Fishy history

In October, MESAS student Elizabeth Figus and I attended the annual conference for the Alaska Historical Society in beautiful Seward! This joint meeting with Museums Alaska was the perfect interdisciplinary venue for presenting the historical component of our dissertation research.

Taking a break to enjoy the sun on the way to Seward

We presented as part of a session on the historical and contemporary importance of the Alaska halibut fishery. I presented a talk titled ethnohistory of halibut fishing in Southeast Alaska, based on my independent study with Dr. Dan Monteith at the University of Alaska Southeast. Elizabeth presented a talk titled historical perspectives of halibut fishing in Southeast Alaska, focusing on Petersburg and Ketchikan.

Elizabeth Figus, Dan Monteith, and I before our halibut session

Elizabeth was one of two 2014 recipients of the Alaska Historical Society student travel scholarship. I was fortunate enough to receive a student travel grant from the University of Alaska Fairbanks graduate school. In addition to these great funding sources, we were also helped out by the MESAS small grants program. We are very grateful to our funding sources for giving us this opportunity to participate in this great conference.

During the meeting, we had a chance to meet up with Leah Sloan, a fellow MESAS student, who conducts research on a parasitic barnacle (Briarosaccus callosis) that infects king crabs.

Posing with one of Leah’s study subjects

The parasitic barnacle can affect crab behavior and reproduction, essentially creating a crab “zombie”!

The reproductive structure of the parasite where the crab would normally hold it’s eggs

In summary, it was a fabulous sunny week in Seward.

Enjoying Seward to the fullest

From Juneau to San Antonio

As we are getting ready to greet winter weather in Alaska, it’s hard to imagine what 90 degrees F and sunny would be like. Luckily for some of us, this was a reality two weeks ago when we had the opportunity to travel to San Antonio, Texas to attend annual conference of the Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS).

Representing University of Alaska Southeast was Mr. Jasper Nelson, an undergraduate student majoring in biology. From University of Alaska Fairbanks were Ms. Sonia Ibarra and myself, both graduate students in fisheries and MESAS cohort 2012.

Photo: Jasper, Sonia and myself at a SACNAS dinner

This year, 2013, is the 40^th anniversary of SACNAS, an organization that is committed to empowering and inspiring underrepresented groups to pursue education and careers in science. At this year’s conference, we experienced the SACNAS commitment through programming tailored towards students in all stages of their education, ranging from programs that focus on cultural diversity at the postdoctoral level to summer internships for Native American students. Best of all, the opportunity to network and meet with individuals committed to diversity in science was inspiring and encouraging!

Some Highlights:

• We had the chance to attend a geology field trip organized by SACNAS.

Photo: Hydraulic fracking site

• Sonia and I presented our posters at the graduate student poster session.

Photo: Sonia, deep in conversation

Photo: Posing at my poster

• The 2013 PowWow. We aren’t posting pictures here but trust me, we represented Alaska well.

• Exhausted trip home:

Photo: Jasper and I comparing legroom (Jasper is 6’3” and I am 5’2”)

Photo: Rainbow in Ketchikan!

Thank you SACNAS for the generous travel scholarships and MESAS for funding conference registration!

SfAA conference in Denver, Colorado

March 2013 was spring break, deadlines and Denver!

Three weeks ago, I attended the SfAA (Society for Applied Anthropology) annual meeting in Denver, Colorado. The 2013 meeting was the 73rd annual meeting for an organization whose history traces that of modern anthropology, with notable anthropologists such as Margaret Mead serving as a former president (1949-1950).

The theme of the 2013 meeting was “Natural Resource Distribution and Development in the 21st Century” and I was at the meeting to learn about how this relates to fisheries. There were great fisheries talks such as a NOAA scientist presenting on community indicators to predict vulnerability and a presentation by the Division of Subsistence on the subsistence herring egg harvest in Sitka, Alaska. There was a strong Alaska presence with professors and graduate students there from UAS, UAF and UAA, and also folks from the Division of Subsistence from Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Additionally, there were also folks from Sea Grant offices across the country and researchers from different universities working on coastal issues directly transferable to Alaska, such as marine spatial planning, stakeholder engagement and marine co-management.

Presenting my poster at the student poster session.

Part of SfAA’s mission is the “promotion of interdisciplinary scientific investigation of the principles controlling the relations of human beings to one another.” As no surprise, SfAA spans a wide range of disciplines and I had the opportunity to meet urban planners, social scientists, filmmakers, geographers and of course, anthropologists.

There is always talk of social vs. natural sciences and while it’s certainly different, the point of SfAA and applied anthropology is to promote interdisciplinary research in solutions to human problems. Considering that I don’t have a strong background in anthropology, I felt welcomed in my interactions with other conference attendees and appreciated for the diversity I brought to conversations I was engaged it. I would highly recommend this conference for those of us who want to learn more about interdisciplinary and social sciences but may not want to jump into social theory right away.

The 2014 meeting will be in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Leave your Ricker curves as home and I hope to see you there!

Thank you to MESAS small grant for funding my conference attendance.

For more information, please visit the SfAA website at: http://www.sfaa.net/

Q&A Feature on Anthropology and Environment Society

MESAS Cohort 1 fellow Catherine Chambers and her advisor Courtney Carothers were featured on the American Anthropological Association’s “Anthropology and Environment Society” website. Their paper, entitled “Fisheries privatization and the remaking of fishery systems,” was a runner-up in the AAA’s junior scholar prize.

Check out the feature here!

ESSAS conference in Hakodate, Japan

Squid boats with light lures in Hakodate.

For fish nerds from Alaska, Japan is like a long lost cousin we know we should really go visit. We share so much in common in terms of fisheries and yet seem so far away. Being able to travel to Japan to take part of the ESSAS conference has been one of my favorite experiences as a MESAS fellow so far.

The ESSAS (Ecosystem Studies of the Sub-Arctic Seas) program is funded through the Research Council of Norway and the Institute of Marine Research in Bergen Norway. Its goal is to compare, quantify and predict the impact of climate variability on the productivity and sustainability of Sub-Arctic marine ecosystems. ESSAS sponsors an Annual Science Meeting that rotates location around the Sub-Arctic. Read more about ESSAS here: http://www.imr.no/essas/en

ESSAS has always been interested in having a human dimensions working group and hosting related social science workshops. I was one of four people asked to attend the conference to present current research and help develop a human dimensions working group task and implementation plan. It was great to present my dissertation work (grounded mostly in anthropology) to a group that wasn’t very familiar with social sciences. The rest of the ESSAS members are excited about having us as part of the group, and plans for the human dimensions working group are well underway. We would like to publish a collection of articles focused on human responses to regime shifts as a special issue of a journal. We’ve got some pretty big names interested in joining us!

Ikutaru Shimizu is one of the four founding members of the working group, and he invited me to spend a day visiting the Fisheries Research Agency in Yokohama after the conference. He is part of the Research Center for Fisheries Economics and Business Administration. It was great to learn more about his research on salmon markets, and he also took me to the fish market and a great local seafood restaurant (and ordered for me, of course!)

Outside the Agency with Ikutaro-san.

Model of bluefin tuna inside the Agency.

The Agency’s outreach and education room, with biological and gastronomic info on different species.

Bluefin tuna in the market.

The famous lethal pufferfish Fugu outside a restaurant. No, I didn’t try it!

Early Marine Growth Patterns of Situk River Steelhead

The abundant Pacific salmon and steelhead of Alaska are powerful symbols of the interconnectedness of ecosystems. In their anadromy, salmon and steelhead unite marine and terrestrial systems, fulfilling the promise of their life history by delivering rich marine nutrients back to the watersheds in which they were born. The people of Alaska are as much a part of this wide ecological web as the fish, or bears, or forest. As these people depend on fish for their livelihoods and subsistence, so do the fish depend on people to protect critical habitat and manage fisheries in a sustainable way.

Here is a quick introduction to my research on Alaskan steelhead, this work is being completed in close collaboration with ADF&G to help inform current steelhead management and investigate how changing ocean conditions may impact anadromous fish.

Briefing at the U.S. Embassy in Iceland

Me and U.S. Ambassador to Iceland Luis E. Arreaga. Photo courtesy U.S. Embassy.

I had an amazing opportunity to present my research at the U.S. Embassy in Iceland last week. It felt great to be back on American soil again! I had a small audience with the Ambassador, the Deputy Chief of Mission, and two officers from the Economic & Environmental Affairs section of the Embassy. I told them about my ongoing research through the MESAS program, and we has a great chat about fisheries sustainability, small scale fishing livelihoods, and the importance of interdisciplinary work.

Check out the Ambassador’s blog about my visit here:

http://ambassadorblogiceland.blogspot.com/2012/08/american-scientist-partners-with-holar.html
-Cat

Adventures with whales and longlining, from Dutch Harbor to Juneau, AK

Being a PhD student has its perks- especially when you get to study whale interactions with fisheries in Alaska. That’s right. I get paid (kind of) to study killer whales and sperm whales that depredate (steal fish) from halibut and sablefish longline fisheries across the state.

Author holding up two sablefish depredated by killer whales off Unalaska, AK.

This project provides some great opportunities for field work. Each summer the ice melts, the seas calm, and the sun comes out (albeit sparingly) and we head into the field to sample, photograph, count, catch or generally admire the marine critters we study throughout the year. Getting out on a boat and into the field is a welcome break from the long winters spent in the Alaskan dark staring at our computers and wondering, “why is statistical software so confusing?!”

Here are some photos and videos from the second leg of the 2012 National Marine Fisheries Service annual sablefish longline survey. We fished one station per day (around 7,200 hooks) from Dutch Harbor, AK to Kodiak, AK for about 3 weeks. We had great weather, solid fishing, and intermittent whale interactions throughout our leg.

A photo of the F/V Alaskan Leader, a 150-foot longline vessel that fishes Pacific Cod during the winter season.

A juvenile killer whale approaches the longline vessel.

A rare sunny day fishing in the Western Gulf. Killer whales depredating longline fishing gear in the background.

Sperm whale fluke shot right before a dive.

Taking a break and drying out our feet on a gorgeous day steaming across the Gulf of Alaska.

Later in the summer, I got out on a smaller (much) longline boat called the Dusky  Rock. This old gal is a wooden sailboat that has been converted into a mean fishing machine with a cement hull. Halibut and sablefish operations vary in size, and it was a great experience to get out on a smaller boat and catch some halibut.

F/V Dusky Rock ready to head out and catch halibut.

Suzie baiting tubs on our way out to set gear.

Snarls can be a big problem. Fortunately, all unwanted species from this picture (arrowtooth flounder, sleeper sharks) were successfully released.

Cleaning halibut and celebrating a great day of fishing with all women crew!

If you want to hear more about this project, check out the 3 minute video below.

-Megan Peterson

Chumming (verb): to troll for chum salmon

Heading down through Clarence Strait on a sunny, calm morning, the captain and I ready our gear for chumming. We are on our second long day of transit from Juneau to Behm Canal, just North of Ketchikan to join the growing fleet of trollers heading to the terminal harvest area for the Southern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association (SSRAA) hatchery chum salmon in Neets Bay. Trollers, or hook and line fishermen,  have  found that targeting chum salmon is a good way to supplement chinook and coho catches during the season.

Stacking the gear after a long day trolling.

Upon arriving in Neets Bay, a small bay off Behm Canal close to the hatchery, we immediately understood that the chinook and coho catches were not supporting the fleet this summer. Almost 200 vessels crowded the bay with no apparent communication of direction to be seen. When entering the bay to join the chaos, the captain remarked, “It is like 200 accidents waiting to happen.” Tac lines are subjectively chosen to fit the strategic methods of each boat and every captain has a different idea of which line to troll. If one boat is seen to pull a good number of chum over the stern, other boats start following the same “circle of death” circuit in hopes to have similar catch numbers.

What could possibly be the most amusing observation of the troll fleet from an outsiders perspective is the act of “gouging”. This term can be understood as cutting someone’s tac line short or basically screwing up the direction another boat is going. The reason why this is entertaining is because when trolling for chum salmon, the boats are limping along at 1-2 knots. This is only a slightly faster than a tortoise moving at top speed. So, when a boat in the distance is coming towards you there are communication signs that are not verbally expressed over the radio, but seen with a slight turning of the poles to notify other boats of the intended direction. This mind-reading, pole-rotating maneuver only works some of the time. Miscommunication results in what some call, ‘slow motion pole jousting.’ When captains can’t ascertain if the poles on the sides of the boat are rotating to change course or if the wave patterns of mind reading are not in sync, boats come dangerously close to one another or can end up tangling gear resulting in a huge mess and time lost.

This year, word in the bay is that more trollers are targeting chum than ever before. Occasionally, we would hear on the radio chatter, “There are just more people trying to get a piece of the pie this year.” With the area in Behm Canal opening the beginning of July, boats have harvested a total of approximately 300,000 as of July 27th with SSRAA wanting to reach 400,000 fish harvested by the end of the season. At this point in the season, the unit of effort measurement, troller days (one troller fishing one day), has exceeded previous years of trolling effort in Neets Bay. During our time harvesting in the bay, we noticed a large portion of the fish caught earlier on in the month were ‘gators’- year 4/5 fish much larger than the average weight of around 10lbs with very turned skin and kyped snouts. Reasons alluding to currents, tide and weather brought year 3 chum, bright and smaller, into the bay sporadically.

A chum salmon with a ‘kyped’ or hooked snout.

Hatchery chum salmon returns vary from year to year making it difficult to determine reliable run strength and timing for fishing fleets. With more of the trolling fleet dedicating time and money to target chum salmon in hatchery harvest areas, it is becoming more of an issue to have a better understanding of survival so that fishermen can rely on a sustainable and healthy fishery. A better understanding of the factors affecting chum salmon survival after the fry are released from net pen areas around Southeast would give hatchery managers an improved forecasting model to use in fisheries such as Neets Bay. As a graduate student interested in identifying factors that affect juvenile chum salmon survival, I was curious to see the participation and operation of the chum fishery in Southeast and how research in my field of work could affect communities in Southeast.

The author learning the art of trolling.

For more information on this research project view this video……  Juvenile Chum Salmon Graduate Study

St. George Island

Panorama of St. George by R. Smoker

I flew out to St. George Island in late June. The island is home to around 90 people and summer, when the small boat halibut fishery opens, is the busiest time of the year. In the month I’ve spent here so far I’ve volunteered on a beach clean up crew, helped cook meals for a middle school science camp, attempted to climb the grease pole during the 4th of July celebrations, and observed the local fur seal harvest. I’ve also been interviewing people about their community, learning about why people choose to live here, what difficulties they face, and how fisheries management decisions have changed life on the island. Jobs are scarce here and the weather can be brutal and unpredictable, but the island is beautiful and the community is close-knit. I look forward to spending another two months here and learning more about life in St. George!
-Courtney Lyons

Researcher in the fog by R. Smoker

My husband watching fur seals with High Bluffs in the background by C. Lyons

Fur seals hauled out in front of St. George by C. Lyons