Annual Study of Salmon in Southeast Alaska - Post 4

July 28, 2020

Scientists in our Auke Bay Laboratories are collaborating with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to study juvenile salmon in Southeast Alaska coastal waters.

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Alaska

July 28, 2020

After a quick early morning breakfast we began sampling stations in Icy Strait. These are the stations where we tend to catch the most juvenile salmon, and our catches include pink, chum, sockeye, and coho salmon. Juvenile salmon captured during the survey are assigned specimen barcode numbers and frozen for subsequent laboratory analysis to support various research projects by participating scientists. These projects include: genetic stock origin, otolith marks, age, growth, diet, energetic condition, and algal toxins.

Pink salmon. Photo: NOAA Fisheries.

Chum salmon. Photo: NOAA Fisheries.

Sockeye salmon. Photo: NOAA Fisheries.

Coho salmon. Photo: NOAA Fisheries.

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Meet the Bloggers

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Andrew Gray

Andrew currently manages the Salmon Ocean Ecology and Bycatch Analysis (SOEBA) sub-program (within the Ecosystem Monitoring and Analysis program). The central objective of SOEBA is to understand the relation between ocean conditions and the distribution, growth and recruitment of salmon and associated species of groundfish well enough to contribute to groundfish stock assessments and the management of salmon bycatch in groundfish fisheries.

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Jim Murphy

Jim Murphy is a fisheries biologist with the Ecosystem Monitoring and Assessment Program. He studies salmon ecology. He also develops models to forecast Chinook salmon returns to the Yukon River and harvest models for Pink salmon. He serves on the U.S./Canada Yukon River Joint Technical Committee.

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Annual Study of Salmon in Southeast Alaska

For two decades scientists have been studying salmon in the Gulf of Alaska. Surveys are important for forecast river returns and monitoring bycatch in other commercial fisheries.

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