Main bio-productivity features of the Western Arctic LMEs

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In five large marine ecosystem (LME) modules, one of the keys is bioproductivity. The Norwegian Sea and Iceland Shelf LMEs are referred to as highly productive Arctic shelf areas; the Chukchi Sea, Bering Sea, Faroe Plateau, and southwestern Barents Sea are classed as areas with moderately high productivity. The rest of the Arctic water areas are considered as having low productivity. Based on the results of MMBI cruises on board the nuclear icebreakers, the functioning of the detritus trophic chain in the Barents and Kara Seas coastal zones during the polar night has been determined. Bacterioplankton in the season is the only food substrate for zooplankton organisms before the development of cryoflora vegetation. The productivity of key links in the plankton trophic chain for the Barents, White, Kara, and Laptev Seas weakens towards the eastern Siberian Sea. According to our data, zoobenthos productivity depends on inner secular climate fluctuations and the succession stages of bottom communities. Somatic production in coastal areas is approximately 2–3 times higher than in the open Barents Sea. The Barents Sea coastal bottom biocenoses production rates yield to the Sea of Okhotsk and North Sea, but are close to the Bering Sea indices. Until recently, only tentative production values (production to biomass (P/B) coefficient) of 0.125–0.170 were applied to the Barents Sea fish. Our research indicates they are significantly higher and are from 0.3 to 1.0 for the Barents and White Seas cod, deep‐water redfish (perch), and Arctic cod. Determined values and regularities are of theoretic and practical importance and may improve methods of forecasting ecosystems and the selection of optimal ways in which to exploit marine bioresources.