of indicators was selected to represent key ecosystem components by choosing the best available indicators related to (1) atmosphere and upper-ocean physics, (2) lower trophic levels and primary production, (3) fish and shellfish distribution and abundance, (4) fish and shellfish production, (5) fisheries productivity, (6) seabirds, (7) pinnipeds, and (8) whales. During the second workshop, the team developed a new EBS assessment and report card. For this initial assessment, the team focused on a subset of 10 broad, community-level indicators to determine the current state and likely future trends of ecosystem productivity overall, including switches between major pathways (benthic/pelagic). The team also selected indicators thought to best guide managers on ensuring the needs of non-fishery apex predators and maintaining a sustainable species mix in the harvest, given the current state and likely future trends of overall productivity and the distribution/strength of pathways. In this talk we will give a brief rationale for each indicator's selection, describe the indicator, and its status, trends, and implications for fishery management. We will also review the assessment results as they were presented to the North Pacific Fishery Management Council as part of the annual catch specification process.