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Bering Sea, Aleutian Islands - Environment

The Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI) are considered here as a single ecosystem as many of the stocks that are important in these two systems are assessed as a unit. The Bering Sea consists of an eastern, shallower section and a western section that is considerably deeper. The Eastern Bering Sea covers an area of approximately 500,000 km2, bordered by St. Lawrence Island to the north, Alaska and the Aleutian Islands to the east and south, and the Bering Sea shelf break to the west . The Aleutian archipelago consists of 47 major islands extending westward in a nearly 1,500 km arc from the Alaska Peninsula to Attu Island in the west . The bathymetry of the sea floor reflects the volcanic origin of the islands and is characterised by an extremely irregular bottom, narrow continental shelf, and abrupt continental slope. Approximately 120 km south of the chain, the Aleutian Trench defines the limit of the continental slope and range in depth from 4,000 to 7,500 m . The Aleutian Islands cover the area from 170°W to 170°E to the 500 meter depth contour and encompasses an area of approximately 60,000 km2, thus the total area of the BSAI is approximately 560,000 km2.