This April, the Southeast Alaska Watershed Coalition and Southeast Alaska Fish Habitat Partnership teamed up to bring together over 70 participants across Alaska and the Pacific Northwest, including state and federal agencies, university researchers, Tribes, and NGOs, for a regional discussion about the state of eDNA research and existing and future applications across Alaska. The agenda, a brief meeting synopsis and the informative and valuable presentations relayed by leading researchers on the subject are available at the partnership’s website at https://seakfhp.org/edna-in-alaska-1-day-workshop-april-1-2019/.

Presentations and discussion touched on topics of interest garnered in early outreach efforts including:

• a desire for a primer on the science of eDNA sampling, including methodology issues related to single and multiple species investigations;
• interest in using eDNA for habitat mapping (for the presence of anadromous species to support greater conservation actions through available habitat permitting protections as well as early detection of aquatic invasive species) and to support abundance estimates of commercially and culturally important aquatic species like salmon and hooligan;
• an overview of existing sampling efforts taking place across Alaska; and
• recommendations for developing sampling protocols and cost considerations for potential future projects.

Next steps include exploring capacity to support a statewide Alaska eDNA Working Group, advance opportunities to share data resources especially information about primers that exist for Alaska species, and prioritize monitoring efforts especially for aquatic invasive species detection. For more information contact the SEAKFHP coordinator at: coordinator@sealaskafishhabitat.org