The Eastern Bering Sea shelf: a highly productive seasonally ice-covered sea ...

No abstracts are to be cited without prior reference to the author.The Eastern Bering Sea is characterized by its broad (> 500km), shallow (mean depth = 70m), and seasonally ice-covered shelf. The spatial extent of ice and the timing of ice retreat are driven by large-scale atmospheric forcing an...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Mueter, Franz J., Hunt, Jr. George L., Litzow, Michael A.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:unknown
Published: ASC 2007 - Theme session D 2024
Subjects:
Online Access:https://dx.doi.org/10.17895/ices.pub.25257631.v1
https://ices-library.figshare.com/articles/conference_contribution/The_Eastern_Bering_Sea_shelf_a_highly_productive_seasonally_ice-covered_sea/25257631/1
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Summary:No abstracts are to be cited without prior reference to the author.The Eastern Bering Sea is characterized by its broad (> 500km), shallow (mean depth = 70m), and seasonally ice-covered shelf. The spatial extent of ice and the timing of ice retreat are driven by large-scale atmospheric forcing and vary considerably interannually. This variability affects the spatial distribution of fish and invertebrates, the timing of the spring bloom, and the flow of energy to upper trophic levels, including shifts between benthic and pelagic compartments. High productivity on the shelf (up to 200-250 gC m-2 y-1) is fueled by nutrient-rich waters originating in the deep Aleutian Basin and supports a large community of demersal and pelagic fish and shellfish, as well as large populations of seabirds and marine mammals. Fish biomass and commercial catches (> 1.3 million tons annually) are dominated by gadids, in particular walleye pollock (Theragra chalcogramma), and flatfishes (Pleuronectidae). Although the ...