Fisheries & Habitat

Working with others to conserve, protect and 

enhance fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats for the 

continuing benefit of the American people

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service u Fall 2015 Issue 3

Feature Fish - Cook Inlet Coho Salmon / 3

News Briefs / 4

FEATURE: Big Lake / 5

Alaska Staff Updates / 10

Invasive Species - eDNA / 12

Chena and Salcha Rivers / 13

Investing in Southern Coastal Fish Habitat / 15

2015 State-Fish Art Contest Highlights / 16

Project Previews / 17

#ShareYourPlate / 18

THIS ISSUE

.

Alaska

NEWS

https://www.facebook.com/USFWS.AK.Fisheries.Habitat
A Q&A session with our outgoing Deputy Assistant Regional Director, Steve 

Klosiewski, who retires September 30, 2015 after nearly three decades working for the 

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service in Alaska:

What do you hope people take away after reading Alaska Fisheries & Habitat News? 

SK: That Alaska is a great place to live and work. Also, that public support for 

conserving Alaska’s fish and aquatic habitats continues. That support comes from not 

just those people that live and work in the state, but also from those that have visited, 

plan to visit, or may never have the opportunity to visit. Some readers may simply enjoy 

reading about Alaska’s fish or eating them at home or restaurants. We use the News as a 

vehicle for generating awareness about and support for fish and habitat conservation in 

Alaska, as well as recruiting a highly qualified and diverse workforce. 

What do you think our biggest challenge is when it comes to conserving Alaska’s fish? 

SK: The immense size of the state, the lack of roads and resulting difficulty and costly 

logistics to mount any kind of field effort required to conserve fish and their habitats. 

Continuing to prioritize what, when and where to work is paramount!

What is something people who haven’t been to Alaska might be surprised to learn? 

SK: Despite Alaska’s reputation as a wild land of pristine waters, its fish populations are 

subject to the same threats impacting fishes in the rest of the U.S. 

This issue features Cook Inlet Coho Salmon...why are Coho Salmon a priority?

SK: We frequently use Coho Salmon as a design species for our habitat conservation 

efforts. For example, if we design road-stream crossing to ensure that weak-swimming 

juvenile Coho can pass through unimpeded then we pretty much have all the bases 

covered for the rest of Alaska’s fishes. Coho Salmon are also fun to catch and, in many 

cases, provide the last opportunity to wet a fly till next summer!

Any parting words of wisdom?

SK: Do good and have fun, both at home and at work!

Welcome to the third issue of Alaska Fisheries & Habitat News!

Steve Klosiewski

Deputy Assistant Regional Director

 Fisheries and Ecological Services

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Alaska

From managing America’s National Wildlife Refuge System to jointly administering the Endangered Species 

Act with NOAA Fisheries, combatting illegal wildlife trafficking, and working with willing landowners to 

conserve fish and wildlife habitat, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wears many conservation hats!

Alaska Fisheries and Habitat News highlights the unified conservation efforts of our Fisheries 

Program, Habitat Restoration and Conservation Partnerships Programs, and Alaska’s network of Fish 

Habitat Partnerships. It also provides information about Alaska’s fish, their habitats, and uniquely Alaska 

conservation challenges and opportunities. We hope it gives you a flavor for the ways we’re helping 

conserve fish and their habitats in Alaska and, more importantly, why that conservation matters! Contact 

me with suggestions, questions, or if you’d like to subscribe: katrina_mueller@fws.gov / (907) 786-3637. 

Alaska Fisheries and Habitat News is a publication of the Fisheries and Ecological Services Division of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Alaska Region

Katrina Mueller 

Fisheries Outreach Coordinator

ON THE COVER:

Cook Inlet Coho Salmon (Trent Liebich)

ON THE BACK:

Coho and Sockeye Salmon flanked by Dolly 

Varden Char (Jeffry Anderson)
3 l Fall 2015 

by Katrina Mueller

Why Coho?

I’ve put my underwater camera in 

a lot of creeks that flow through 

Southcentral Alaska and eventually 

make their way into Cook Inlet. And 

the faces I almost always see are those 

of juvenile Coho Salmon.

Of all the Pacific salmon, Coho Salmon 

juveniles spend the longest time in 

freshwater—we’ve documented them 

spending as many as four years in 

the Big Lake area of Mat-Su before 

migrating to sea where they will reach 

adulthood (see feature article on p 5). 

Because they spend so much time in 

freshwater, juvenile Coho also tend 

to move farther upstream than other 

salmon in search of nursery habitats 

that stay unfrozen in winter, cool in 

summer, and provide adequate food 

and cover year-round. 

From a conservation standpoint, if we 

meet the extensive habitat connectivity 

needs of juvenile Coho Salmon, we 

tend to meet the connectivity needs of 

other salmon. That’s why juvenile Coho 

Salmon are one of our “conservation 

design species.” It’s also why much of 

our work is aimed at understanding 

and conserving habitat for juveniles.

Why Cook Inlet? 

Over sixty percent of of Alaska’s 

entire human population lives in the 

Cook Inlet watershed. This land area 

encompasses growing population 

centers in Anchorage and the Kenai 

Peninsula and Mat-Su Boroughs. 

Here, salmon populations support 

commercial, sport, personal use and 

subsistence fisheries. But they’re 

vulnerable to the stressors, like habitat 

fragmentation, that come with living 

alongside humans.

In the Wasilla-Palmer core area of 

Mat-Su (the “Valley”), located in 

upper Cook Inlet, few lands are in 

conservation protection status and 

development occurs in close proximity 

to salmon spawning and nursery 

habitats. This area is one of the fastest 

growing in the United States. 

On the Kenai Peninsula, a 175-mile 

interface of private lands extends along 

the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge 

boundary. These private lands include 

several communities, residential areas, 

and primary roads. The result: almost 

every anadromous stream originating 

on the western Kenai Peninsula 

must pass through a developed area 

that includes culverts, homes, boat 

launches, altered streambanks, and 

urban runoff enroute to the sea.

To help address these habitat threats, 

two formally-recognized partnerships 

(the Mat-Su Basin Salmon Habitat 

Partnership and the Kenai Peninsula 

Fish Habitat Partnership) have formed 

to help sustain Cook Inlet Coho Salmon 

and other fishes.

Feature Fish

Cook Inlet

Cook Inlet Coho Salmon

Oncorhynchus kisutch

Cook Inlet

This saltwater body stretches roughly 

180 miles from Anchorage to the Gulf of 

Alaska. Its watershed drains well-known 

rivers like the Susitna and Kenai and 

covers over 38,000 square miles (if it was 

a state it would rank in size between 

Indiana and Kentucky). 

Above: a male Coho Salmon returns to Campbell Creek in Anchorage to spawn while last year’s young 

swim nearby. Click here to see the video. Right: A juvenile Cook Inlet Coho Salmon. USFWS/Katrina Mueller
4 l Fall 2015 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Alaska (Region 7)

- 2015 -

Kachemak Bay Science Conference, with 

support from Kenai Peninsula Fish Habitat 

Partnership, was held in Homer March 4-7. 

March 31 annually - Entries for Wildlife 

Forever’s State-Fish Art Contest are due. 

http://alaska.fws.gov/fisheries/fish/contest_art.htm

May 18 - Cara Lewis, Suresh Sethi, and Bill 

Spearman received Regional Director’s 

Excellence Awards for Innovations in 

Conservation, Science Excellence, and 

Workplace Improvement, respectively. Jim 

Jenson (Mat-Su Borough), Robert Ruffner 

(Kenai Watershed Forum), Tim Troll (Southwest 

Alaska Salmon Habitat Partnership) received 

“Outstanding Partner” awards. Nominees 

included Fred Bue (External Customer Service); 

Neil Stichert, David Wigglesworth, Bill Rice 

(Fostering Partnerships); Jeremy Carlson, 

Aaron Martin, Jeremy Mears, Jeff Melegari 

(Innovations in Conservation); Cara Lewis 

(Science Excellence), Laurel Devaney (Youth in 

the Outdoors). 

May 24 annually - World Fish Migration 

Day. A one day global event to call attention 

to open rivers and migratory fish.

June 12, 2015 - The 3rd Chena River 

Watershed Summit took place in Fairbanks. 

A draft Watershed Resources Action Plan for 

the Chena and Salcha Rivers was presented

(story on p 13)

July 27-31, 2015 - USFWS Partners for Fish 

& Wildlife and Coastal Program Coordinators 

from around the U.S. met in Alaska to share 

conservation strategies and learn about 

Alaska’s unique habitat conservation issues.

August 16-20, 2015 - The 145th meeting of 

the American Fisheries Society was held 

in Portland, Oregon. A number of our Alaska 

staff presented and/or were involved with 

organizing symposia and its 1st Annual Fish 

Film Festival. 

September 24, 2015 - Laurel Devaney will 

be recognized by the Alaska Conservation 

Foundation. She is a 2015 Conservation 

Achievement Award recipient.

October 13-15 - The Southeast Alaska Fish 

Habitat Partnership will coordinate and 

host a Southeast Alaska Fish Passage 

Meeting to examine the state of the science 

and practice of maintaining and restoring 

fish habitat connectivity where roads cross 

streams. Contact neil_stichert@fws.gov. 

- 2014 -

The 2nd Annual Chena River Watershed 

Summit focused attention on the river and its 

Chinook salmon run.

Bill Rice received the Service’s National Fish 

Passage Program Field Biologist of the 

Year award. 

The Southeast Alaska Fish 

Habitat Partnership became the 

nation’s 19th Partnership to receive 

formal recognition by the National 

Fish Habitat Partnership Board.

Fisheries Program biologists Ray Hander, Jon 

Gerken, and Steve Miller were recipients 

of Regional Director’s Excellence 

Awards (Fostering Partnerships, Innovation 

in Conservation, and Diversity Champion, 

respectively). 

David Hoskins and Kari Duncan from our 

headquarters office in Falls Church, Virginia 

visited with Alaska staff and visited project 

sites around Alaska. 

The 1st annual Alaska Fish Film Festival 

was held in Juneau in October during a joint 

annual meeting of the Alaska Chapters of the 

American Fisheries Society and American 

Water Resources Association. 

Over 125 people attended 

the 7th annual MatSu Salmon Science 

and Conservation 

Symposium in Palmer 

this past November.Jon 

Gerken, a Fish Biologist 

with our Anchorage Field 

Office, was one of several “King Makers” 

crowned by Great Land Trust.

News Briefs

Recent Publications

Brown RJ and DW Daum (2015). Spawning 

Distribution of Bering Ciscoes in the Yukon 

River. Transactions of the American Fisheries 

Society, 144:2, 292-299. 

Crane P, Walsh P, Lewis C and JK Wenburg 

(2015). Origin and genetic diversity of 

lake trout in the Togiak National Wildlife 

Refuge, Alaska. Journal of Fish and Wildlife 

Management, 6:1, 130-144.

Cavileer TD, Hunter SS, Olsen J, Wenburg 

J and JJ Nagler (2015). A sexdetermining 

gene (sdY) assay shows discordance between 

phenotypic and genotypic sex in wild 

populations of Chinook salmon. Transactions 

of the American Fisheries Society 144, 

423-430. 

Clark SC, Tanner TL, Sethi SA, Bentley KT 

and DE Schindler (2015). Migration timing of 

adult Chinook salmon into the Togiak River 

(Alaska) watershed: Is there evidence for 

stock structure? Transactions of the American 

Fisheries Society 144:4, 829-836.

Olsen JB, Lewis CJ, Massengill RL, Dunker 

KJ and JK Wenburg (2015). An evaluation 

of target specificity and sensitivity of three 

qPCR assays for detecting environmental DNA 

from Northern Pike (Esox lucius). Conservation 

Genetics.

Sethi SA and TL Tanner (2014). Spawning 

distribution and abundance of a northern 

Chinook population. Fisheries Management 

and Ecology 21,427-438.

Worldwide, three rivers are known to support 

Bering Cisco: Yukon, Kuskokwim, and Susitna, all in 

Alaska. These fish are taken commercially and have 

a market in New York City. (photo: New York Times)

November 2015 - Stay tuned for an 

announcement of our 2016 seasonal fisheries 

technician and crew leader positions on www.

usajobs.gov. 

November 2-6, 2015 - The 42nd annual 

meeting of the American Fisheries Society

Alaska Chapter will be held in Homer. 

November 18-19, 2015 - The 8th annual MatSu Salmon Science and Conservation 

Symposium will be held in Palmer.
BIG LAKE

life of salmon

Anchorage Fish & Wildlife Field Office

Big Lake

Feature by Katrina Mueller

5 l Fall 2015 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Alaska (Region 7)

Aerial photograph of a portion of Big Lake 

and some of the many interconnected small 

lakes and streams that provide nursery 

habitat for juvenile Coho Salmon. Carl Johnson
WHAT’S THE GOAL OF THIS STUDY? 

JG: We wanted to understand the 

seasonal movement patterns and 

habitat preferences of juvenile Coho 

Salmon in the Big Lake drainage. And 

how they fared in different habitats 

growth-wise.

SS: Ultimately we want to be able to 

inform efforts that help juvenile salmon 

reach their preferred nursery habitats 

by improving fish passage where roads 

cross streams. 

WHY BIG LAKE?

SS: Alaska benefits from largely intact 

aquatic ecosystems, but development 

in Southcentral Alaska’s Mat-Su Valley 

is happening quickly, particularly 

around Big Lake. Salmon that live here 

are experiencing many of the same 

stressors that have caused population 

declines and extirpations in other parts 

of the country.

BR: Across Mat-Su and Cook Inlet, the 

Big Lake watershed is unique in that 

it’s got a huge network of small creeks 

and wetlands that intersect a relatively 

dense network of roads and culverts 

that pass water under those roads. This 

study provides an unprecedented look 

at the impacts of road crossings within 

such a wetland stream dominated 

watershed. And this is important in a 

state that’s over 40% wetland.

Jon Gerken

Fish Biologist

Josh Ashline

Fish Biologist

Bill Rice

Fish Passage 

Engineer

Suresh Sethi

Statistician

Big Lake—This aptly named lake and its tributaries stretch across a 

nearly 100 square mile watershed 

near Wasilla, Alaska. With over 90 

miles of creeks and over 300 lakes, 

this wetland-dominated system 

is rated extremely high for both 

biological value and vulnerability 

to development, the entire drainage 

is among the top conservation 

priorities for the Mat-Su Basin 

Salmon Habitat Partnership and its 

partners, including the U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service.

I sat down with four of our Fisheries 

and Habitat staff who have been 

studying salmon movement 

and habitat use throughout the 

watershed to learn about how the 

project is informing the conservation 

of a regionally-important fish—Cook 

Inlet Coho Salmon. 

Did you know? Sixty-four percent of the 

79 culverts documented in the Big Lake 

watershed have been identified as potential 

or partial barriers to juvenile salmon by the 

Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

Below: Meadow Creek where it flows under the Parks 

Highway before flowing into Big Lake. Sockeye Salmon 

struggle to pass a culvert along a migration route to 

upstream spawning grounds. USFWS/Katrina Mueller

6 l Fall 2015 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Alaska (Region 7)
SS: While roads can cause fish 

passage barriers where they cross 

streams, they also make it tractable 

to implement a large-scale field effort 

to study both adult and juvenile Coho 

Salmon ecology. 

JG: Big Lake is also a good study area 

because we already know where Coho 

Salmon spawn—we tracked them to 

their spawning grounds using radio 

telemetry in 2009 and 2010. Thanks to 

thermal infrared remote sensing and 

our 2015 work with Cook Inlet Keeper, 

we also have an idea where the springs 

and seeps are that may provide critical 

coldwater refuge for salmon in summer 

and warmwater refuge in winter. 

WHAT MAKES THIS STUDY UNIQUE?

JA: We tracked Coho Salmon over the 

course of their entire life cycle—from 

juveniles only about as long as your 

finger to 8-12 lb adults returning to 

spawn!!! This is extrememly difficult 

to do and hasn’t been done before in a 

wetland dominated system in Alaska.

WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED ABOUT COHO 

SALMON OR FISH PASSAGE THAT YOU 

DIDN’T ALREADY KNOW? 

JG: We found that some juveniles 

spend four years in freshwater before 

migrating to sea—this is longer than 

we expected.

SS: One of the more interesting things 

we discovered is that juvenile Coho 

Salmon—even young of the year (born 

this year)—move widely, and often in 

synchronous pulses. 

JG: We also discovered that there are 

only five dominant overwintering areas 

in the entire drainage—particularly 

lakes in the upper reaches of the 

watershed. During the summer we find 

juveniles in mainstem and tributary 

habitats.

We also learned that fish actively move 

under the ice, especially when the air 

temperature is above zero...and that 

they’re stopped by culverts previously 

thought to provide adequate fish 

passage when ice freezes inside. 

BR: That blockages in winter occur 

makes sense because these small 

wetland streams are prone to layered 

masses of ice forming below 0oC from 

the freezing of successive flows of 

ground water over previously formed 

ice layers.

JA: I was suprised how much variation 

we documented in Coho Salmon life 

history. The Coho within Fish Creek 

[Big Lake’s outlet] and Meadow Creek 

[the major upstream tributary] were 

very different with respect to growth 

rates and migration patterns. They 

even looked different.

SS: We have preliminary results 

that young of the year juveniles 

and juveniles that have remained in 

freshwater for a year or more have 

distinct movement and habitat use 

patterns.

JA: As we dig deeper into our dataset 

I’m sure we’ll continue to learn new 

things about Coho Salmon. One thing 

that I’ve learned is it’s very difficult 

to accurately sex adult Coho Salmon 

as the females also develop a kype 

[hooked snout]. You can’t necessarily 

rely on the appearance of the kype 

to determine if the fish is a male or 

female. 

Did you know? Our Fisheries staff have 

documented five major spawning areas in 

Meadow Creek that are interspersed between 

approximately 30 culverts. 

Below: Josh sets traps in a tributary to Meadow Creek to catch juvenile Coho Salmon (note spawning Sockeye Salmon). Once caught, juveniles are weighed 

and their length measured. They’re then tagged with a “PIT” tag the size of a grain of rice and released. See next page for details. Photo by USFWS/Katrina Mueller

7 l Fall 2015 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Alaska (Region 7)
8 l Fall 2015 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Alaska (Region 7)

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Alaska (Region 7)

Spotlight on Technology: 

tracking PIT-tagged fish

Step 1. Catch juvenile salmon

We bait minnow traps with cured 

salmon eggs (they’re placed in a film 

canister with holes to attract yet 

prevent the fish from actually eating the 

cured eggs). We then set them in good 

juvenile salmon habitat (for example, 

along the bank where there is good 

cover provided by wood—see below). 

Once fish enter the trap they have 

difficulty finding their way back out.

Step 2. Tag juvenile salmon

Because of tag size, we only tag 

juvenile Coho Salmon 55 milimeters 

in length or longer. Trained field 

biologists briefly anethesize juveniles 

to implant a tiny passive integrated 

transponder (PIT) tag into their 

abdominal cavity (like the microchip 

inserted under the skin of a pet dog). 

Then the fish are released after full 

recovery (usually a few minutes).

Step 3. Track their movement 

To figure out where tagged juveniles 

go and when, we set up and maintained 

seven fixed antenna arrays that 

spanned different streams in the Big 

Lake drainage. These arrays “read” 

tagged fish that pass through, letting 

us know which fish were moving 

(thanks to the unique code in each PIT 

tag), which direction they were going, 

and when. We also recaptured a portion 

of juveniles in minnow traps and 

checked if they were tagged by swiping 

a hand-held reader over their abdomen 

(if a tag is present the reader identifies 

its unique code). 

PIT tags are very small glass tubes containing an 

antenna and integrated circuit chip. Each PIT tag 

carries a unique code to enable identification of 

individual fish.

USFWS/Katrina Mueller

Flow

USFWS/Katrina Mueller

antennaes

APPROXIMATELY HOW MANY COHO HAVE 

YOU HAD YOUR HANDS ON OVER THE 

COURSE OF THIS STUDY?

JA: Easily over 10,000. I couldn’t even 

come close to pinpointing a number. The 

coolest part about fish handling during 

this study was wondering if individual 

fish remembered me when we captured 

them as smolts and again as adults. 

I know that I handled the same fish 

multiple times throughout its life. First 

when tagging it as a 55mm juvenile, 

again a year or two later as a 130mm 

smolt, and again a year later as a 

500mm adult returning from the ocean. 

I’d like to think these fish said “oh boy, 

not you again!!”

WHAT’S BEEN THE MOST CHALLENGING 

ASPECT OF FIELD WORK OR THE 

TECHNOLOGY BEING USED TO TRACK 

THE COHO?

JA: Tagging fish is easy even if they are 

only 55 millimeters long and the tag is 

1/3 the length of the fish. Maintaining 

the PIT tag technology and all the 

associated systems such as the solar 

panels and thermometric generators 

was the challenging part. In order to 

track tagged Coho Salmon we needed 

to ensure everything at each of the 

antenna sites was functioning properly. 

I went from “fish biologist” to 

electrictican, carpenter, and control 

wiring expert pretty quickly. I’ve 

joked with my supervisors that if fish 

biology doesn’t work out, I’m a shoe 

in for a position as an electrical repair 

technician. 

To track a salmon over the course of its 

entire life cycle—as it moves among its 

preferred freshwater habitats, migrates to 

sea, and returns as an adult to spawn—a 

few things need to happen! 

baited trap

road culvert
the model will then optimize a list of 

priority culverts for replacement to 

get the most benefit out of working in 

the watershed. This type of model can 

be run with many cost scenarios to see 

if there is truly a cost inflection point 

where there is little habitat gain per 

salmon benefit.

WHAT’S NEXT?

BR: The project is finishing up with 

modeling scheduled for this winter. The 

results of this project will hopefully 

inform culvert replacements starting 

in 2016!

JA: This year we are finding out what is 

so special about specific overwintering 

lakes. Next is data analysis and report 

writing...and then taking our PIT 

tagging knowledge on to bigger and 

more remote systems to investigate 

the juvenile life histories of Chinook 

Salmon, maybe in some Susitna River 

tributaries!! 

SS: For me? Lots and lots of data 

analysis! 

JG: There have been three major 

categories of challenges: human, 

environmental, and technological. On 

the environmental side, our antennaes 

have been lost during ice up and 

cold is particularly hard on batteries 

(temperatures can reach -30). We’ve 

had our solar panels shot at and 

equipment stolen, people have built 

rock dams across the streams we’re 

assessing fish movement on, and one 

of our thermal generators exploded 

due to propane freezing/gelling and 

blocking ventilation.

BR: We did a geomorphic study which 

required walking 17 miles of creek. 

The major challenges were mosquitos, 

brush, and the dreaded floating mats of 

vegetation that you can fall through. 

JA: Yes, there have been many waders 

topped with water. 

JG: Tags are passive and don’t emit 

any signal until they pass through 

antenna. We’ve tagged over 6,000 fish. 

Recapturing the fish is time consuming. 

We spent a lot of time setting traps. 

JA: The winter field work is cold and 

exhausting. We found that the best way 

to get 100lb propane tanks into sites 

to power the antennae arrays was on 

our backs in a pack frame. Sleds just 

bulldozed the snow, and when we finally 

got snowmachines to do the hard work 

for us Mother Nature didn’t cooperate 

and it didn’t snow, which meant more 

100lb propane tanks hauled on our 

backs in the cold and over snow and ice. 

SS: All of the moving parts of the 

project have called for substantial field 

effort and technical capacity in the 

field, but the crews, crew leaders, and 

field biologists have shown great skill 

in making it work. 

THERE’S A MODELING COMPONENT 

TO THIS STUDY. HOW WILL THE 

COMBINATION OF FIELD WORK AND 

MODELING INFORM FISH PASSAGE 

RESTORATION?

SS: Aquatic ecosystems are complex, 

and we simply don’t have the resources 

to study all parts of all of the Big Lake 

system. So we design targeted field 

efforts to answer questions about 

salmon ecology and produce enough 

data such that we will have the ability 

to generalize from our sample data to 

the system as a whole. We’ll then use 

statistical modeling to make inference 

about the larger system as a whole. 

BR: Basically the fishery and habitat 

fieldwork will inform the statistical 

model that will let us know how big 

of an impact each culvert is having on 

salmon. We can then use it to estimate 

the cost to replace each barrier based 

on the past eight years of fish passage 

restoration in the Mat-Su Valley. Given 

a set amount of funding, say $1 million, 

ALL BIG FISH START SMALL We mostly think about salmon when they’re returning to spawn but should really be thinking 

of the tiny camoflagued juveniles living in our creeks year-round. What we do to the creeks they inhabit, like putting in a 

culvert that they can’t pass through, can take away options for them...and the options for us as well to continue living with 

and benefiting from salmon in Mat-Su and other fast developing areas in Alaska.

9 l Fall 2015 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Alaska (Region 7)

A suspected 4-year-old juvenile Coho Salmon caught in Cloudy Lake upstream of Big Lake in August 2015. Photo by USFWS/Katrina Mueller

A big thank you to the many seasonal fisheries 

technicians that have helped carry out this 

study and to the landowners who allowed 

our staff access to sites throughout the Big 

Lake drainage. Special thanks to the Alaska 

Sustainable Salmon Fund, Alaska Department 

of Fish & Game (Mark Willette and Bob 

DeCino - Commercial Fisheries/Soldotna; 

Gillian O'Doherty - Sportfish/Anchorage; Daryl 

Lescanec - Sportfish/Palmer; Susie Hayes - 

recently retired from ADF&G), Burkeshore 

Marina, and Brad Harris (Alaska Pacific 

University).
- DETAILEES -

Mark Bellis, Biologist/CITES Policy 

Specialist for International Affairs 

in our headquarters office in Falls 

Church, Virginia, did a one-month 

detail with our Anchorage Field 

Office’s Habitat Branch in May 2015. 

Liz Jozwiak with the Mexican Wolf 

Recovery Program in Arizona 

and New Mexico detailed with 

the Kenai Field Office’s Habitat 

Restoration Branch from May 11-

June 12, learning about and helping 

implement our Fish Passage and 

Partners for Fish and Wildlife 

Programs and working with the 

Kenai Peninsula Fish Habitat 

Partnership. 

Jonathan Gerken, 

Fish Biologist for 

our Anchorage Field 

Office, is currently 

detailing as its 

Fisheries Branch 

Chief.

Katrina Mueller, 

Alaska’s Fisheries 

Outreach 

Coordinator, did a 

1-month detail in 

February 2015 with 

with the Coastal 

and Partners for 

Fish and Wildlife Programs at our 

headquarters office in Falls Church, 

Virginia. She begins a 60 day detail 

with the Anchorage Field Office’s 

Fisheries Branch on September 9, 

2015. 

Libby Benolkin and Neil Stichert are 

filling in behind Bill Rice (our former 

Anchorage Field Office Habitat 

Restoration Branch Chief) until the 

position is filled. 

10 l Fall 2015 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Alaska (Region 7)

Alaska Staff Updates

Trevor Fox joined 

the Fisheries and 

Ecological Services 

Division as the Alaska 

Regional Subsistence 

Coordinator in 

October 2014. This is 

a key position for the 

Service’s participation 

in the federal subsistence 

management process in Alaska. 

Trevor has previously served as 

a fish and wildlife biologist with 

the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s 

Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration 

Program and as wildlife biologist 

with Alaska’s Office of Subsistence 

Management.

Franklin Dekker, a 

Pathways Recent 

Graduates Program 

Hydrologist, joined 

the Anchorage Fish & 

Wildlife Field Office 

Habitat Branch in fall of 2014. His 

focus is streambank and fish passage 

restoration. He was previously a 

Wilderness Fellow at Arctic and 

Selawik National Wildlife Refuges in 

Alaska. 

Catherine “Cat” Bradley 

Dr. Bradley joined 

us as a Pathways 

Program Student 

Intern Biometrician in 

2014. Cat is pursuing 

a Master’s degree in 

Statistics at the University of Alaska 

Fairbanks and helping our biologists 

design field studies and analyze data. 

Before becoming a full-time number 

cruncher, she worked in the field with 

salmon, songbirds, and butterflies. 

She enjoys backpacking, kayaking, 

and music in her free time.

Aaron Webber joined the Kenai 

Field Office Fisheries Team in May 

2015 by way of the Wildlife and 

Sport Fish Restoration Program in 

Albuquerque, New Mexico. Prior to 

that he spent six years as a Fisheries 

Biologist with the Colorado River 

Fish Project where he investigated 

life history and population dynamics 

of endangered Colorado River 

fishes. He spent considerable time 

in the field coordinating projects 

and logistics for remote field work 

on several large Western rivers and 

is ready to run our field program on 

the ground in western Alaska. He 

reported for duty in Bethel on May 

26th. Aaron’s an avid outdoorsman 

and is excited for the opportunity to 

experience the last major unroaded 

river system in North America, and 

we are excited to welcome him and 

his family to Alaska! 

Kyle Graham, Partners Program 

Biologist from Nebraska, did a one 

month detail in the Anchorage Field 

Office in March 2015. He liked Alaska 

so much he accepted a position as 

a Fish and Wildlife biologist in our 

Kenai Field Office’s Habitat Branch. 

Kyle comes to us from the Nebraska 

Sandhills Partners for Fish and 

Wildlife Program where he worked 

for 12 years. 

Mary Colligan 

starts as Assistant 

Regional Director 

for Fisheries & 

Ecological Services in 

September 2015. She 

has served as the Polar Bear Lead 

and most recently as Chief of Marine 

Mammals Management in Anchorage. 

Prior to that she worked for the 

National Marine Fisheries Service 

for 22 years where she implemented 

the Marine Mammal Protection and 

Endangered Species Acts from Maine 

to Virginia for species including the 

North Atlantic right whale, humpback 

whale, harbor porpoise, sea turtles, 

Atlantic and shortnose sturgeon and 

Atlantic salmon. 

Aaron Martin moves 

to Anchorage 

in October 2015 

to become our 

Regional Fisheries 

and Aquatic 

Conservation 

Coordinator. He is currently a 

Supervisory Fish Biologist in the 

Fairbanks Fish and Wildlife Field 

Office’s Subsistence Fisheries 

Branch. 

- WELCOMES -
Heather Fuller left 

Alaska in July 2015 

after six years as a 

Habitat Biologist with 

our Kenai Field Office. 

Heather now serves as 

an Endangered Species Act biologist 

for the Eastern Washington Field 

Office. 

Cecil Rich, our former 

Fisheries Program 

and Aquatic Invasive 

Species Coordinator, 

left Alaska in May 

2015 after 15 years to 

join the U.S. Forest Service as a fish 

biologist in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Tim Jennings, Assistant Regional 

Director for Fisheries & Ecological 

Services, retired in April 2015 after 

nearly 30 years with the Service. He 

plans to stay in Alaska and do a lot 

more sailing, hiking and traveling 

with his wife.

Steve Miller retired 

from a 25+ year 

Federal career this 

spring, most recently 

as a Fishery Biologist 

for the Kenai Field 

Office stationed in Bethel where 

he led the Office’s field program in 

Western Alaska. 

Cheryl Anderson

retired in January 

2015 from our Kenai 

Field Office. As a Fish 

Biologist, Cheryl led 

field investigations 

on salmon populations in streams 

near Cold Bay, directed spawning 

telemetry studies on Togiak River 

Chinook Salmon, and investigated 

Rainbow Smelt population dynamics. 

More recently, she led education and 

invasive species eradication efforts 

on the Kenai Peninsula. 

Meg Perdue left our Anchorage Field 

Office Habitat Branch to join the 

National Wildlife Refuges’ Water 

Resources Branch as Water Quality 

Specialist in October 2014. In her 

new role she is developing a water 

temperature monitoring program to 

help staff consolidate and manage 

data both on and off National 

Wildlife Refuge lands in Alaska. 

Steve Klosiewski 

retires from the 

Service on September 

30, 2015 after coming 

to Alaska more than 

27 years ago for a 

1-year term position 

in Migratory Bird Management. 

He served as the Region’s first 

biometrician for the Fisheries 

Program, followed by stints as 

Fisheries Program Branch Chief, 

Division Chief of Fisheries & Habitat 

Conservation, and, for the past ten 

years, Deputy Assistant Regional 

Director for Fisheries & Ecological 

Services. He plans to spend more 

time enjoying Alaska, fishing, cycling, 

and traveling around the world.

Theresa Tanner joined 

the U.S. Forest 

Service in Cordova on 

August 24, 2015 after 

15 years with the 

the Service. Theresa 

worked out of both 

our Fairbanks and 

Anchorage Field Offices on fisheries 

projects around the state from the 

Arctic to Mat-Su to Togiak National 

Wildlife Refuge. 

Doug McBride 

joined the Service’s 

Wildlife and Sportfish 

Restoration Program 

in Anchorage on 

August 24, 2015 

where he’ll be 

administering Pittman-Robertson 

funds to ADF&G to assess and 

manage wildlife populations. For the 

last eight years Doug has served as 

Fisheries Program Branch Chief for 

the Anchorage Field Office. 

Bill Rice left Alaska 

in July 2015 after 17 

years for Colorado 

where he replaced 

Scott Roth as Region 

6’s Fish Passage and 

National Fish Habitat Partnership 

Coordinator. Bill will also help the 

Bozeman Fish Technology Center 

shape and fund fish passage research. 

Bill was Region 7’s Fish Passage 

Engineer and, most recently, the 

Habitat Restoration Branch Chief at 

our Anchorage Field Office.

Josh Ashline 

Libby Benolkin 

Jeff Anderson

Jim Boersma

Ken Gates

Anchorage Field Office

Kenai Field Office

Juneau Satellite Office

John Hudson Neil Stichert 

Alaska Regional Office 

Mike Buntjer

Mary Colligan

Trevor Fox

Jenifer Kohout

Aaron Martin

Katrina Mueller

David Wigglesworth

Jeff Adams

Fred Bue

Randy Brown

Jeremy Carlson

Sarah Conn 

Laurel Devaney

Fairbanks Field Office

Ray Hander

Gerald Maschmann

Jeremy Mears

Jeff Melegari

Mitch Osborne

Catherine Bradley

Geoffrey Cook

Penny Crane

Rachel DeWilde 

Jason Everett

Blair Flannery

Cara Lewis

Conservation Genetics Lab

Randal Logues

Jeff Olsen

Ora Schlei

Suresh Sethi

Bill Spearman

John Wenburg

Franklin Dekker

Jon Gerken

Soch Lor

Kyle Graham

Ken Harper

Aaron Webber

Fisheries & Habitat

Staff & Pathways Students

In Alaska, we are based in various U.S. 

Fish and Wildlife Service offices around 

the state including three Fish and Wildlife 

Field Offices, one satellite office, two 

National Wildlife Refuges, and our Alaska 

Regional Office in Anchorage (where our 

state-of-the-art Conservation Genetics Lab 

is co-housed)

Amanda Adams

Melanie Bakker

Ian Buchta

Chelsea Clawson

Willow Cohn

Chanice Davies

Becca Dillon

Dan Donnelly

Olivia Edwards

Chad Gabreski

Alison Gardell

Adam Grunwald

Kimberly Giroux

Seasonal Staff, Interns, & 

Volunteers

Taylor Gregory

Jillian Jablonski

Jamie McGuire

Jennifer Morella

Matt Olson

Bonnie Ricord

Timothy Rovinelli

Jared Siegel

Otis Sipary

Jarred Stone

Seth Sullivan 

Caroline Walls

11 l Fall 2015 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Alaska (Region 7)

- FAREWELLS -
“Detect early and respond rapidly!” 

When it comes to aquatic invasive 

species, that’s the motto we live by here 

in Alaska, where we pride ourselves as 

stewards of America’s last true wild 

places that offer an unparalleled and 

vast array of fish, wildlife, and lands for 

people to live with, live from, discover 

and enjoy. 

While detection is the first step in 

eradicating harmful invasive species, 

it can be tricky. Especially in a largely 

roadless state where planes are like 

cars and invasives can hitchhike on or 

be introduced unintentionally by float 

planes or boats (or their passengers) 

headed for remote waterbodies. 

Because of this, potentially infested 

waterbodies can be extremely costly 

and/or logistically infeasible to survey 

adequately for invasive species 

presence. If, say, a potentially invasive 

fish species has just been introduced, 

low numbers may make the likelihood 

of detection even more difficult. 

Traditional methods such as gillnetting 

have a number of drawbacks including 

requiring tremendous allocations of 

time and effort, possibly impacting 

non-target species and having 

questionable effectiveness when fish 

abundance is low. 

Enter eDNA, or environmental DNA. 

If you like crime shows, this technique 

should pique your interest. All species 

shed skin cells (skin, fecal, urine) in 

their environment and scientists from 

our Conservation Genetics Lab and 

the Alaska Department of Fish and 

Game are honing their ability to detect 

Northern Pike DNA. 

Their motivation? Pike have been 

illegally introduced to southcentral 

Alaska where they aren’t native. Costly 

monitoring and control programs are 

now underway to stop the negative 

impacts these top predators are having 

on popular salmon and trout fisheries.

So, how is eDNA detected? First you 

have to collect a water sample that has 

a fragment of the target species’ unique 

DNA. Then you have to isolate it (it’s 

tiny beyond comprehension) and make 

lots of copies of it so you can read it—

on the order of thousands to millions. 

The molecular technique used to do 

this is called polymerase chain reaction, 

or PCR. Once you find the DNA you 

also have to be sure it’s not from some 

other co-occurring freshwater fish. 

Muskellunge are not found in Alaska 

but were included in the study since 

they’re a closely related species. 

The study authors tested their ability 

to isolate and amplify pike eDNA 

in a laboratory setting (a 20 gallon 

aquarium containing one pike) and 

their confidence that it wasn’t from 

Muskellunge or other Alaska fishes. 

Were they successful? Yes on both 

counts. Now testing in the field begins. 

Reference

Olsen JB, Lewis CJ, Massengill RL, Dunker KJ 

and JK Wenburg (2015). An evaluation of target 

specificity and sensitivity of three qPCR assays 

for detecting environmental DNA from Northern 

Pike (Esox lucius). Conservation Genetics.

by Katrina Mueller

Conservation Genetics Lab 

eDNA shows promise for Environmental 

Detectives...bad news for invasive species!

RECENTLY CONFIRMED INFESTATIONS

June 2015 - Lake Hood (Anchorage) 

August 2015 - Totchaket Slough (Tanana River downriver from Nenana)

YOU CAN HELP 

Don’t release aquarium plants; remove all plant 

fragments from boats, trailers, and float planes before 

entering new waters; report sightings (1-877-INVASIV)

ERADICATION EFFORTS (HERBICIDES)

July 2015 - Lake Hood was treated with Diquat; August 2015 - Anchorage Lakes 

(Sand, DeLong, Little Campbell) were treated with Fluridone. Monitoring of 

Kenai Peninsula Lakes (Stormy, Daniels, Beck) treated in 2014 & 2015 indicates 

herbicide treatment is working and long-term monitoring will continue.

12 l Fall 2015

Aquatic Invasive Species - the latest on Elodea

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Alaska (Region 7)
Our Fairbanks staff are lucky enough 

to work across a huge swath of 

arguably the most remote and wild 

lands in the country—including 

Alaska’s Interior, northwest, and North 

Slope. 

With such a sizeable geography, 

however, comes a constant need 

for them to be very deliberate and 

thoughtful about how to best leverage 

their unique skills and limited 

conservation dollars with partners to 

make the biggest positive and longlasting difference for fish. 

One such fish is Yukon River Chinook 

Salmon, an internationally-important 

species and priority for the U.S. Fish 

and Wildlife Service.

As Chinook Salmon return from the 

Bering Sea, they have traditionally fed 

thousands of rural residents from the 

mouth of the Yukon to their spawning 

grounds located as far inland as far 

inland as Canada—1,000+ miles from 

sea. Recent returns are roughly half of 

the historic average. Understandably 

there is growing desire to do 

everything possible to help Chinook 

Salmon make a comeback including 

addressing threats to important 

freshwater habitats. 

Two rivers that provide really 

important habitat for Yukon River 

Chinook are the Chena and Salcha. 

They are top producers of Chinook 

salmon in the U.S. waters of the Yukon 

River. 

These rivers also happen to flow 

through the most heavily-populated 

area in northern Alaska, with over 

100,000 people calling Fairbanks and 

its surrounding area home. 

With people have come riverfront 

homes and businesses that have 

unintentionally degraded the 

streamside habitats that are important 

for juvenile salmon, and other habitat 

threats, like Elodea (this non-native 

invasive aquatic plant is a prolific 

grower and great at spreading to new 

areas—it’s been shown to degrade 

Chinook spawning habitat). 

13 l Fall 2015

Fairbanks Fish & Wildlife Field Office

Plan Coming to Life Strives to Keep the Chena 

and Salcha Havens for Chinook Salmon 

by Jimmy Fox and Katrina Mueller

The Salcha River

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Alaska (Region 7)

Yukon River Salmon Conservation: 

U.S Fish & Wildlife Service Role

While our Fairbanks Fisheries and Habitat 

Branch is currently most active in the Chena 

River where a large population center 

coincides with salmon habitat degradation, 

our Fairbanks Subsistence Fisheries Branch 

plays a lead role ensuring subsistence needs 

and spawning salmon escapement goals are 

met on federal public lands in the U.S. portion 

of the Yukon River drainage as mandated 

through the Alaska National Interest Lands 

Conservation Act (or ANILCA). This Branch also 

works alongside the Alaska Department of 

Fish and Game to meet treaty obligations with 

Canada as laid out in the 2001 Yukon River 

Salmon Agreement. 

Chena and Salcha

Yukon River drainage

Alaska

USA

Did you know? Alaska’s Chena 

(below) and Salcha Rivers are 

two of the most productive 

Chinook Salmon nurseries in the 

U.S. waters of the Yukon River.

Fairbanks’ Chena River waterfront.

USFWS/Katrina Mueller
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Alaska (Region 7)

To develop a path forward, our 

Fairbanks staff initiated a formal 

Conservation Action Planning process 

last November in partnership with the 

Tanana Valley Watershed Association 

to have subject matter experts identify 

important habitats for Chinook and 

then identify and prioritize the actions 

needed to address the primary threats 

to those habitats in the Chena and 

Salcha river watersheds. 

This coalition of experts rated the 

current health of key habitats, and 

then identified threats that may impair 

those habitats in the next ten years—

threats including the loss of natural 

vegetation along stream banks, filling 

of wetlands, high levels of sediment 

and other pollutants in the water, and 

aquatic invasive species. 

They then prioritized actions to avoid, 

minimize or mitigate those threats. 

For example, restoring stream 

bank habitat using bioengineering; 

protecting and restoring wetlands; 

minimizing water pollutants; and 

removing Elodea, from the Chena 

River and Slough while preventing its 

spread to the Salcha River. Finally the 

group evaluated return-on-investment 

for those various actions and how 

to go about evaluating if they were 

successful.

A draft Watershed Resources Action 

Plan for the Chena and Salcha Rivers

was presented at the 3rd Annual 

Chena River Summit on June 12, 2015. 

A coalition of interested parties, 

Engaging Salcha and Chena Area 

Partners for Ecosystems (ESCAPE), 

will be hosted by the Tanana Valley 

Watershed Association. This coalition 

will meet quarterly to ensure the plan 

is implemented. 

As residents of other developing areas 

of Alaska (like the Kenai Peninsula 

and Mat-Su Valley) have experienced, 

collaboration is key to conserving and 

restoring important fish habitat. We 

are confident Interior residents love 

their salmon and local rivers just as 

much, and the final plan will benefit 

Chinook who call Chena and Salcha 

rivers home.

The Nature Conservancy’s Conservation Action Planning (CAP) Process is a powerful 

instrument for helping practitioners get to effective conservation results. There are three 

key steps: 1) developing strategies, 2) taking action, and 3) measuring success. Applied 

Conservation (a consulting and facilitation service established by retired Nature Conservancy 

veteran Greg Low and Henry Little) helped facilitate the Chena and Salcha River Watershed 

Resource Action Planning Process described below. 

Left: King salmon spawning in the upper Chena River.

Above: In addition to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 

staff from our Fairbanks Field Office (like Aaron Martin 

and Jeff Adams, pictured), representatives from the 

following organizations participated in a three session 

planning effort around conserving the Chena and 

Salcha Rivers: Alaska Departments of Environmental 

Conservation, Fish and Game, and Natural Resources; 

City of Fairbanks, Fairbanks North Star Borough, 

Fairbanks Soil and Water Conservation District, 

Tanana Chiefs Conference, Tanana Valley Watershed 

Association, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army 

Fort Wainwright, and University of Alaska Fairbanks 

Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit. 

Chena River Film Project

Coming summer 2016!

#ChenaRiverFilm
15 l Fall 2015 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Alaska (Region 7)

The southern coastal area of Alaska 

stretches north from British Columbia

through Southeast Alaska, and across 

the Copper River Delta and Prince 

William Sound to the tip of the Kenai 

Peninsula. 

This area ranks as one of the largest, 

most complex, and intact estuarine 

and temperate rainforests on earth. 

From towering mountains and glacial 

valleys flowing seaward through rivers 

and streams to the Pacific Ocean, 

the remote watersheds of the region 

contain an amazing array of microclimates and geological features that 

support an abundant array of fish and 

wildlife. 

Here, Pacific Salmon, steelhead, trout, 

and char drive local economies, draw 

visitors from around the world, and 

are central to many residents’ ways 

of living. Many small, vibrant fishing 

communities dot this coastal landscape.

 

Although southern coastal Alaska still 

has many largely intact watersheds it 

has not been immune from the effects 

of human development and resource 

extraction. Habitat degradation is the 

#1 cause of fish declines in the U.S.

Anchorage Fish & Wildlife Field Office

Investing in Fish Habitat: 

the value of restoration in 

southern coastal Alaska 

Many salmon streams impacted by past 

logging, mining, and road construction 

practices are in need of restoration and 

to regain the functions and instream 

habitat complexity required to support 

all life stages of salmon. 

Numerous road-stream crossings not 

designed with fish passage in mind 

block or delay adult and/or juvenile 

fish from reaching important upstream 

spawning and nursery habitats. 

Thankfully, investments in fish habitat 

restoration in southern coastal Alaska 

have immediate returns—improved 

and/or reconnected habitats are almost 

immediately re-occupied because there 

are generally viable fish populations 

adjacent to degraded areas. In fact, it 

is not uncommon to see juvenile salmon 

using habitat upstream of roads within 

days of restored fish passage. 

These fish eventually migrate to and 

spend time at sea before returning 

to their natal streams to perpetuate 

Alaska’s salmon success story. Along 

the way, they are caught and sold in 

domestic and international markets, 

end up on the dinner tables of Alaska 

residents and visiting sport fishermen, 

and support jobs in the region. 

The Southeast Alaska Fish Habitat Partnership (http://seakfhp.org) provides coordination 

support for partners operating across this island-dominated landscape and helps to facilitate a 

coordinated delivery of on-the ground habitat restoration and conservation. 

Under the direction of the Anchorage Field Office, our Juneau Satellite Office provides financial 

support and technical assistance to partners working to conserve and restore habitat in Southeast 

Alaska through three U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service conservation assistance programs: Partners 

for Fish and Wildlife, Fish Passage Program, and Southeast Alaska Coastal Program.

Photo: Pink Salmon migrating up Prince 

of Wales Island’s Harris River. Amy Modig

by Neil Stichert (USFWS), Deborah Hart (Southeast Alaska Fish Habitat Partnership), Mark Kaelke 

(Trout Unlimited), and Roger Harding (Alaska Department of Fish and Game). Edited by K.Mueller
16 l Fall 2015 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Alaska (Region 7)

In the heart of the Great Land

Flows the mighty Kuskokwim

Where we pick berries by hand

And the King Salmon swim

We catch them in summer

The fish gives us strength

While swimming they shimmer

Like the whole river’s length 

They are so important

To all of our lives

The great fish, a brilliant

Effort to survive

The spirit of Alaska

So vibrant and free

Is found in the ‘King’

For all to see 

A King Salmon peacefully glides through the water. It swims 

over to a small cove to feed. It suddenly sees a dark shape 

through the water. It stops. It detects danger. It suddenly 

hears a low growl. It turns around. There is a Grizzly Bear paw 

right behind him! He darts left. He darts right. Finally, the 

bear turns away. The King Salmon has won!

2015 State-Fish Art Contest 

Icey Lyman from Crooked Creek, Alaska - Grade 11

Wyatt Mohs from Anchorage, Alaska - Grade 3

More results at: http://www.wildlifeforever.org/contest

2016 entries due March 31, 2016
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Alaska (Region 7)

Project Previews

Kenai Fish & Wildlife Field Office

Kenai River juvenile Chinook Salmon genetics

We are cooperating with the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, 

Conservation Genetics Lab, and Alaska Department of Fish and 

Game to investigate habitat use and freshwater life history of 

juvenile Chinook Salmon in the Kenai River watershed. Fisheries 

staff will capture juvenile Chinook Salmon using minnow traps, 

beach seines, and other methods, and use ADF&G's mixed-stock 

genetic information as a "mark" for all fish captured throughout the 

watershed to infer movement, seasonal habitat use, and abundance 

by distinct reporting groups. 

Testing of weir alternative on the Funny River

Electronic fish guidance arrays may be a good tool for managers monitoring escapement of Chinook and 

Coho Salmon in rivers that are unsuitable for weirs. The technology, which is already used extensively in 

North America and can be used to guide migrating salmon through a fish trap and video counting chute 

using a mild field of non-lethal, pulsed DC electricity, is being developed on the Funny River in conjunction 

with the existing weir. If successful, other possibilities include the Kisaralik, Kwethluk, and Killey Rivers. 

Chickaloon River weir 

The Chickaloon River is a remote river on the Kenai 

Peninsula with a mostly unexploited stock of Chinook 

Salmon. This is unique to Cook Inlet and most other 

systems in Alaska. Working with the Kenai National 

Wildlife Refuge and the Alaska Department of Fish 

and Game, we will assess run timing, abundance, 

and age, sex, and length characteristics of Chinook 

Salmon (and other species) returning to the 

Chickaloon River. The dynamics of this unexploited 

stock will provide comparison information to other 

heavily-utilized stocks in Cook Inlet (i.e., Kenai 

and Kasilof rivers) with similar run timing and to 

other heavily-utilized stocks throughout Alaska. 

Information from this project will be valuable for 

managers when considering conservation actions 

and future management on the Kenai Peninsula and 

beyond. 

Kuskokwim River rotary screw trap

Our Office, along with the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge, are investigating freshwater life history 

and estimate smolt abundance and egg-to-smolt survival for Chinook and Coho Salmon on the Kwethluk 

River. The Yukon Delta NWR purchased a rotary-screw trap in 2013 which will allow us to estimate smolt 

abundance for the first time on the Kuskokwim River. Knowing how many smolts are in the river will 

provide valuable information to managers and researchers to partition survival estimates for fresh and 

salt water environments. The project will also serve as a pilot project to inform future basin-wide efforts. 

17 l Fall 2015

from Jeff Anderson
#ShareYourPlate

Above: filleted whitefish cooks on willow sticks “until 

crispy” while the intestines simmer in a frying pan. 

This was shared at a culture camp in Arctic Village. 

USFWS/Joanne Bryant

Left: Eclectic plate with several wild foods including 

a strip of baked Sockeye Salmon, King Salmon mixed 

with cream cheese on a cracker, salmonberry and 

crowberry agutuk, moose and beef spaghetti, a dried 

salmon strip, and macaroni. USFWS/Susanna Henry

18 l Fall 2015 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Alaska (Region 7)

In Alaska, our staff work alongside 

partners to steward the fish, wildlife, 

and millions of acres of National 

Wildlife Refuge lands that people live 

from—these resources provide wild 

foods that are central to the Alaskan 

way of life and draw visitors from 

around the world.

There are a few things in life that 

connect us all—one of those 

things is food! That’s probably 

even truer in Alaska, where 

we take great pride in the wild 

resources in our backyard, 

and our roles—personal and 

professional—as stewards.

#akwildfoods

We invite you to 

share your experience 

harvesting, preparing 

and eating Alaska’s wild 

foods through photos, recipes 

and stories of stewardship on 

social media using the hashtags 

#ShareYourPlate and #akwildfoods. 

Photo Categories:

fish

birds

berries/flora

engaging the next generation

family favorites

Recipe Category:

Original family favorite

2015
5 l Spring 2015 5 l Spring 2015 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Alaska (Region 7)

Also called “silvers” for their bright chrome coloring at sea and early in their 

spawning migration, Coho Salmon develop a broad red streak and darken 

as spawning time approaches. Distinguishing features are white gums 

and irregular black spots on their backs and upper lobe of their tail. Adults 

typically weigh 8-12 pounds. Peak returns of Cook Inlet coho salmon to their 

spawning ground generally occur between mid-July and early September.