Predominant demersal fish in Norton Sound are members of the flat 

 fish family. All five species of Pacific salmon inhabit this area. 

 Large pink salmon runs occur in the Staktoolik, Uralokleet , Ungalik, 

 Inglutalik, and Niukluk Rivers. 



Coastal marshlands along the south coast of the Seward Peninsula, 

 especially near Solomon, Golovin, Koyuk, and Shaktoolik, are important 

 stopovers for migrating swans, snow geese, Canada geese, sandhill cranes, 

 and shorebirds. In offshore areas, murres, guillemots, puffins, auklets, 

 jaegers, fulmars, and others feed in and beneath the ice edge. 



Over 20 coastal villages are inhabited by Eskimos where traditional 

 subsistence ways predominate. These people depend on the marine resources 

 of the Bering Sea for most of their livelihood. Sealing, walrus hunting 

 and fishing are the subsistence base of the area. Nome (pop. 2,500) on 

 Norton Sound is the major town and has a large non-native population, 

 but few permanent jobs exist in Nome or in the smaller villages. 

 Fisheries-related seasonal employment is high, but few families earn 

 enough in the short period to survive on a cash economy basis. 



Petroleum Resources 



Little seismic work has been done for Norton Basin in the northern 

 Bering Sea. Nevertheless, oil companies are optimistic about the petroleum 

 potential of the region based upon available geophysical data. 



At the present time it is sheer speculation as to how much oil is 

 present on Norton Basin. USGS estimates of recoverable petroleum 

 resources probably won't be available for a while. 



66 



