AOOS Home -> Reports -> North Slope Stakeholders Meeting: February 7 & 8, 2006 at Barrow

North Slope Stakeholders Meeting: February 7 & 8, 2006 at Barrow

Prepared by Mark Johnson and Molly McCammon

Representatives from the Alaska Ocean Observing System (AOOS) met in Barrow with Arctic stakeholders from Point Hope to Kaktovik including representatives from the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission, subsistence hunters, and others. They discussed what information AOOS could provide to improve sustainability of Alaska's marine resources, reduce impacts due to coastal erosion, enhance marine safety, and make subsistence hunting safer and easier. The meeting was informal and provided all participants with time to speak and share their views.

AOOS is a new program developing in Alaska to bring together current and historical ocean monitoring data and develop new information products for stakeholders. AOOS is being developed regionally with an approach similar to Alaska's three Large Marine Ecosystems, with the Arctic (Beaufort and Chukchi Seas) being one region. The AOOS website is located at www.aoos.org. Richard Glenn represents the Barrow Arctic Science Consortium on the AOOS board. AOOS is one of 11 regional associations being developed along the U.S. coast as part of the national Integrated Ocean Observing System.

Participants included whalers and hunters Joseph Ahmaogak, Mayor of Wainwright; Rossman E. Peetook, Wainwright; Kenneth Toovak, Sr., Barrow; Eli Nukapigak, Nuiqsut; Archie Ahkiviana, Nuiqsut; Arnold Brower, Sr., Barrow; and Harry Brower, Jr., Barrow; Ray Koonuk, Sr., Point Hope (by phone); and Susie Akootchook, Kaktovik (by phone); Amos Agnasagga, Point Lay (by phone), Delbert Rexford, Barrow; Eugene Brower, Barrow; Martha Ipalook Falk, Barrow; Glenn Sheehan, BASC; Alice Brower, BASC; Richard Glenn, BASC, ASRC; Craig George, North Slope Borough Department of Wildlife Management (NSBDWM); Robert Suydam, NSBDWM; Allie Hunter, intern, Barrow; Brian Person, NSBDWM; NSB Mayor Edward Itta; and Mark Johnson, AOOS; and Molly McCammon, AOOS.

Richard Glenn opened the meeting and Kenneth Toovak gave the invocation. Opening remarks were made by North Slope Borough Mayor Edward Itta and are included as Appendix 1.

A number of common themes emerged during the discussions including observed changes in sea ice, local weather, winds, animal behavior, and a changing way of life, including increasing oil industry activity. Some issues important to residents across Alaska and the circumpolar north are related to a warming Arctic under the influence of global change and are linked to global geopolitics. They are beyond the present scope of AOOS. AOOS is focusing on understanding and meeting specific stakeholder needs so that progress is measurable and achievable in the near term. Based on all the discussions during the stakeholder meeting, the following products are suggested as higher priority for AOOS in the next year.

• Real-time and historical sea ice data
  Sea ice dominates the way of life along the Bering and Arctic coasts. Whaling and walrus hunting depend on the local sea ice thickness, size, quality, and location. One of the primary needs identified at this meeting is remotely sensed data in the coastal region between Point Hope and Kaktovik. To meet this need, AOOS would acquire data on sea ice concentration, extent, and quality from satellites and from the historical record. Our goal would be to provide near real-time imagery for the coastal region identified above and put that data in context with the historical record. Such data would provide information on first-year vs. multi-year ice, and ice floe size and shape. A collated comparison of sea ice observations from local traditional knowledge and the archived scientific record would be useful to determine similarities and differences.
• Real-time ice floe motion and position
  The size, position, and trajectory of the largest ice floes are crucial to subsistence hunting. It can be the determining factor in "break out" events when big ice impacts nearshore ice, and doubtless plays a role in coastal erosion. Sea ice position throughout the season is important for hunting and marine safety. To address this, we propose tracking selected floes throughout the season using satellite "tagged" floes. First, specific floes need to be identified as being most likely to affect local conditions throughout the season. This would be done using satellite imagery and consultation with stakeholders. Floes would be selected depending on size, shape and other factors. Selected floes would be accessed in late winter and marked with satellite tracked beacons. The resulting data would provide position and trajectory information to residents. The number of floes marked will depend on the total amount of resources available for this project, the duration of satellite tracking, the number of beacons per floe, and logistics.
• Assessment of acoustical "noise" and the response of marine mammals
  Marine mammals depend on acoustics to navigate and communicate, yet background levels of marine sound are poorly known. AOOS supports the development of a program to acquire baseline data on marine sound. Timing is urgent as the exploration for oil and gas increasingly makes assessment of true acoustic background difficult. Additionally, the marine mammal response threshold to sound is not clear in terms of distance or amplitude. A well designed field program to evaluate the marine mammal response to known acoustic signals (seismic exploration) is needed.
• Real-time status of nearshore currents
  Both during open water season and during most of the year when the ocean is ice covered, knowledge of nearshore currents is important for day-to-day safety of hunters and travelers. Models often miss much of this information due to the large model grid-cell areas, so there is some potential that better tracking of fine detail on nearshore currents can "scale up" to aid in larger scale modeling efforts.
• Web based information
  Web based data display was suggested for several different kinds of information. An "Arctic Ship Watch" web page that shows the location and direction of ships in the area was considered a useful priority by the stakeholders. This would help in planning for hunts and other marine uses. A "Historical Perspective" web page displaying historical pictures of coastlines, buildings and other information would be informative and provide a means to share a broad overview of graphics on present and past conditions. A page of "Traditional Knowledge" was suggested as well. There are already efforts to compile such information, but AOOS can provide the means to share it with a wide audience. In all these cases, the information exists, but AOOS can provide the technical expertise to bring the data to its stakeholders for display and easy access.
• Education
  Participants agreed that AOOS could improve the value of proposed tools and data sets by providing local and/or web based education to stakeholders. In some cases, simple familiarization would suffice; in others more formal tutorials might be helpful.
• Independent Assessment
  AOOS is in a unique position to provide an independent perspective of prior and/or proposed projects. For example, some stakeholders noted that the same or similar pools of consultants provide services to both the Minerals Management Service (MMS) and the oil and gas companies. One suggestion was that AOOS might provide alternate approaches to experimental design and encourage independent analysis of collected data. In most cases, all data should be made available to the public whenever possible, but particularly the results of environmental assessment. Again, the AOOS website can be a forum for sharing and displaying data and results from project that impact North Slope residents.

The proposed AOOS activities identified during this workshop will be included in the draft AOOS Implementation Plan for the Arctic region and circulated for further review. If adopted by the AOOS board, they would be implemented as funding becomes available.

Thanks to all the participants for providing their time, energy, and input during these discussions, and to Glenn Sheehan, BASC, Arctic Ocean Coordinator for AOOS, for hosting the workshop and for arranging logistics. Mark Johnson was interviewed on KBRW both before and after the workshop to describe AOOS and the workshop findings. Workshop funding was provided by AOOS and BASC with travel funds provided by AOOS.