University of Alaska Fairbanks associate professor of fisheries Peter Westley is clear that there’s nothing new with salmon wandering into Arctic Ocean waters. Westley states that salmon have been observed for years and captured, but their numbers are increasing.
“And we were curious about whether the increase in the kind of frequency at which salmon are being encountered…is it a sign that the salmon aren’t just appearing in the ocean but also appearing in rivers, and may be creating populations in new regions.”
In the month of March, Westley lead a team who surveyed the air from the two Colville River tributaries, the Anaktuvuk and the Itkillik and tallied around one hundred chum salmon that were equally divided across these two Arctic rivers. Westley says that the movement of a species further north is an obvious sign of the changing climate.
“So that’s why, in past times when the fish could have been somewhat hopeful colonists, showing up and taking a shot but the circumstances are changing enough to be at the brink of becoming a real success story for salmon.”
Elizabeth Lindley, a PhD student who is working in the research, stated that although the project is beneficial for Salmon, it’s also not favorable for the local population.
“Being Yupik and from Bethel I was very fascinated by this topic of salmon, which is very important to me and could be having an impact on other Indigenous ways of living as well as ecosystems.” the woman said.
Lindley was a part of the team that organized and led the Arctic salmon workshop in December. She says that participants shared different perspectives regarding the movement of salmon.
“Some community members who were present expressed concerns over the increasing number of salmon, and they were reluctant to take on more salmon as it could interfere with harvesting practices. However, I believe that it is a matter of preference depending on the individual and the group,” she said.
Lindley states that the effect on salmon sharing their spawning ground Arctic Dolly Varden and char is among the many unanswered questions.
The UAF team set up temperature sensors in the gravel where the fish were seen in spawning, to monitor whether the water stays sufficient warm enough for eggs to be able to survive. The source of Arctic Chums isn’t known however Westley believes that analysis of the samples taken from the fish in the fall will reveal clues.
“Extract DNA and then examine it against the genetic structure of populations that are known,” he said. “You can also make use of water signatures as well as the chemistry of water itself that is archived in the ear bones and the Otoliths.”
Lindley Westley and Westley both highlight the importance of Indigenous knowledge to understand the past and future of the salmon population in Arctic Ocean and North Slope rivers. The UAF leading research team plans to go again to Anaktuvuk as well as the Itkillik rivers in the fall of next year to search for the smolt and adult spawners.
