Report of the PICES/NPRB Workshop on Integration of Ecological Indicators of the North Pacific with Emphasis on the Bering Sea

Ecosystem indicators are part of a larger process that considers policy-level goals for an ecosystem.Other elements include operational objectives and performance criteria. The eastern Bering Sea isadvanced in application of ecosystem-based considerations to the management of marine resources. Forinstance, an Ecosystem Considerations appendix is prepared by the Alaska Fisheries Science Center(AFSC) each year for the annual Stock Assessment and Fishery Evaluation (SAFE) reports published bythe North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC). This report is reviewed annually byNPFMC’s plan teams and Scientific and Statistical Committee, and scientific advice is provided annuallyto managers based on ecosystem trends relative to managed fish species. Similarly, the North PacificMarine Science Organization (PICES) prepared a North Pacific Ecosystem Status report in 2004 and isbeginning to plan for an updated version of this report. Both reports can be improved by developingconsensus on operational objectives and appropriate indicators.Progress toward operational objectives and development of appropriate indicators was made byconducting the following four activities during an international workshop held on June 1–3, 2006, inSeattle (Washington, U.S.A.):1. Involve the Bering Sea and international communities in developing of a set of operational objectivesfor the southeastern Bering Sea ecosystem;2. Evaluate two status reports with the goal of integrating results and streamlining the presentation. Thetwo reports are:a. NPFMC. 2005. Appendix C: Ecosystem Considerations for 2006. North Pacific FisheryManagement Council, Anchorage, Alaska (http://access.afsc.noaa.gov/reem/EcoWeb /index.cfm);b. PICES. 2004. Marine Ecosystems of the North Pacific, PICES Special Publication 1, 280 p.(http://www.pices.int/publications/special_publications/NPESR/2005/npesr_2005.aspx);3. Investigate methodologies that monitor system-wide structural changes within the marine ecosystem;4. Identify steps to validate indicator performance, improve the monitoring network, and integrate intopredictive models.In preparing the workshop a focus was on the southeastern Bering Sea because it represents the center ofthe Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands large marine ecosystem (LME), one of three LMEs (the other two are theGulf of Alaska and Arctic Ocean) defining the North Pacific Research Board’s (NPRB) research region.This endeavour was funded by NPRB. Although the project focused on the southeastern Bering Sea, theintent of this exercise was to provide insights, findings, and recommendations more broadly applicable tothe North Pacific and its adjacent seas, a larger area representing the PICES region, including watersbordering China, Japan, South Korea, Russia, Canada, and the United States.Workshop presentations included three white papers on (1) development of operational objectives for thesoutheastern Bering Sea ecosystem; (2) ecosystem-based management for the oceans: a perspective forfisheries in the Bering Sea; and (3) ecological indicators: software development. These papers werefollowed by presentations on indicator use in other regions with advice for the North Pacific and reportson the status of the southeastern Bering Sea. A series of break-out groups was then convened to discussthe Ecosystem Considerations appendix of the SAFE report and PICES North Pacific Ecosystem Statusreport, objectives and use of indicators, matching indicators to objectives, methods to monitor ecosystemwidestructural changes, and means toward communicating results. Although this project was ambitious,substantial progress was made, and the following recommendations resulted from the workshop:Ecosystem Objectives and Indicators1. Ecosystem-level and community-level conservation thresholds are relatively new ideas in marineconservation. Since they will require new kinds of indicators, research is needed for theirdevelopment and application to the Bering Sea.2. New research is needed to understand how to synthesize the large set of Bering Sea data records intoa reasonable number of ecosystem status indicators.3. A formal process of evaluating and selecting ecosystem indicators is a general requirement. TheAlaska Fisheries Science Center should consider developing and applying such a process to theindicators in its Ecosystem Considerations appendix.4. Enhancements to the ocean/ecosystem monitoring network are needed to fill data gaps at ecologicalpulse points (plankton, benthic infauna and epifauna, seasonal species interactions and movements,small pelagics, and cephalopods) to improve predictive models and the development of ecosystemindicators.5. More collaboration between modelers at the Alaska Fisheries Science Center and the Pacific MarineEnvironmental Laboratory, and elsewhere is encouraged to link various climate/ecosystem andconservation/assessment models, and to use these models to evaluate management strategies.Socio-economicsWhile the workshop did not address socio-economic operational objectives for the Bering Sea and NorthPacific, linkages between the well-being of people and healthy marine ecosystems require a level ofattention comparable to those for ecosystem conservation objectives:6. Socio-economic objectives related with the marine environment should be developed for the region,along with their indicators and reference points.7. The North Pacific Fishery Management Council should play a central role in shepherding thedevelopment of these socio-economic objectives and indicators for the southeastern Bering Sea andGulf of Alaska ecosystems;8. There is a need to conduct scientific and policy analyses of pathways to achieve socio-economicobjectives while remaining within ecosystem-level conservation limits.Communication9. Plans should be developed at an early stage on how the information from indicators can best becommunicated to scientists, policy and decision makers, and the general public. The plans shouldinclude publishing concise, attractive executive summaries of major ecosystem status reports that willdescribe important trends and patterns in marine ecosystems for non-scientists.10. To reach policy makers and the public in Asian countries, future iterations of the Synthesis chapter inthe PICES North Pacific Ecosystem Status report should be published in multiple languages.11. The development by the National Marine Fisheries Service of an Ecosystem Considerations websitegreatly increased access to time series of ecosystem indicators for the Alaska region, and should bemaintained and enhanced.12. An overview of the status of the Bering Sea ecosystem(s) should be presented at the annual MarineScience in Alaska Symposium to foster broader communication among the diversity of regionalscientists, managers and the public.Specific recommendations from individuals/groups can be found under Discussion Group Results in thisreport. (Document has 121 pages.)

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