BECi
Basin Scale Events & Coastal Impacts
BECI is a multinational interdisciplinary project aiming to inform ocean and coastal management under increasing climate variability by providing decision support based on advanced transboundary ocean and climate change science.
our
vision
Support transboundary Collaboration and forward looking decisions for marine ecosystems and fisheries in a changing climate.
Climate change is significantly impacting marine ecosystems. These impacts can be gradual or extreme, such as marine heatwaves, and are affecting key fishery stocks in the North Pacific.
In the North Pacific Ocean, marine heatwaves can span across the entire basin and have been observed and studied with increasing frequency since 2013. These events negatively affect marine life and can have serious socio-economic consequences.
our
scope
While national boundaries exist for economic and management purposes, ocean systems and organisms know no boundaries.
The geographical scope of BECI is the North Pacific Ocean and its marginal seas. The North Pacific Ocean is governed by multiple countries (Japan, Korea, China, Russia, U.S.A., Canada) and includes high seas areas with international jurisdiction. The effects of climate change are impacting ocean processes and systems and are felt on a basin-wide to coastal scale. Marine organisms are responding by shifting their distributions and reductions in health and productivity are being measured.
A better understanding of what conditions and mechanisms are driving these changes is required to inform adaptive management strategies. Ocean science, management, and policy are hindered by inaccessible data and siloed research efforts. Multinational collaborative efforts are necessary to evaluate, forecast, and adapt to climate change effects at such a large scale, across national and international jurisdictions.
BECI will build on the existing international partnerships of the North Pacific Marine Science Organization (PICES) and the North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission (NPAFC) to bring people together to work as a collective, building on each others strengths to address complex climate change and ocean science challenges.
our
goal
develop and implement advanced, science-based decision support to address climate change in north pacific ocean ecosystems.
BECI consists of five components that will form pillars for the BECI initiatives. These components are interconnected and mutually supportive.
Decision Support
Our project is committed to developing, enhancing, and implementing a suite of cutting-edge decision support tools designed to empower researchers, policymakers, and resource managers with data-driven insights for effective decision-making.
Data Integration & Advanced Analytics
Increase accessibility to existing North Pacific Ocean climate and environmental data to support adaptive fishery decision-making and enhanced scientific understanding.
Ecological Modelling
Developing and testing scenarios of future trajectories of change to find best solutions for fisheries and ecosystem-based management of the oceans.
Targeted Research
Facilitate other targeted research and monitoring initiatives to address critical knowledge gaps related to how climate change and environmental variability are impacting marine ecosystems and fish populations.
International Partnerships
Establish multi-national partnerships between scientists, managers, stakeholders and Indigenous Peoples to facilitate interdisciplinary approaches to transboundary issues.