Many of us have mentioned that inadequate information is part of the problem facing sustainable fisheries management in the Bering Sea. We have also brought up the need for more information sharing. What information are we looking for, and how might we best share it?

To answer this question, we need also to further discuss our desired outcomes. At the scale of the North Pacific, the ultimate goal might be a Convention to coordinate fish harvests in the Bering Sea and North Pacific on the basis of best available species-specific and ecological information.

At a more local scale, my organization is working with local organizations to create basin-level salmon protected areas, where wild salmon reproduction and sustainable salmon use would be the primary purposes.

• Economic information about harvests by vessel, species and area, products produced, markets and prices. Vessel management expenses and labor costs.

• Ecological information about the interactions of species from algae to squid, from salmon to man and how these interactions vary over space and time. For example, genetic knowledge about pollock stock structure, and salmon area of origin. New knowledge about pollock stocks is essential in support ongoing negotiations about the US-Russian marine boundary in the Bering Sea. This knowledge must be developed jointly, so that all parties have full confidence in the data and its interpretation.

• Legal information about Russian and US fishery management systems, customs law, tax systems, endangered species protection, and environmental quality laws and regulations.

• Ideas about innovative means to solve problems, including fishery management, habitat management, and marketing strategies.

• Former Kamchatrybvod Director Vladimir Burkanov is now working as a research scientist on Steller sea lion issues for the National Marine Fisheries Service. He has also helped NMFS to identify sea lion research projects in the Russian Far East, which may help to unravel the causes of sea lion population decline. Such joint US-Russian research creates a common understanding of mutual fishery-ecological problems, and has other positive side effects.

• The North Pacific Marine Research Organization (PICES) promotes research on various themes of interest to us here, e.g., fish migration pathways, decadal scale climate variability, contamination of marine sediments, etc. At their upcoming session in Canada this fall the group will also conduct two panels on data sharing and data management. This forum is composed almost exclusively of scientists. As NGOs, we would benefit more from this international organization if their were increased involvement from environmental and fishing communities, in order to make research results more relevant and understandable to policy makers.

Its counterpart in the Atlantic, ICES, has a much more direct relationship to international fisheries management in the Atlantic Ocean. PICES can perhaps provide the research component of a Bering Sea Ecosystem Convention.

• The North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission (NPAFC) focuses on salmon and steelhead in the North Pacific. The main objective of the four-party Convention was to eliminate all high seas salmon fisheries. The Commission, through persistent efforts of the Coast Guards and Border Patrol of Russia, Canada and the United States, have achieved a high degree of success due to coordinated programs. At its annual science and policy meetings, a great deal of information is exchanged between scientists, both through formal reports and casual interactions. The Commission publishes an annual statistical yearbook of salmon harvests, but the level of geographic resolution varies by country and no assumptions are stated about the comparability of harvest data across either time or space. The NPAFC could also serve as the basis for a broader ecosystem convention.