Pribilof Islands Community-Based Ocean Monitoring Program (NPRB Project 733)

The Pribilof Islands Aleut communities of St. Paul and St. George, in collaboration with the NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental
Laboratory (PMEL) began the Pribilof Islands Community-Based Ocean Monitoring Program (PICBOMP) in 2007. The PICBOMP is designed
to collect continuous water temperature and salinity measurements to provide a time series of high quality oceanographic measurements
from shallower coastal Bering Sea waters. These data are currently unavailable for monitoring changes in ocean characteristics.
The results of this study show that near-shore ocean monitoring sites such as those maintained by the Pribilof communities can
provide a valuable long-term source of low-cost, real-time oceanographic data. The instrumentation and data relay system worked
exceptionally well and the initial deployments also provided valuable information on improvements to the system for these and future
near-shore moorings. This was especially valuable in terms of instrument placement in the harbors and proximity to runoff and
fresh-water influx. The initial success of the PICBOMP demonstrates that scientific observation can be coupled with community
involvement and local knowledge for a constructive partnership toward the assessment of long-term changes in the Bering Sea. These datasets were archived as part of the North Pacific Research Board legacy project recovery effort undertaken by Axiom Data Science and NPRB in 2025. The goal of the recovery effort was to assess the NPRB-funded data projects from 2002 to 2014 and archive final data packages that were ready for publication to increase long-term accessibility and discoverability. Data packages were archived as is given limited funding and resources.