Webinar on Examining the Relationships between Northern Fur Seals, Pollock, and Climate Change in Alaska

On Wednesday, July 25, 2018, Dr. Jeremy Sterling and colleagues provided an overview of their project to develop a new spatially explicit bioenergetics model to estimate the dietary needs of northern fur seals, and link the model to the existing climate-to-fish model of the Bering Sea (FEAST) and the multi-species stock assessment model (CEATTLE).

During the webinar, the research team provided an overview for the impetus of the project, the methodology, and how they will proceed over the next 2 to 3 years. The research team will further elucidate how northern fur seals interact with prey, fisheries, and climate change by implementing a four-phase research approach that aims to estimate the:

• Energy requirements of northern fur seals in the Bering Sea;
• Prey species and size allocation needed to match the estimated energy requirements of northern fur seals;
• Climate-specific northern fur seal based multi-species harvest rates for eastern Bering Sea pollock;
• Expected future availability of pollock (under changing conditions) and its potential impact on northern fur seals.