The Alaska Salmon Program

The University of Washington’s salmon research program in Alaska began in 1946 and during 1947 a permanent field station was constructed at Aleknagik in the Wood River system, a series of five interconnected lakes stretching over 200 km and flowing into Bristol Bay (Fig. 1). A year later, the Fisheries Research Institute (FRI) was established on the University of Washington campus as a base for salmon research in Alaska. In 1955 and 1960, additional research stations were built at Chignik and Iliamna lakes, respectively, and the suite of facilities now includes six camps: Iliamna village and Porcupine Island (both on Iliamna Lake), Aleknagik and Lake Nerka (Wood River system), and Chignik (Fig. 2). There is also a cabin at the outlet of Lake Kulik in the upper Wood River system.

The research objectives of this program were to determine physical and biological factors influencing sockeye salmon production. These objectives were developed at a time when the fundamental biology of salmon was poorly known and there were no long-term studies integrating salmon and their ecosystems in a holistic manner. Many basic techniques for counting salmon and understanding their life history patterns were developed at these camps, and the data were used for the management of the salmon runs. The early period of research preceded Alaska’s statehood (in 1959) but the fisheries are now managed by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G). Some of the sampling programs that were initiated by FRI (e.g., counting the salmon smolts leaving Iliamna Lake) have been taken over as routine operations by ADF&G. However, we have continued a great deal of biological sampling that provides basic information on life history patterns and population dynamics, and is directly used in the conservation of the po pulations (e.g., abundance, size at age and age structure of adult salmon). We also have many sampling programs with no direct connection to fisheries management but that document the within-season and inter-annual patterns of the physical environment (e.g., temperature, solar radiation and lake level) and biotic com munities (e.g., emerging insects, chlorophyll, zooplankton, non-salmonid fishes, juvenile salmon growth).

Most research at the FRI field stations since 1946 has addressed applied aspects of salmon and aquatic ecology that were directly relevant to the salmon processing industry that has supported the research program. We will maintain this close relationship with industry and will also take advantage of the long-term data sets on climate change and biotic responses (limnology, fish growth, community structure, etc.) to pursue new areas of research. The field stations represent a unique and invaluable opportunity for aquatic and terrestrial research because of their near-pristine environment and the absence of introduced populations or exotic species. The sites are located on the edge of Beringia (the great Pleistocene refuge from glaciation) and contain animals and plants found nowhere else in North America.