Community and connection with the Alaska Salmon Program

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It’s not all work while visiting the Alaska Salmon Program camps for the summer field season. Students head up to southwest Alaska, some for over three months, and downtime is a chance to explore, connect with their peers, and experience living in a field camp.

Naomi Prahl
Lots of fish!

Some students are avid fishers and get to experience fishing in a location that vacationers usually pay a large sum to enjoy. Ryan Luvera, a SAFS and Marine Biology double major entering his third year, shared: “Outside of a typical workday I love to fish, and the fishing up here is truly world class.” 

Whether you have visited the camps in person or only seen pictures, the location continues to be one that awes. Hiking Church Mountain, a familiar sight towering over the Lake Nerka field camp, is a tradition among those who spend time with the Alaska Salmon Program. “It was very steep but so worth it, both for the views and the sense of accomplishment. We got a bonus lesson on the history of glaciation in the valleys visible from the top. It was amazing to see the concepts physically laid out in the landscape,” Emma Meyer, a junior at SAFS, said. 

Some of the more subtle experiences are among the most memorable. “One of my favorite things to do was have lunch in the tundra,” said Callie Murakami, a SAFS major now in her third year. “Some days we packed lunches and snacks to have while we were out, and we would sit in the open tundra to eat. The ground was soft, there were crowberries and cloudberries growing everywhere, and we could all chat and take a break. Even in the rain, nothing could beat a tundra lunch.” 

Emma Meyer
A view from the top of Church Mountain.

Building a sense of community is a key part of the experience, from studying and working during the day, to pitching in for mealtimes and spending evenings together. “As a class, we all enjoyed each other’s company and would often play speed solitaire, cambio, and bananagrams in the evening after dinner,” shared Emma Bell, who will soon be graduating from SAFS. “One night we made popcorn and had a movie night which was also really fun.”

For many students, visiting Alaska is a highlight of their time studying at the University of Washington. “Last year I was at Friday Harbor Labs, and I thought that was going to be the peak experience of my college experience, and then I came to Aleknagik,” said Ryan Luvera. “This is truly an experience like no other, being able to be in living quarters with so many brilliant minds, I wish I could spend every summer here!”

Ryan Luvera
Salmon are not the only wildlife in these parts!

For others, it’s an opportunity to see another side of the fishery that they have experience with. Naomi Prahl, a SAFS major going into her senior year, shared: “I work as a commercial fisherman in the Bristol Bay sockeye salmon fishery, which is the fishery that utilizes the ASP data for their management decisions. Working in the fishery gave me a first look at how incredible the Bristol Bay ecosystem is, and getting to be a student with ASP this summer felt like a full circle moment. I got to see the ‘behind the scenes’ of the fishing job that I love so much. There was something almost magical about getting to see the salmon in every life stage through the class this summer after working a fishing season beforehand.”

Putting into practice key skills learned throughout their academic journeys is a central part of the Alaska Salmon Program and sets students on course for a range of opportunities in the future, from further study in graduate programs to careers in academic institutions and fishery-related fields. “I learned a lot of valuable skills about field and professional work, such as preparation and flexibility when it comes to working in the field, and how to work and communicate better as a team,” shared Callie Murakami.

How do students find out about this opportunity to spend a summer in Alaska? “While I was attending community college my only intention after I graduated was to transfer to SAFS,” said Emma Bell. “I was constantly looking at the SAFS webpage and seeing all the cool opportunities they offered and thought that the Alaska Salmon Program seemed really incredible. When I saw the flier posted, I was so excited to fill out an application.”

Emma Meyer
A trek through the tundra.

Hundreds of students from UW have spent time with the Alaska Salmon Program over the last few decades, immersing themselves in one of the world’s most remarkable ecosystems. For future students, Naomi Prahl shared some advice: “Just get excited. It’s such an incredible and unique opportunity and I think the way to appreciate it fully would be to dive in headfirst. Don’t hide your enthusiasm and share what you’re excited to learn about. When you get there, try everything. Don’t shy away from asking questions and trying things you have no experience with. Take full advantage of the learning opportunities presented.”

The return of the sockeye: Read Part 1 of the 2024 ASP blog series

Witnessing one of nature’s most impressive migrations: a summer with the Alaska Salmon Program

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Nestled among a set of glacial lakes in the Wood River system is where scientists with the Alaska Salmon Program spend their summers. From students just beginning their research journeys in aquatic sciences, to seasoned field technicians and faculty, the camps based on Lake Aleknagik and Lake Nerka are the temporary home for both scientists and the fish that they are studying: Pacific salmon.

Niamh Owen-McLaughlin
Tens of millions of sockeye salmon return to Alaska’s freshwater systems each year.

Five different types of Pacific salmon return to the western Alaskan watersheds of the Nushugak River system each summer, but the sockeye salmon is the predominant one in the Wood River system, where the Alaska Salmon Program conducts much of its research. Changing from a silver color in the marine environment to a startling red when they return to freshwater systems, sockeye salmon are one of nature’s most impressive migrations. Year after year, tens of millions of sockeye salmon return to the freshwater systems in which they were born, to continue the cycle of spawning for the next generation of fish.

Niamh Owen-McLaughlin
Researchers collect data on salmon abundance, sex ratios, spatial distributions across spawning areas, species differentiation, and ages of returning salmon from otoliths (the ear stones of fish).

The Alaska Salmon Program at UW, formerly known as the Fisheries Research Institute (FRI), has been running since the 1940s and continues to this day to deliver the latest insights into Alaska and one of the world’s important aquatic ecosystems and fisheries. It’s also a program that trains the next generation of fishery and aquatic scientists in an immersive, hands-on, and real-world environment that undergoes a huge transformation each year. To date, hundreds of students have visited the field camps in Alaska, with many going on to work in fields such as fishery and wildlife management, environmental education and academia.

Niamh Owen-McLaughlin
Hundreds of students have visited the field camps in Alaska since the 1940s, learning essential skills for fishery and aquatic scientists.

So, what does an average day with the Alaska Salmon Program look like? Collecting data on salmon abundance, sex ratios, spatial distributions across spawning areas, species differentiation, and ages of returning salmon from otoliths are just some of the things feeding into the Alaska Salmon Program’s long-term monitoring program. Otoliths, the ear stones of fish which provide information on size and age, are taken from dead salmon which have completed spawning or have been killed by bears.

Niamh Owen-McLaughlin
Otoliths, the ear stones of fish which provide information on size and age, are taken from dead salmon which have completed spawning or have been killed by bears.

Another area of research is limnology, which is the study of inland aquatic ecosystems, involving researchers going out on skiffs to various points around the lakes to collect samples including temperature and presence of aquatic organisms like zooplankton, which are the primary food for juvenile sockeye salmon that rear in the lakes before migrating to the ocean.

Niamh Owen-McLaughlin
The long-term monitoring data gives insight into the impact of climate change on these ecosystems and how the fish are responding as they return to the streams to spawn.

All of this data feeds into the Alaska Salmon Program’s long-term monitoring program that tracks abundance and the impact of wider issues like climate change on these ecosystems. All the different streams and lakes in these watersheds react differently to climate, as do the fish in them – from migrating fish like sockeye salmon to resident fish like rainbow trout and grayling. The data generated from long-term monitoring efforts and research therefore give insight into the impact of climate change on these ecosystems and how the fish are responding when they travel up the streams to spawn.

Another key part of the work of the Alaska Salmon Program is its pre-season forecasts provided to the fishing industry that operates out of Bristol Bay. Forecasts on fish runs and age/weight of fish is important for the management of commercial fisheries as the forecasts allow managers and fishers to fine-tune their operational plans for the following season A new development in this work is providing an earlier pre-season forecast as the industry begins planning for the next season’s operations, even as the current season is winding down.

Watch Part 1 of our mini series with the Alaska Salmon Program

Watch Part 2 of our mini series with the Alaska Salmon Program

 

Did you know, Aleknagik means ‘Wrong Way’ in Yupik? The Wood River is a major tributary of the Nushagak River, joining the main river near the coast at what is present-day Dillingham. In pre-historic times, if residents traveling inland from the coast reached Lake Aleknagik via Wood River, they knew they’d gone the wrong way if they had actually intended to navigate up the mainstem of the Nushagak.

Summer emigration and resource acquisition within a shared nursery lake by sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) from historically discrete rearing environments

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Summer emigration and resource acquisition within a shared nursery lake by sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) from historically discrete rearing environments

R.K. Simmons,* T.P. Quinn, L.W. Seeb, D.E. Schindler, and R. Hilborn. School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, Box 355020, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.

Abstract
Many fish species disperse broadly during juvenile life history stages. While this may enable persistence in variable environments, it may also produce novel competitive interactions in recipient habitats that contain conspecifics from other populations. Here we used genetics techniques to study the stock-specific movement and performance of juvenile sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) between July and August of 2008 in an ecosystem characterized by extensive juvenile migration and environmental change: the Chignik Lake system, Alaska. Genetic composition of juvenile sockeye salmon in the lower nursery lake based on 45 single nucleotide polymorphism markers indicated that 2008 was characterized by earlier timing and larger magnitude of emigrations from the upper lake, where rearing conditions have become increasingly unstable in recent decades. However, the larger size of emigrants did not confer a clear advantage in foraging based on comparisons of growth and body condition with juveniles native to the lower lake. These results highlight how shifting environmental conditions may exert pressures on evolved behavior patterns and increase interactions between sympatric populations, a theme of increasing importance where ecological uncertainty is high.

Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 70: 57–63 (2013) dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjfas-2012-0159 Published at www.nrcresearchpress.com/cjfas on 8 November 2012.