Trawl and CTD data collected during the Northern Bering Sea Ecosystem and Surface Trawl Survey (NCEI Accession 0294341)

This archive includes the CTD and surface trawl station, catch, and specimen data collected from 2019-2025 as part of the Northern Bering Sea Ecosystem and Surface Trawl (NBEST) survey. This survey is a multi-disciplinary research survey that supports research on the ecosystem impacts of a warming climate and the loss of Arctic sea ice in the northern Bering Sea (NBS) and collects data on oceanographic conditions, zooplankton, salmon, pelagic forage fish species (age-0 pollock, herring, and capelin), and snow crab. The survey is currently conducted as a cooperative research survey by the National Marine Fisheries Service, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, with key funding support from the Alaska Sustainable Salmon Fund. The Arctic is experiencing accelerated warming with unprecedented reductions in seasonal sea ice in the NBS. This has contributed to a significant reduction in the size of the eastern Bering Sea cold pool, a layer of cold temperatures (< 2°C) on the seafloor that forms as a byproduct of winter sea ice. The cold pool is a key ecosystem feature of the NBS that influences species composition and ocean temperatures throughout the year. Stakeholders and managers need an improved understanding of ecosystem responses to expected loss of sea ice and the cold pool to prepare for changes in the northern Bering Sea ecosystem associated with warming climate. Data are in CSV format.