Seabirds and Forage Fish Ecology

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By Alaska Science Center February 13, 2026

Alaska's coastal and offshore waters provide foraging habitat for an estimated 100 million birds comprising more than 90 different species; from loons and seaducks that nest inland, to petrels and puffins that breed on islands off shore. All these birds depend on the sea to provide a wide variety of food types— from clams, crabs and urchins nearshore— to krill, forage fish, and squid offshore. The availability of nesting habitat and suitable prey are important natural factors that regulate the distribution and abundance of marine birds. But seabird populations are also affected by human activities that have direct impacts (pollution, bycatch in fishing gear) and indirect effects (global warming alters food availability) on birds.

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The Department of Interior (DOI) is mandated by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Endangered Species Act to conserve and protect all seabirds in U.S. waters up to 200 miles offshore.

Effects of the North Pacific Marine Heatwave on Ocean Food Webs infographic

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Additionally, the DOI is mandated to manage subsistence resources, including birds, under the Federal Subsistence Management Program.

The DOI, through the NPS, has shared responsibility for Humpback Whales and other marine mammals mandated by the Marine Mammal Protection Act (1972) and the Endangered Species Act (1973), and specific regulatory and conservation authority within Alaska's Glacier Bay National Park and Monument, one of a few marine sanctuaries managed by DOI.

Within DOI, the USGS has a responsibility to assist those DOI agencies with marine jurisdictions (NPS, USFWS, BOEM) by gathering and interpreting data on seabirds and other marine waterfowl, humpback whales and other marine mammals, and relevant components of their marine environments (such as forage fish, zooplankton, oceanography, toxins, etc.) that influence the status and trends of these protected marine animals.

Seabirds also serve as practical indicators of change in the marine environment— natural or human induced— because they can be readily monitored at colonies and at sea. For all these reasons, marine bird research is a vital part of the DOI mission in Alaska and the North Pacific.

We study population biology and feeding ecology of a variety of seabird species, including threatened and endangered species. We use a multidisciplinary approach that incorporates study of marine habitats and food webs so that we can better understand why seabird populations fluctuate over time. This website highlights some of the research conducted by the Seabird, Forage Fish and Marine Ecology Project at the Alaska Science Center.