Alaska Pollock: Feeding Fish-Stick Nation No place off America’s coasts produces as much fish as the Bering Sea. And no fish is more plentiful in America’s harvests than the Alaska pollock. Pollock is deep-fried and sold as “Fillet-O-Fish” sandwiches at McDonald’s or frozen fish sticks. It is minced into a bland white substance and sold …
Breaking Point in the Bering Sea By Paul Koberstein Shaped like a diamond and perched on top of the Pacific Ocean, the Bering Sea is one of the richest cold water ecosystems in the world, if not the very richest. Deep ocean currents gathering in far regions of the globe terminate in the Bering Sea …
Slaves of the Fur Seal Harvest For two centuries, the Native Aleuts who live on the Pribilof Islands were exploited by both the Russian and U.S. governments. “Our people were wards — some say slaves — of the United States government until fur seal harvesting was abolished in 1984 due to national and international environmental …
The Crash of the Northern Fur Seal Situated at the edge of the Continental Shelf, the Pribilof Islands are a group of five volcanic rocks some 300 miles off the west coast of Alaska. The Bering Sea surrounds the islands with its rich diversity of life. More than 70 percent of the world’s northern fur …
The Last Voyage of the Arctic Rose The calendar read January 2001 as the Arctic Rose set course for a Bering Sea teeming with controversy. The fishing vessel itself was in a world of trouble as it departed from Fisherman’s Terminal in Seattle. In fact, the Arctic Rose may not have been seaworthy. In 1999, …
The Saga of the Stellar Sea Lion For at least three decades, the Steller sea lion of western Alaska has been disappearing at alarming rates. Controversies over its decline have fueled headlines for half that time. In the early 1980s, the annual rate of decline averaged 5.9 percent. Scientists found evidence of low birth rates …
Wildlife declines in the “ Galapagos of the North” The Bering Sea, with its abundant marine mammal, fish and seabird species, has been compared to waters off the Galapagos Islands for its natural wealth as well as its fragility. Over the last half century, the U.S., Russia and Japan have transformed the Bering Sea into …
Wildlife declines in the “ Galapagos of the North” Read More »