Bering Sea Sub-Network
By Victoria Gofman
“Aleut International Association Newsletter, Volume 1, Issue 1, September 2006”

The Bering Sea Sub-Network: International Community-Based Environmental Observation Alliance for Arctic Observing Network (BSSN) is a project involving mostly local indigenous communities in the Bering Sea region to monitor and share the environmental changes they observe. Changes could include the shift of southern species north, distribution and abundance of fish and other temperature-sensitive species, changes in ice patterns, and weather observations. 

BSSN will be a model community-based monitoring component for the Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Program of the Conservation of Flora and Fauna Working Group of the Arctic Council.

This collaborative effort will connect individuals bound by a common geographic area and sharing similar traditions, values and ideals but who are separated by great distances. Within the network there will be an emphasis on the sharing of values, methods and wisdom of indigenous peoples and traditional knowledge systems and linking it to concerns within the conventional science arena. Through this network a dialogue will be created that will assist in the exchange of information and ideas central to analyzing important issues within the region.

A funding proposal was submitted by AIA to the National Science Foundation in May 2006 and is currently pending.

Partners and supporters in the BSSN include: 

APIA, Arctic Slope Native Association, AVCP, BBNA, Kawerak, Maniilaq, Alaska Native Science Commission, Inuit Circumpolar Conference – Alaska, St. George Island Traditional Council, Togiak Traditional Council, Native Village of Kotzebue, Native Village of Piamiut, Pauloff Harbor Tribe, Native Village of Buckland, The Kamchatka Regional Association of Tribes of the Indigenous Peoples of the North, Chukotka Regional Association of Indigenous Peoples, Association of Traditional Marine Mammal Hunters of Chukotka, Chukotka Science Support Group, Chukotka Indigenous Information Center, and other organizations.