well as for the world market. Employment throughout the region is 

 seasonal in character, there are few permanent jobs, little regular 

 transportation between villages, and there are no deepwater ports. 



Petroleum Resources 



Little is currently known about the petroleum geology of this 

 region, but some experts in industry believe that the Bering Sea is an 

 area of great promise. 10 ' USGS estimates regarding petroleum 

 resources in this area are not presently available. 



Status of PCS Operations 



St. George Basin in the Bering Sea is scheduled by the Department 

 of the Interior to be leased in May of 1980. BLM has tentatively chosen 

 299 tracts totalling some 1.6 million acres for leasing. The selected 

 tracts are between 35 and 125 miles offshore in sub-Arctic waters 345- 

 460 ft. deep. The tracts generally lie on a northwest-southeast line 

 between the Pribilof Islands and the eastern end of the Aleutian Island 

 chain (Fig. 8). 103 



The present list of tracts to be leased is a sharp cutback from the 

 original 3,600 tracts and 20.6 million acres submitted to Industry for 

 nominations by BLM and the 16.5 million acres nominated for inclusion in 

 the sale by Industry. 10 "* BLM sharply limited the acreage because of the 

 major commercial fisheries that exist in the area. The Bureau noted 

 also that the area has many migratory routes and breeding grounds for 

 fishes, mammals, and birds and is regarded by scientists as among the most 



productive waters in the world. 105 



62 



