Identifying Information Needs and Research Priorities for the North Aleutian Basin of Alaska Marine Mammals Working Group Ihor Hlohowskyj North Aleutian Basin Information Status and Research Planning Meeting Minerals Management Service Anchorage, Alaska November 28—December 1, 2006

Meeting Goal Recommend research to support an assessment of the potential environmental impacts of oil and gas development in the North Aleutian Basin program area on marine, coastal, and human resources

Working Group Goal Develop specific study profiles in topical area to support assessments related to two proposed lease sales Each lease would require an assessment of different phases of activities EIS prior to sale Post-lease EA on exploration activities EIS of construction and operations MMS will prioritize and fund study projects in the area, beginning in FY07

Elements of MMS Study Profiles Need for study and relevance to MMS mission Study objectives including hypotheses to be tested Methods Timing including start date and duration Cost and level of effort

Several Types of Studies Can Be Considered Analyses of existing data sets Resource inventories Studies of trends in status and distribution Targeted research to address topical areas Model development Database development

Worksheets Will Be Used to Structure Discussions and Arrive at Study Recommendations Impacting factors associated with oil and gas development including duration and spatial extent of impact Identification and prioritization of resources potentially affected by oil and gas development Identification and prioritization of resource attributes potentially affected by oil and gas development Identify and prioritize linkages between impacting factors and resource attributes Identify current state of knowledge of resources and impacts Identify and prioritize studies of resources and impacts

Impacting Factors Worksheet

Resources Worksheet

Resource Attributes Worksheet

Linkages Worksheet

Information Status Worksheet

Recommended Studies Worksheet

Considerations for Identifying Information Needs and Recommended Studies Need to view North Aleutian Basin as a “system” of interdependent parts Focus on important parts (resources) of the system that are relevant to assessment of impacts Which resources could be most affected by oil and gas development actions? Which activities and impacting factors could have the most important effects? What other factors could affect the resources of interest? Look for opportunities to identify representative species or groups for study

Prioritization What makes a resource or resource attribute important? Ecological value Importance to system Sustainability of resource or system Rarity Economic value Societal or cultural value What makes an impacting factor important? Duration Magnitude Spatial extent of effect Importance of the resource affected