Bering Sea

The Bering Sea is a northern extension of the north Pacific Ocean, bordered to east by Alaska, and to the west by Russia's Chukotka and Kamchatka Peninsulas.

To the south the Bering Sea is framed by the arc of the Alaska Peninsula, the Aleutian Islands, and Russia's Commander Islands.

The Bering Sea ecoregion also encompasses the southern Chukchi Sea, due to the many species that migrate through the 53-mile wide Bering Strait and the oceanographic processes that link the Chukchi and Bering Seas.

Covering almost 2.6 million square kilometres of arctic and sub-arctic waters, the Bering Sea supports huge populations of fish and shellfish, birds, whales, dolphins, porpoises, walrus, sea lions, polar bears, and seals. More than 50 percent of the United States and Russia's annual fish catch come from the Bering Sea.

Threats

However, the Bering Sea is faced with significant and disturbing changes. Steep declines in some marine mammal populations, fluctuations in seabird populations, and the reduction or collapse of certain commercially important crab and fish stocks are a major cause for concern (view map 7.5 Mb).

The major threats include:, fisheries mismanagement (habitat disturbance, large-scale illegal fishing in the Russian waters of the Bering Sea, and overfishing in some cases); introduction of non-native species; , pollution (ranging from marine debris to Persistent Organic Pollutants and oil spills), and climate change.

Intensive efforts are underway at the grassroots level, regionally, nationally and internationally to better understand and conserve the many complex systems that make up the Bering Sea ecoregion.

What WWF is doing

WWF is working throughout the ecoregion to address these threats, working with communities, government agencies, NGOs, scientists, fishermen, and many residents of Bering Sea coastal communities.

In the Pribilof Islands, WWF has been facilitating a collaborative stakeholder process to address local concerns about declines in crab, halibut, and northern fur seals. Working with all of the key players and interest groups from and around the Pribilofs, we aim to develop conservation solutions that will benefit wildlife as well as people depending on the resources here.

WWF is also working with communities to develop local monitoring and observation programs in the Yukon-Kuskokwim delta.

In Russia, we actively support a program to address illegal fishing and are developing partnerships with the fishing sector to improve fishing practices. On both coasts of the sea WWF supports environmental education, working with adults and children who will help serve as the future conservationists and leaders of the region.