Category Archives: Uncategorized

Uncategorized

Assessment for Coffman Creek Now Available

Coffman Creek is located on eastern Prince of Wales Island in Southeast Alaska, near the community of Coffman Cove.

The Nature Conservancy, Kai Environmental Consulting Services, and Hydaburg Cooperative Association completed stream surveys in the Coffman Creek watershed in the summer of 2016. Fish trapping and adult foot counts were also performed to determine the presence and distribution of fish in Coffman Creek. This study was undertaken to address concerns from the residents of Coffman Cove, that stream conditions in Coffman Creek were degraded and possibly impacting fish and fish habitat. You can find this report online here: Coffman Creek Watershed Assessment

Fish observation points for juvenile fish for the surveyed reaches in Coffman Creek, near
Coffman Cove, Alaska.
Partner Event, Regional Event, Uncategorized

2018 Southeast Alaska Watershed Restoration Workshop – March 5-7, 2018

Please mark your calendars – the The 2018 Southeast Alaska Watershed Restoration Workshop will take place March 5-7 in Juneau.

Symposium goals are to build capacity to develop collaborative solutions for the restoration and informed management of Southeast Alaska watersheds. The event will bring together community leaders, NGOs and resource managers from across Southeast Alaska to share stories of restoration efforts – successes, techniques, and lessons learned, to network and develop partnerships for collaborative projects, and to provide tools and resources to build the capacity or our region’s land managers to carry out watershed restoration across the Tongass National Forest and its neighboring lands.

Session topics will include collaborative approaches, capacity gaps and how to bridge them, funding opportunities and strategies, and successful restoration in a changing region. If you are interested in sharing your success stories, lessons learned, and ideas for improving restoration in the region, please contact us!
Contact: Rebecca Bellmore at rebecca@sawcak.org

News, Partner Event, SEAKFHP Event, Uncategorized

The Tongass Top 5!

Many culverts cause big problems for fish. Migratory fish—like salmon and steelhead—need room to move and are particularly hard hit by barriers where roads cross streams.

Designing fish-friendly crossings where roads intersect streams helps ensure a seamless transition for fish passing underneath. Across the nation, the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and many partners have come together to improve fish passage under roads: in 2016, the U.S. Forest Service celebrated over 1000 fish passage projects completed nationally.

This effort has been deeply embraced in Alaska across the Tongass
National Forest. Between 1998 and 2015, over 500 crossings not
previously meeting fish passage standards were improved. In spite of this good work, it is estimated that a third of remaining assessed road-stream crossings in the Tongass do not currently meet fish passage standards. To address this need, the U.S. Forest Service, U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service, Trout Unlimited, The Nature Conservancy, and Southeast Alaska Fish Habitat Partnership have teamed up to develop the TONGASS TOP 5. The goal: design fish passage sites to a ‘shovel ready’ state and ultimately develop a plan to restore these remaining high priority sites for improved fish passage.

Your help can make a difference for fish in the Tongass! Make a direct tax-deductible donation for this effort here.

Partner Event, Regional Event, SEAKFHP Event, Uncategorized

Klawock Lake Sockeye Salmon Stakeholder Meeting — November 14-15, 2017

Save the Date

Klawock Lake Sockeye Salmon Stakeholder Meeting

Klawock Votec Center, Klawock Alaska

NOVEMBER 14-15, 2017
8:00 AM – 5:00 PM DAILY
EVENING EVENT PLANNED Tuesday, November 14th ANB Hall Doors open at 5:40pm (join us for a community dinner, Heinyaa Kwaan Dancers, and Klawock City School Band)

Please continue to check this site for updates and meeting resources.

If you are interested in being on the meeting mailing list please send an email to coordinator@sealaskafishhabitat.org

Want more information regarding sockeye salmon and the Klawock Lake watershed please see the recently published retrospective analysis and other meeting resources located here.

Joining us from afar, you can find a list of accommodations in Klawock here.

Uncategorized

TNC’s Klawock Lake Sockeye Retrospective Analysis Is Available

The Nature Conservancy’s (TNC) Klawock Lake Sockeye Retrospective Analysis has been finalized and is available on their website.

TNC’s work in the Klawock Lake watershed is not done.  They will be organizing both a public meeting and a stakeholder meeting over the next year (2017) to build common understanding of the history and current status of sockeye salmon and their habitats, and identify opportunities for stakeholders to partner on activities aimed to improve the condition of this resource.  Please look for communication about these meetings in the near future.

You can find the report here and a quick glance at the Executive Summary is included below:

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Sockeye salmon from Klawock Lake have been important to people on Prince of Wales Island for thousands of years.   Although the abundance of Klawock sockeye salmon has not been consistently monitored over this time period, it is evident that abundance over the last two decades is significantly less than historical values, and this has been a concern of local residents for some time.  Because of these declines, there have been many previous efforts to address declines through research and management.  This retrospective analysis serves as a single source of information regarding the many research, management, assessment, and watershed restoration projects that concern Klawock Lake sockeye salmon, presenting many of the relevant data and conclusions about Klawock Lake sockeye and the factors that may influence their productivity.  Review of this previous research reveals that multiple factors likely conspire to influence the sockeye decline, and that while various research efforts have been completed over the years, significant data gaps still exist.  Because climatic influences on sockeye salmon productivity are complex and ecosystem dynamics may be highly variable between individual systems, it is likely that some of the decline in sockeye productivity can be explained by natural causes.  Long-term datasets on harvest and escapement, as well as lake and ocean conditions are not currently available, but would provide better insight into the relative importance of these factors.  It is also likely that historic timber harvest practices have negatively impacted sockeye salmon spawning potential.  Although a large amount of restoration in the watershed has likely been positive for fish habitat, a targeted systematic analysis of restoration most likely to benefit the most important sockeye spawning areas would be beneficial.  The extent and effect of predation of juvenile sockeye, both by hatchery produced coho salmon and other predators, is also largely unknown and should be assessed.  If predation is determined to be an important factor, then attempting to adjust temporal or spatial overlap between predators and juvenile sockeye could be effective.  Improvements to harvest management could be considered, including validation of harvest and escapement estimates, estimation of the contribution of the commercial fishery to total harvest, and a management regime to encourage a locally-driven conservation-based approach to harvest, especially in years with poor sockeye returns.  To be effective, research and management activities will require a collaborative approach between multiple stakeholders to ensure lasting results.

 

Partner Event, Regional Event, SEAKFHP Event, Uncategorized

Climate Change in Southeast Alaska – April 12-15, 2016 in Juneau

Climate Change in Southeast Alaska – Informing Sustainable Management of Water Resources and Anadromous Fisheries, Spring 2016

April 12-15, 2016

Treadwell Conference Room, Baranof Hotel, Juneau, Alaska

Travel details (link to discount information)

Climate Workshop Agenda – Wed/Thurs April 13 and 14

Meeting Resources Link

Transboundary Environmental Data Workshop Agenda – Friday, April 15

Background

In 2014, the Tongass National Forest worked with EcoAdapt, with support from the Wilburforce Foundation, to conduct a stakeholder workshop and complete a climate change vulnerability assessment of aquatic resources including snow, ice, water, riparian vegetation, and fish. You can find this report here.

With support from the North Pacific Landscape Conservation Cooperative, the Southeast Alaska Fish Habitat Partnership, and State of Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, we plan to convene a workshop focusing on:

  • Effects of hydrologic regime shifts on rivers, streams, and riparian corridors
  • Effects of changes in the hydrologic regime on anadromous fish

Workshop Purpose

Bring scientists together with resource management practitioners to enrich knowledge, foster collaboration, and inform sustainable management of priority aquatic resources.

Anticipated Outcomes

  • Share progress and findings of relevant studies
  • Distribute analytical tools that could be used for resource management
  • Identify knowledge gaps and identify strategic actions
  • Integrate traditional knowledge into studies and assessments
  • Identify long-term data platforms for aquatic resources
  • Endorse a regional watershed classification to discern hydrologic regime shifts
  • Develop tools to predict changing ice and snow conditions and implications for hydrologic regimes
  • Develop tools to predict response of salmon habitat to changing hydrologic regimes in SE Alaska

Tentative Workshop Outline

April 12th – pre-meeting workgroups finalize meeting preparations

April 13th – Workshop Day 1

  • Morning: foundational presentations to all attendees
    • Brief overview of EcoAdapt report and other vulnerability assessments, and goals of the workshop.
    • Status of climate model downscaling in SE Alaska – respecting variability, understanding limitations and uncertainty, yet providing a common baseline for understanding climate change effects.
    • The STEK Science/Traditional Ecological Knowledge Lens
    • Monitoring a changing landscape
    • Adaptation planning, opportunities for collaboration, tools and resources
    • Overview of workgroups and expected outcomes
  • Afternoon:  key workgroup thematic presentations to all attendees
    • Streamflow, watershed classification tool
    • Freshwater temperature
    • Anadromous fish and Habitat Ecology
  • Evening social, poster session

April 14th – Workshop Day 2

  • Morning – workgroup thematic presentations
    • key workgroup thematic presentations to all attendees (continuation of Day 1 presentations)
    • workgroups meet concurrently on tangible outcomes, additional thematic presentations
  • Afternoon – workgroups report back to large group, identify future actions

April 15th – Transboundary Environmental Data Workshop (Agenda)– Workshop goals: Identify areas of collaboration in the collection, summary and distribution of water quality and quantity data in Transboundary Waters. Target audience: individuals with technical expertise or interest in the collection, distribution, and analysis of water quality and quantity data for SE Alaska. Workshop contact Terri Lomax, Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (email: terri.lomax@alaska.gov phone: 907-269-7635); RSVP Amber Bethe (email: amber.bethe@alaska.gov)

Climate Workshop Attendees

Federal and state agency personnel, Tribal representatives, Scientists, Land managers and aquatic resource specialists, Non-governmental organizations

Climate Workshop Planning Team

  • Julianne Thompson, Tongass National Forest
  • Sheila Jacobson, Tongass National Forest
  • Michael Goldstein, Forest Service – Alaska Region
  • Gordy Reeves, USFS Pacific Northwest Research Station
  • Cindy Hartmann Moore, NOAA Division of Habitat Conservation
  • Don Martin, Forest Service – Alaska Region
  • Neil Stichert, US Fish and Wildlife Service
  • Gretchen Pikul, Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation
  • Ray Paddock, Central Council Tlingit Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska
  • Allison Bidlack, Alaska Coastal Rainforest Center
  • Sanjay Pyare, University of Alaska Southeast
  • Collin Shanley, The Nature Conservancy
  • Mark Kaelke, Trout Unlimited
  • Scott Harris, Sitka Conservation Society
  • Debbie Hart, Southeast Alaska Fish Habitat Partnership

Climate Workshop Meeting Contacts

Julianne Thompson – Meeting Chair, USFS 907-772-5873, jethompson02@fs.fed.us

Deborah Hart – Meeting RSVPs/logistics, SEAKFHP 907-723-0258 / coordinator@sealaskafishhabitat.org

Uncategorized

ADF&G Vintage Photos!

The Alaska State Archives has recently digitized a number of historic Department of Fish & Game photographs. It’s their objective to make these historic pictures available to assist researchers and further education about Alaska’s ecology and environment. The bulk of the more than 150 historic images scanned and placed online concern Alaskan fisheries. Photos from the 1930s to the 1960s document commercial and sport fishing practices, as well as cannery operations. Photos also include imagery of glaciers and the impacts on salmon streams/watersheds from commercial logging conducted during the 1950s in Southeast Alaska.

These photos can be accessed online from the below links. Thank you and we hope these photographs further education about the important work the Dept. of Fish & Game does in Alaska.

Dept. of Fish & Game (post-1959)
http://vilda.alaska.edu/cdm/search/searchterm/Alaska.%20Dept.%20of%20Fish%20and%20Game./mode/exact

Fish & Wildlife Service (pre-1959)
http://vilda.alaska.edu/cdm/search/searchterm/Alaska.%20Fish%20and%20Wildlife%20Service./mode/exact

For more information please contact:
Zachary R. Jones
Archivist II
Alaska State Archives
Division of Libraries, Archives, & Museums
Juneau, Alaska 99811-0525
zachary.jones@alaska.gov

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News, Partner Event, SEAKFHP Event, Uncategorized

America’s Fish and Fisheries – Shared through the Camera Lens – A 2015 AFS Film Festival – Film Submission Guidance Now Available!

America’s Fish and Fisheries – Shared through the Camera Lens – A 2015 AFS Film Festival

The Southeast Alaska Fish Habitat Partnership, Western Native Trout Initiative, Sitka Conservation Society, Southeast Sustainable Partnership, and The Salmon Project all invite you to submit a fishy-film to be showcased as part of America’s Fish and Fisheries – Shared through the Camera Lens a film festival taking place during the American Fisheries Society’s 145th Annual Meeting in Portland, Oregon this August.

Film Submissions DUE – Thursday, March 12, 2015

Check out the film submission guidance and online submission form here

Festival films will focus in on an aspect of the connections between people and fish, the unique life cycles and habitat needs of different species, advances in fisheries science, or how resource practitioners and ordinary people are helping conserve fish and their habitats across the nation; films are anticipated that reflect the American Fisheries Society mission statement and strengthen the fisheries profession.

The film festival will take place during the American Fisheries Society’s 145th Annual Meeting over a two-day period. Films will be shown continuously during this time to allow meeting attendees to drop in to see films at their convenience.  Film submitters are encouraged to attend the conference and film festival.  Details on the conference can be found at http://2015.fisheries.org/.

portland-2015-american-fisheries-society

If you have any questions regarding the film festival please contact Deborah Hart, Southeast Alaska Fish Habitat Partnership Coordinator, at coordinator@sealakafishhabitat.org.

(And a big thanks to Therese Thompson from Western Native Trout Initiative, Katrina Mueller, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Alaska Region), and Bethany Goodrich, Sitka Conservation Society/Sustainable Southeast Partnership for their help as festival organizers!)