The Council is seeking nominations for membership for two taskforces to work on two Action Modules, or projects, that implement the Council’s Bering Sea Fishery Ecosystem Plan (FEP). The two initiated Action Modules are the following:

• Climate Change Action Module: Evaluate short- and long-term effects of climate change on fish, fisheries, and the Bering Sea ecosystem, and develop management considerations.
• LK/TK/Subsistence Action Module: Develop protocols for using local knowledge (LK) and traditional knowledge (TK) in management, and understanding impacts of Council decisions on subsistence use.

Background on the Bering Sea Fishery Ecosystem Plan

The Bering Sea FEP establishes a framework for the Council’s continued progress towards ecosystem-based fishery management (EBFM) of the Bering Sea fisheries, and relies and builds on the Council’s existing processes, advisory groups, and management practice. The FEP was prepared by the Bering Sea Fishery Ecosystem Plan Team, which is an interagency group of Council, NMFS, and other Federal, State and IPHC staff, with contributions from other Council and NMFS staff, and with extensive input from the Council’s Ecosystem Committee.

The core FEP document identifies management goals and objectives for the FEP and for monitoring of the Bering Sea ecosystem and describes how the FEP framework will support research projects (Action Modules) to address Council priorities. The FEP offers a framework for strengthening trust, transparency, and a sense of shared investment among managers, scientists, and stakeholders. In adopting the BS FEP, the Council endorsed the expression of EBFM in the North Pacific as characterized in the document, as well as the ecosystem goals and Bering Sea strategic objectives that are included in the draft, and the articulation of how the BS FEP framework concept is supposed to work. The BS FEP does not have the force of law; it is a Council policy document, which the Council can modify, adapt, and update at any time.

Action Module Taskforces

The Council aims to form diverse task forces that can succeed in developing each Action Module and completing the work products envisioned under each. Once formed, the Taskforces will continue to shape the workplans for each Action Module.

The Council intends for each Taskforce to be in place for 2-3 years, to complete the outlined work products, and meet no more than 6 times during that time period, sometimes by teleconference. Each candidate is asked to provide a voluntary time commitment of approximately 40 hours to prepare for each meeting, in addition to the meeting itself. The Council will pay travel costs for non-Federal Taskforce members to attend officially noticed in-person Taskforce meetings.

Climate Change Action Module

The goal of this Action Module is to scope climate change adaptation pathways and long-term resilience of the ecosystem. The module will leverage ongoing studies, such as ACLIM and an Alaska species vulnerability assessment, and consider how information from those existing studies can better filter into the Council process. The Climate Change Action Module Taskforce will be responsible for synthesizing vulnerability and climate-resilience information from MSEs and action module-related projects. Main challenges will include highlighting key findings to the public and Council and identifying areas for future research and conservation actions. A draft workplan has been prepared, which will continue to be refined by the Taskforce at their initial meeting.

The Council Chair intends to appoint no more than 10 people, composed of a combination of agency and external researchers and management staff. Ideally, the Team will include a balance of interdisciplinary and specialist members, and including representation from traditional knowledge holders, indigenous organizations, and/or NGOs, in order to synthesize diverse climate knowledge and research. To the extent possible, the taskforce membership should leverage people with connections to other partnerships doing related research or evaluation.

Taskforce membership qualifications:

• Specialist or interdisciplinary relevant expertise, including that related to the Bering Sea ecosystem oceanography, food web, or biological species, fisheries, or communities; climate change scenario modeling; and/or resilience planning.
• Demonstrate some familiarity with Council processes, as the intent is to provide advice that is relevant to the Council’s decision-making process.
• Able and willing to commit to attending no more than six meetings over the course of 2-3 years (some by teleconference), and additionally to volunteer approximately 40 hours of preparation time before each meeting.

LK/TK Action Module Workplan

The goal is to develop clear guidance for the Council regarding best practices for LK and TK, and for subsistence, and to look at how subsistence data should be incorporated in analyses. The workplan acknowledges three distinct components – LK, TK, and subsistence – while still recognizing that there will be a lot of synergy among them. A draft workplan has been prepared, which will continue to be refined by the Taskforce at their initial meeting.

The Council Chair intends to appoint no more than 15 people, composed of 7-10 stakeholder experts and 1-5 agency members. The target distribution of expertise should be approximately 1/3 LK, 1/3 TK, 1/3 subsistence. To the extent practicable, membership will be geographically representative of the entire BS FEP area and be representative of multiple age groups.

Taskforce membership qualifications:

• Experience relating to one or more of the following:
  • Traditional knowledge holders
  • Local knowledge holders
  • Expert subsistence practitioners
  • People in Alaska Native Organizations and Tribes with experience working with fisheries TK
  • Social scientists with TK expertise / Experts collecting and working with a wide variety of TK information/data
  • Social scientists with LK expertise / Experts collecting and working with a wide variety of LK information/data
  • Social scientists with subsistence expertise / Experts working with subsistence data
  • Indigenous scholars with expertise related to the Action Module.
• Demonstrate some familiarity with Council processes (e.g., have attended meetings, testified, etc.).
• Able and willing to commit to attending no more than six meetings over the course of 2-3 years (some by teleconference), and additionally to volunteer approximately 40 hours of preparation time before each meeting.

To apply:

A nominations period to fill the Task Forces is open until July 31, 2019. Action Module Task Force members will be appointed by the Council chairman over the summer, with the idea of setting up a first meeting in the late summer or early fall. Please submit a letter of interest explaining how the candidate meets the membership qualifications, and any supporting documentation, to the Council’s Deputy Director, Diana Evans (diana.evans@noaa.gov; 907-271-2815).