Proceedings of the North Aleutian Basin information status and research planning meeting.
The North Aleutian Basin Planning Area of the Minerals Management Service (MMS) is a large geographic area with significant ecological and natural resources. The Basin includes most of the southeastern part of the Bering Sea 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 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 (Argonne) were contracted to assist the MMS Alaska Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Region in identifying and prioritizing information needs related to the North Aleutian Basin and potential future oil and gas leasing and development activities. The overall approach focused on three related but separate tasks: (1) identification and gathering of relevant literature; (2) synthesis and summary of the literature; and (3) identification and prioritization of information needs. To assist in gathering this information, MMS convened the North Aleutian Basin Information Status and Research Planning Meeting, held in Anchorage, Alaska, from November 28 through December 1, 2006; this report presents a summary of that meeting. The meeting was the primary method used to gather input from stakeholders and identify information needs and priorities for future inventory, monitoring, and research related to potential leasing and oil and gas developments in the North Aleutian Basin.
- Research Organization:
- Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- DOI
- DOE Contract Number:
- DE-AC02-06CH11357
- OSTI ID:
- 918871
- Report Number(s):
- OCS STUDY MMS 2007-031; TRN: US200825%%169
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- ENGLISH
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