Literature and information related to the natural resources of the North Aleutian Basin of Alaska.

• Main Authors: Stull, E.A., Hlohowskyj, I., LaGory, K. E., Division, Environmental Science
• Other Authors: DOI
• Format: Report
• Language: unknown
• Published: Argonne National Laboratory 2008
• Subjects: Mammals; Fisheries; Oil Spills; Communities; Natural Gas; Continental Shelf; Economics; Information Needs; Exploration; Seas; Otters; Hydrocarbons; Aquatic Ecosystems; Bering Sea; Habitat; Environmental Impact Statements; Planning; 03 Natural Gas; Birds; Oceanography; 02 Petroleum; Cetaceans; 29 Energy Planning; Policy And Economy; Anchorage; Alaska; walrus*
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.2172/924695; http://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc901722/

The North Aleutian Basin Planning Area of the Minerals Management Service (MMS) is a large geographic area with significant natural resources. The Basin includes most of the southeastern part of the Bering Sea Outer Continental Shelf, including all of Bristol Bay. The area supports important habitat for a wide variety of species and globally significant habitat for birds and marine mammals, including several federally listed species. Villages and communities of the Alaska Peninsula and other areas bordering or near the Basin rely on its natural resources (especially commercial and subsistence fishing) for much of their sustenance and livelihood. The offshore area of the North Aleutian Basin is considered to have important hydrocarbon reserves, especially natural gas. In 2006, the MMS released a draft proposed program, 'Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program, 2007-2012' and an accompanying draft programmatic environmental impact statement (EIS). The draft proposed program identified two lease sales proposed in the North Aleutian Basin in 2010 and 2012, subject to restrictions. The area proposed for leasing in the Basin was restricted to the Sale 92 Area in the southwestern portion. Additional EISs will be needed to evaluate the potential effects of specific lease actions, exploration activities, and development and production plans in the Basin. A full range of updated multidisciplinary scientific information will be needed to address oceanography, fate and effects of oil spills, marine ecosystems, fish, fisheries, birds, marine mammals, socioeconomics, and subsistence in the Basin. Scientific staff at Argonne National Laboratory were contracted to assist MMS with identifying and prioritizing information needs related to potential future oil and gas leasing and development activities in the North Aleutian Basin. Argonne focused on three related tasks: (1) identify and gather relevant literature published since 1996, (2) synthesize and summarize the literature, and (3) identify and prioritize remaining information needs. To assist in the latter task, MMS convened the North Aleutian Basin Information Status and Research Planning Meeting (the Planning Meeting) in Anchorage, Alaska, from November 28 through December 1, 2006. That meeting and its results are described in 'Proceedings of the North Aleutian Basin Information Status and Research Planning Meeting' (the Planning Meeting report)1. Citations for recent literature (1996-2006) to support an assessment of the impacts of oil and gas development on natural, cultural, and socioeconomic resources in the North Aleutian Basin were entered in a database. The database, a series of Microsoft Excel spreadsheets with links to many of the reference materials, was provided to MMS prior to the Planning Meeting and was made available for participants to use during the meeting. Many types of references were identified and collected from the literature, such as workshop and symposium proceedings, personal web pages, web pages of government and nongovernmental organizations, EISs, books and articles reporting research results, regulatory documents, technical reports, newspaper and newsletter articles, and theses and dissertations. The current report provides (1) a brief overview of the literature; (2) descriptions (in tabular form) of the databased references, including geographic area covered, topic, and species (where relevant); (3) synopses of the contents of the referenced documents and web pages; and (4) a full citation for each reference. At the Planning Meeting, subject matter experts with research experience in the North Aleutian Basin presented overviews of the area's resources, including oceanography, fish and shellfish populations, federal fisheries, commercial fishery economics, community socioeconomics, subsistence, seabirds and shorebirds, waterfowl, seals and sea lions, cetaceans, sea otters, and walruses. These presentations characterized the status of the resource, the current state of knowledge on the topic, and information needs related to an assessment of the effects of oil and gas development. An overview of each presentation and the presentation materials used at the meeting are provided in the Planning Meeting report. The reader should refer to that report as well as to the information presented in the current report for a more complete understanding of each resource.