RACArctic – Resilience
and Adaptive
Capacity of Arctic
marine systems under
a changing climate
A JAPAN-NORWAY-US COLLABORATION
SEI-ICHI SAITOH (OVERALL LEAD, JAPAN)
FRANZ MUETER (US LEAD)
KEN DRINKWATER (NORWAY LEAD)
Principal Investigators
Japan
Norway
USA
Sei-Ichi Saitoh
Ken Drinkwater
Franz Mueter
Naomi Harada
Arne Eide
George Hunt
Takashi Kikushi
Alf Håkon Hoel
Alan Haynie
Toru Hirawake
Randi Ingvaldsen
Henry Huntington
Yutaka Watanuki
Melissa Chierici
Mike Sigler
Mitsutaku Makino
Benjamin Planque
Hiroki Takakura
Jan Erik Stiansen
Kick-off meeting
June 18, 2015, Seattle

Brief review of goals & objectives, deliverables, timeline

Review of related efforts / projects:

Arctic Council: 'Sustainable Development WG' (SDWG)

Related Belmont projects (https://igfagcr.org/funded-projects)

Other ongoing projects

Plans for Japan meeting (March 2016, Hakodate?)

Review and refine timeline

US (2017) and Norway (2018) meetings

Belmont meetings?
Goal

Review and synthesize results from national
programs in the three member countries
(Japan, USA, Norway) to assess the resilience
and adaptive capacity of these arctic marine
systems in a changing climate, from both a
natural and social science perspective.
Objectives (1)

Review and synthesize the potential for changes in the
physical and chemical oceanography under future
climate using state-of-the-art models.

Review and synthesize what is known about potential
changes at the bottom of the food web, including:

the supply of nutrients to surface waters

the impact of ocean acidification on calcifying organisms

the magnitude and seasonal timing of primary production

the distribution, abundance, and species composition of
zooplankton; and

the role of temperature changes and advection in these
processes.
Objectives (2)

Assess implications of these changes for fish
populations and fisheries in the Subarctic to Arctic
transition zone
How will the spatial distribution of fish change?
• Building on earlier
workshop
 What is the likelihood that new fish populations
(Hollowed et al
become established in the Arctic?
2013)
 What is the potential for new fisheries to develop • Informed by new
outside of historical fishing areas?
data


Assess the resilience of the Arctic marine
ecosystem, in particular fish populations and their
zooplankton prey, to changes in physical forcing
and primary production.
Objectives (3)

Identify key challenges, including threats and
opportunities, for the fishing industry and for
subsistence users arising from these anticipated
changes

Evaluate the ability of scientific and
management institutions to adapt to potential
threats and opportunities

Explore ways in which their resilience can be
improved
Geographic scope

Focus on two Subarcticto-Arctic transition zones:

Eastern Bering Sea and
Chukchi Sea in the Pacific
Arctic

Barents Sea/Fram Strait in
the Northwest Atlantic
Arctic
Project Structure
Lead PI : Sei-ichi Saitoh
Coordinate integration of scientific results, stakeholder
inputs and research/management/policy
recommendations
Norway
Stakeholders
Offshore and Coastal Fishing
Industries, Fisheries Managers,
Mayors of affected coastal
communities
Japan
Stakeholders
Fishing Companies, Food
Supply Companies, Fuel
Shipping Companies, Fisher’s
Associations
Towards an understanding of
Atlantic-Arctic interactions
USA
Stakeholders
Fishing Industries, Coastal
Communities , State of Alaska,
North Pacific Fishery Management
Council , Bureau of Ocean Energy
Management
Towards an understanding of
Pacific-Arctic interactions
Lead PIs: Synthesis and comparison of
results from national projects
S.-I. Saitoh (Japan), F. Mueter (USA)
K. Drinkwater (Norway)
Norway
Partner PIs
Fisheries, Oceanography,
Biogeochemistry, Economics,
Management
Workshops, Discussions
Japan
Partner PIs
Fisheries, Oceanography,
Marine Ecology,
Biogeochemistry, Economics,
Anthropology
USA
Partner PIs
Fisheries, Oceanography,
Marine Ecology, Economics ,
Anthropology
Approach

Three workshops (Japan, Norway, US)
involving:

Principle Investigators from each country

Stakeholders from the seafood industry

Arctic communities dependent on marine
ecosystems

Agencies managing Arctic living marine
resources
Workshop 1: Japan (Hakodate,
March 2016?)

Project PIs & collaborators from all member countries

Japanese stakeholders:


major fishing companies (Nissui, Maruha-Nichiro)

food supply companies (Arcs holdings, Otsuka holdings)

fuel shipping company planning to use ice breakers in the
Arctic (Shosen-Mitsui)

members of fisher’s associations

regional fisheries management council

Government of Hokkaido
Stakeholders from the US and Norway
Will be invited,
participation
uncertain
Workshop 2: Alaska (2017)

Project PIs & collaborators from all member
countries

Stakeholders from the most immediately affected
coastal communities in the Bering Strait region

Other regional stakeholders:


US fishing industry (pollock and flatfish fleets)

North Pacific Fisheries Management Council

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management

State of Alaska
Stakeholders from Japan and Norway
Will be invited,
participation
uncertain
Workshop 3: Norway (2018)

Project PIs & collaborators from all member
countries

Regional stakeholders:


Offshore and inshore fishing industry

Fisheries managers

Mayors of affected coastal communities
Stakeholders from the US and Japan
(invited,
participation
uncertain)
Deliverables

Data inventory for data collected as part of national projects,
data archived in and available through national data centers

Peer-reviewed publications: Papers on the ecosystem, fisheries
management and socio-economics to be published in a
special issue

Presentations at international meetings: PICES, ICES, Ocean
Science Meeting, ESSAS, Arctic Frontiers conference, Arctic
Science Summit week, and others

Dissemination of results to managers through involvement of PIs
in national management organizations and at various national
and international fora

Summary of findings (brochure) for stakeholders and for the
broader public
Timeline
Timeline
2015
2016
2017
2018
July 1
June 30
Belmont Forum
meetings
International
meetings
Japan
Alaska
Norway
Research &
Writing
Reports
Workshop Summaries
Final Report &
Draft manuscripts