OCS Study MMS 2006-026 

 

Proceedings of the 

Chukchi Sea Science Update Meeting 

October 31 and November 1, 2005 

Anchorage, Alaska 

Organized by Minerals Management Service 

Alaska Outer Continental Shelf Region 

Anchorage, Alaska 

With logistical assistance by 

MBC Applied Environmental Sciences 

Costa Mesa, California 
DISCLAIMER 

This report has been reviewed by the Alaska OCS Region, Minerals 

Management Service, U.S. Department of the Interior and approved for 

publication. The opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations 

expressed in the report are those of the authors, and do not necessarily 

reflect the view of the Minerals Management Service. Mention of trade 

names for commercial products does not constitute endorsement or 

recommendations for use. This report is exempt from review by the 

Minerals Management Service Technical Publication Unit and Regional 

Editor. 

REPORT AVAILABILITY 

This document is available to the public through: 

 National Technical Information Service 

 5285 Port Royal Road 

 Springfield, Virginia 22161 

 FAX: (703) 605-6900 

 www.ntis.gov 
Introduction 

General Background 

The Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, as amended, established a policy 

for the management of oil and natural gas in the Outer Continental Shelf 

(OCS) and for protection of the marine and coastal environments. The 

Act authorizes the conduct of studies in areas or regions of sales to 

determine the “environmental impacts on the marine and coastal 

environments of the OCS and the coastal areas which may be affected 

by oil and gas development.” The Minerals Management Service (MMS) is 

the administrative agency responsible for leasing submerged Federal 

lands. 

The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 requires use of the 

natural and social sciences in any planning and decision making that 

may have an effect on the human environment. To this end the MMS 

develops and participates in Environmental Impact Statements (EIS), 

environmental assessments (EA), and other decision documents. To 

support these efforts the Environmental Studies Program (ESP) conducts 

needed studies in the range of relevant disciplines including physical 

oceanography, fate and effects, biology, protected species, social 

science, and economics. The studies may be on marine environment 

data acquisition and data analysis, literature survey, monitoring, and 

socioeconomic analysis. The ESP also holds information transfer meetings 

periodically and workshops on special selected topics as needed. The 

MMS Scientific Committee reviews the MMS ESP annually and the National 

Research Council reviews it periodically. The MMS ESP continually 

attempts to maintain the highest scientific standards by working with and 

responding to their recommendations. 

Background related to Chukchi Sea Science Update Meeting

MMS has held two oil and gas lease sales in the Chukchi Sea, 1988 and 

1991. Resulting exploration detected some oil and gas (e.g., Shell’s Burger 

Prospect) but ultimately the leases were relinquished. In 2005 industry 

expressed interest in the Chukchi Sea. 

[Subsequent to holding the Meeting, MMS in February 2006 released its 

Draft Proposed Program Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing 

Program 2007-2012. In that Program MMS proposes lease sales in the 

Chukchi Sea in the years 2007, 2010, and 2012. Whether, when, and in 

which Planning Areas Lease Sale(s) may be held depends on decisions of 
the Secretary of Interior for the forthcoming Final Outer Continental Shelf 

Oil and Gas Leasing Program 2007-2012.] 

 

Objective To provide MMS analysts with up-to-date information on the 

Chukchi Sea Planning Area in preparing potential NEPA documents and 

assessments of pre-sale activities, such as further seismic exploration. 

Agenda and Power Point Presentations

For the agenda, speakers and their subjects click on the icon “CSSU final 

agenda”. For the presentation by each speaker in Power Point, click on 

the folder “CSSU Presentations” and then on the icons for the desired 

presentations. 
MMS Chukchi Sea Science Update 

3801 Centerpoint Drive, Anchorage 

Monday October 31 

Introduction

8:00 Welcome, meeting objectives, and time table (unless otherwise noted, each 

speaker would have 20 m to talk and 10 m to answer questions) 

 Dee Williams, MMS, Anchorage 

 Security measures in the MMS office 

Karen Weerheim, MMS, Anchorage 

8:10 Chukchi Sea Activity (1989-1991) 

Dave Roby, MMS, Anchorage

8:20 Chukchi Sea Planning Area, Lease Sale 193, Proposed Scenario 

 Jim Lima, MMS, Anchorage

Oceanographic conditions in the NE Chukchi

 Chaired by Caryn Smith and Tom Dunning Newbury, MMS, Anchorage 

8:30 Overview—Satellite Observed Variability of the Arctic Ice Cover 

Josefino Comiso, NASA Goddard, Greenbelt, MD

9:00 Break 

9:15 Circulation and Water Mass Modification Processes on the Chukchi Sea Shelf 

Tom Weingartner, UAF Institute of Marine Science (IMS), Fairbanks 

9:45 Chlorophyll Distributions and Surface Primary Productivity from Space 

Josefino Comiso, NASA Goddard, Greenbelt, MD

10:15 Benthic Fauna in the Northeastern Chukchi Sea 

 Ken Dunton and Susan Schonberg, University of Texas, Port Aransas

11:15 General Discussion, chaired by Caryn Smith and Tom Dunning Newbury 

11:30 Lunch break 

Marine-mammals in the NE Chukchi Sea 

 Chaired by Lisa Rotterman, MMS, Anchorage 

1:00 Bowhead Whales in the Chukchi Sea 

 Craig George, NSB Dept. of Wildlife Management (DWM), Barrow 
1:30 Beluga Whales 

 Robert Suydam, NSB DWM, Barrow

2:00 Ice Seals in the Chukchi Sea 

Lori Quakenbush, AK Dept. of Fish and Game (ADF&G), Fairbanks 

2:30 Pacific Walrus 

Joel GarlichMiller and John Trent, USFWS, Anchorage 

3:00 Break 

3:15 Pacific walrus and subsistence 

Caleb Pungowiyi, Marine Mammal Commission Special Advisor on 

Native Affairs, former Chair of Eskimo Walrus Comm., Kotzebue

3:45 Chukchi Sea: Polar Bear Information 

 Scott Schliebe, USFWS, Anchorage

4:15 Polar Bears in the Chukchi Sea

George Durner, Steven Amstrup, Geoff York, Eric Regehr, Kristin 

Simac, Torsten Bentzen, and David Douglas, USGS Alaska Science 

Center, Anchorage 

4:45 General Discussion, chaired by Lisa Rotterman 

Tuesday November 1 

8:00 Trace Metals in Sediments, Northeastern Chukchi Sea 

Sathy Naidu, UAF-IMS, Fairbanks 

Marine and FW Fishes in the NE Chukchi Sea 

 Chaired by Jeff Childs, MMS, Anchorage 

8:30 Fishes of the Northern Bering Sea and Chukchi Sea 

Catherine Mecklenburg, Point Stephens Research, Auke Bay; David 

Stein, Smithsonian; Boris Sheiko and Natalia Chernova, Russian 

Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg; and T. Anthony Mecklenburg, 

Pt. Stephens Research 

9:00 Marine Fish Resources in the Chukchi Sea 

 Brenda Holladay, UAF, Fairbanks 
9:30 Nearshore and Freshwater Fish of the Chukchi Region

 Craig George, NSB DWM, Barrow

10:00 General Discussion, chaired by Jeff Childs (15 min) 

10:15 Break 

Marine and coastal birds in the NE Chukchi Sea

 Chaired by Jeff Gleason, MMS, Anchorage 

10:30 Steller’s and Spectacled Eiders in the Northeast Chukchi Sea 

Sarah Conn, USFWS, Fairbanks 

11:00 King and Common Eiders 

Robert Suydam, NSB DWM, Barrow; and Lori Quakenbush, ADF&G, 

Fairbanks 

11:30 Migration Ecology of Loons in Northwest Alaska 

Joel Schmutz, USGS Alaska Science Center, Anchorage

12:00 Lunch break 

1:00 Status of Long-tailed Ducks in the Chukchi Sea 

Paul Flint, USGS Alaska Science Center, Anchorage

1:30 Marine and Coastal Birds in the NE Chukchi Sea—Shorebirds 

Richard Lanctot, USFWS, Anchorage, and Audrey Taylor, UAF, 

Fairbanks 

2:30 General Discussion, chaired by Jeff Gleason, MMS, Anchorage 

2:45 Break 

Subsistence and sociocultural resources

Chaired by Mike Burwell and Dee Williams, MMS, Anchorage 

3:30 Shishmaref—Recent Changes in a Chukchi Coastal Village 

 Josh Wisniewski, UAF Department of Anthropology, Fairbanks

4:00 General Discussion, chaired by Mike Burwell and Dee Williams, MMS, 

Anchorage 

End of Chukchi Sea Science Update