Stock Composition of Salmon Bycatch Samples Completed
The Genetics Program at ABL recently completed its stock composition analysis of Chinook and chum salmon bycatch samples from the 2009 Bering Sea trawl fishery. Results were presented to the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) in Sitka, Alaska, in June 2010.
We're now working with the North Pacific Groundfish Observer Program (FMA Division) to develop revised sampling protocols for collecting representative genetic samples from the salmon bycatch with our final recommendations due to the NPFMC later this summer. Research is also ongoing at the Little Port Walter Marine Station to uncover how hatchery releases can impact local fish populations where coho salmon are being used as the model species.
The Auke Creek weir, a facility operated by NMFS in collaboration with the ADF&G and the University of Alaska, recently shifted from counting outmigrant sockeye, pink, and coho salmon smolts to enumerating returning adult sockeye salmon. Through collaborations with the University of Alaska, genetic samples are collected from the returning sockeye salmon to investigate genetic structure important for planned supplementation experiments.
