Alaska Fisheries Science Center

Our Location Alaska has five large marine ecosystems, or ecosystem complexes, each with unique characteristics. The Gulf of Alaska and the Bering Sea are especially resource-rich and support some of the largest and most valuable commercial fisheries in the world, like Alaska pollock, red king crab, and sablefish. The Gulf of Alaska is shaped by deep-sea gullies, islands, and massive inlets that channel in fresh water and nutrients. The Bering Sea’s unique currents and the annual migration of sea ice from the Arctic provide the right conditions to allow fish like Alaska pollock—the largest sustainable fishery in the world—to flourish. Aleutian Islands marine life is diverse with many species that only exist along the island chain’s span of nearly 1,200 miles. The expansive Arctic Ocean is made up of the north Bering Sea along with the Chukchi and Beaufort seas where you can find marine mammals like bowhead and beluga whales, and bearded and ringed seals. What We Do We study Alaska’s marine life to ensure the sustainable use of living marine resources in federal waters. We monitor fish and marine mammal populations that have supported Alaska Native communities for centuries and provided food, income, and recreational enjoyment for millions of people around the world. Effectively studying fish and marine mammals also requires researching their habitats and the relationships between predators and prey. We study Alaska marine ecosystems. To obtain the best available information scientists use research ships to collect oceanographic and biological samples. We also use airplanes and uncrewed aerial systems to collect data in remote areas. We work collaboratively with the fishing industry to collect information on how much fish is caught each year in commercial operations and recreationally. We then input collected data into sophisticated models to help predict future fish stock size. Fishery managers use our data to set sustainable catch limits and protect whales, seals, and sea lions in Alaska.