March 27, 2026 — Rising temperatures in the waters of Southcentral Alaska’s Deshka River have boosted the appetites of invasive northern pike, to the peril of Chinook and coho salmon and other fish species.
A study led by the University of Alaska Fairbanks researchers, published in February in the journal Biological Invasions, notes that pike of every age class are eating more fish as water temperatures rise, including a 63 percent rise among year-old pike.
Benjamin Rich, who led the study while pursuing a graduate degree at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, said researchers expect there will be significant warming in the future, and the amount of fish pike consume will increase with it.
The big thing to watch will be the cumulative impacts of climate warming, including hatchery issues and endangered species, said UAF fisheries professor Peter Westley, who worked with Rich and Erik Schoen, of UAF’s International Arctic Research Center, on the study.