Saving Seafood

ALASKA: Working the night shift: Snagging salmon in Seward

June 13, 2019 — It’s midnight, and Seward is getting sleepy. Orange campfire embers smolder along the flat black water of Resurrection Bay as the last bits of midsummer twilight fade from the sky.

A group of men sit near a motorhome speaking Filipino as “No Touch” by the Juan Dela Cruz Band drifts down the rocky beach like campfire smoke. A dozen fishermen stand in the water nearby, their headlamps cutting through the night as they cast comically oversized treble hooks into the black before retrieving them violently in hopes of blindly gouging the belly or back of a big chinook.

“Fish on!” someone shouts, and now everyone is wide awake.

Welcome to Snag City.

Read the full story at the Anchorage Daily News

Alaska SeaLife Center Collaborates with NOAA

October 27, 2016 — SEWARD, Alaska — Scientists from the Alaska SeaLife Center (ASLC) recently returned from the first research mission to utilize new satellite technology for the study of harbor seal populations.

The month-long expedition to the Aleutian Islands on board the research vessel Norseman, was conducted in collaboration with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Polar Ecosystems Program.

“The population trends and factors that may be influencing harbor seals remain poorly understood,” said ASLC President and CEO Tara Riemer. “We are excited to increase our understanding of harbor seals and for the potential to better inform the science community and resource managers.”

Co-funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the study brings together scientists from two different organizations to collaborate on the next steps toward understanding and addressing shared concerns. Using Life History Transmitters (LHX), developed by Dr. Markus Horning, ASLC Science Director, in collaboration with Wildlife Computers, Inc. under funding from the National Science Foundation, researchers will be able to collect survival and reproductive data to better understand harbor seal population trends.

Read the full story at Alaska Business Monthly