Members of the public have til Friday, July 29 to submit input about the future of Gulf of Alaska climate change research to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
NOAA’s Alaska Fisheries Science Center is collecting public comments as part of its draft research plans for the Gulf of Alaska, the Eastern Bering Sea and the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas.
The plans will guide research decisions through 2024 as part of the agency’s Climate Science Regional Action Plans – NOAA first rolled out its climate action plans for Alaska fisheries in 2015.
The nearly 100-page Gulf of Alaska draft plan calls for continued study of the effects of marine heatwaves on Pacific cod, studies on temperature and ocean acidification, and the socio-economic effects of climate change on fishing communities – among other recommendations.
Members of the public can submit comments by visiting the NOAA Fisheries website.