Alaska Sea Grant Project Directory

• Brian Allee, Director, Alaska Sea Grant College Program, School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, University of Alaska Fairbanks

Alaska Sea Grant and its extension arm, the Marine Advisory Program (MAP), help people understand, conserve, and wisely use Alaska's bountiful coastal and marine resources. This is done through a program of research, education, and extension to people across the state.

The ASG director has implemented a 2004-2010 strategic plan, developed with the assistance of the Alaska Sea Grant Advisory Committee. The Advisory Committee is composed of prominent constituents from throughout the state, with diverse backgrounds and a common interest to put us to work for the people of Alaska. With their varied and fresh perspectives, committee members have provided new insights on the critical and essential issues where we can most effectively serve Alaska. The Advisory Committee holds meetings each fall, and is active in the research proposal review and selection process.

The overall objectives of program administration are

• To focus on five themes with goals, strategies, and objectives that we believe are most relevant to our state. These include Coastal Communities and Economies, Ecosystems and Habitats, Fisheries, Marine and Aquatic Science Literacy, and Seafood Science and Technology.
• To execute the functional and operational responsibilities of the program consistent with the goals and procedures of the NOAA National Sea Grant Office.
• To provide leadership and assistance to the University of Alaska and other state academic institutions to develop programs that are responsive to the need for research, education, and extension in fisheries, ocean sciences, and other marine disciplines.
• To maintain liaison with state and federal agencies, municipal government, industry leaders, and marine users in order to understand their needs and goals and fashion a program that responds to those needs and goals.

The Alaska Sea Grant program administration embraces the mission statement laid out in the Alaska Sea Grant 2004–2010 Strategic Plan:

Mission. Alaska Sea Grant develops and supports research, education, and extension programs and partnerships to help sustain economic development, traditional cultural uses, and conservation of Alaska's marine, estuarine, and coastal watershed resources.

Marine Advisory Program [A/151-01 and A/152-20]

• Paula Cullenberg and Ray RaLonde, Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program, School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, University of Alaska Fairbanks

In a state as big as Alaska, it's critical that people have quick and easy access to knowledge, training, technology, and information about the state's marine resources. Agents and specialists of the Marine Advisory Program (MAP) live and work in the communities they serve, linking Alaska Sea Grant and the University of Alaska to its constituents. MAP's major focus is on the economic well-being of the state's coastal communities. Agents and specialists work closely with commercial, subsistence, charter, and sport fishermen; Native groups; school teachers; and others with an interest in coastal and marine resources.

MAP joins with many varied partners to carry out activities including coastal monitoring and observing programs, seafood handling and quality control training, sea safety, ecotourism development, coastal community infrastructure planning, climate change impact planning, shellfish aquaculture development, and other projects.

MAP offices are located in Anchorage, Bethel, Cordova, Homer, Juneau, Ketchikan, Kodiak, Nome, Petersburg, and Unalaska.

Alaska Sea Grant Education Services [A/161-02]

• Kurt Byers, Alaska Sea Grant College Program, School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, University of Alaska Fairbanks

Alaska Sea Grant’s Education Services focuses on six major areas—marine education, conferences and workshops, publications production, educational product marketing, media relations, and content for the program’s Web site. The goal is to improve public understanding of marine and aquatic sciences and activities, disseminate Alaska Sea Grant–funded research findings, and assist Marine Advisory Program activities.

Education Services supports the University of Alaska Summer Research Academy’s marine sciences module; the National Ocean Sciences Bowl; and the Alaska Seas and Rivers curriculum project. Education Services also supports the Salmon Incubators in the Classroom program run by the Cooperative Extension Service, as well as numerous scientific and marine issue–oriented workshops, conferences, and symposia, including the Lowell Wakefield Fisheries Symposium series.

Publication of marine education books, field guides, manuals, posters, scientific proceedings, research findings, tide books, and the annual Alaska Coastal Calendar, as well as publications aimed at helping key marine resource users improve their operations, are a central part of the Education Services mission. Education Services also continues a media relations effort to inform local, state, and national reporters of Alaska Sea Grant and Marine Advisory Program activities.

Alaska Coastal Community Youth and the Future [R/72-02]

• M. Lowe, Institute of Social and Economic Research, University of Alaska Anchorage

Many Alaska rural coastal communities are experiencing a net outmigration of young people. One 2004 study found that 38 percent of Alaska rural high school graduates left their communities, never to return. The highest outmigration rates were experienced by Southeast Alaska communities. This project examines the perceptions by youth in Alaska’s coastal communities of their lives today and their aspirations about the future. A further goal is to examine community in- and outmigration from the perspective of the youths. One of the products of this project will be a series of short ethnographic films produced by teachers and youths in rural Alaska communities.

A Global Analysis of Salmon Prices: How Low Can They Go? [R/32-03]

• K.R. Criddle, School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, University of Alaska Fairbanks
• M. Herrmann, School of Management, University of Alaska Fairbanks

Fishermen, processors, and fishery-dependent community planners need current information about salmon prices, given an ever-changing world marketplace. In this project, researchers will develop several predictive models that explore the possible future international market for wild and farm-raised salmon and rainbow trout. The models will incorporate production costs, tariffs, taxes, quotas, and other factors to better predict the impact on the price fishermen receive for Alaska wild salmon. Researchers will estimate how low Alaska salmon prices might need to drop to stay competitive, and what industry reorganizations might be needed to raise product prices or lower production costs so that the industry can remain economically viable.

Improving Yields of Pacific Oysters in Alaska [R/42-01]

• R. RaLonde, Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program, School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, University of Alaska Fairbanks
• C. Langdon and F. Evans, Hatfield Marine Science Center, Oregon State University

Because Alaska's remotely located shellfish farms mean higher production costs, and cooler waters slow oyster growth, shellfish farmers are looking for ways to improve efficiency and reduce operational costs to become competitive and sustain their industry's growth. One way to improve efficiency is to plant faster-growing oyster seed. Researchers will work cooperatively with the Alutiiq Pride Shellfish Hatchery in Seward, Alaska, and the Molluscan Broodstock Program at the Hatfield Marine Science Center, Oregon State University, to continue growth experiments of genetically selected Pacific oysters. The goal of the project is to develop fast-growing oyster broodstock to produce seed for the state's shellfish industry.

Responses to Coastal Erosion in Alaska: A Guide for Coastal Residents, Businesses, Resource Managers, Engineers, and Builders [A/75-02]

O.P. Smith, School of Engineering, University of Alaska Anchorage

A published guide is needed to help Alaskans cope with increasing coastal erosion. Researchers will prepare a comprehensive peer-reviewed guide describing the nonstructural responses and constructed responses to coastal erosion. Topics such as design features, strengths and weaknesses, cost and effectiveness, risk of failure, and potential impacts on adjacent shorelines and ecologies will be discussed. Long-term maintenance and climate change considerations also will be addressed. Alaska Sea Grant will publish the guide, which is expected to help coastal residents and businesses, coastal resource managers, and designers and builders of coastal public and private works make wise decisions.

A Model System to Examine Delayed Effects of Pollution Exposure [R/97-01]

• M.S. Stekoll, Fisheries Division, School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, University of Alaska Fairbanks

Scientists believe delayed impacts of oil pollution can significantly reduce productivity of exposed marine fish populations. But it is generally too expensive to carry out trials to measure these effects. In this project, Sea Grant–funded researchers will incubate the eggs and pre-swimming larvae of zebrafish, a common laboratory fish, in varying concentrations of oiled and unoiled water. Surviving free-swimming larvae will be transferred to clean water and reared to adulthood. Factors relating to fitness will be observed as the fish grow to maturity. Once mature, the fish will be bred—oiled fish with oiled fish, and non-oiled fish with non-oiled fish—to allow scientists to evaluate multigenerational effects. Their offspring will likewise be reared in clean water to adulthood to evaluate sublethal effects of oil pollution.

Dealing with Uncertainties in Integrated Age-Structured Assessment Models [R/31-16]

• T.J. Quinn, Fisheries Division, School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, University of Alaska Fairbanks

While the holy grail of fisheries management remains a full understanding of natural processes that can inform ecosystem management decisions, such a complete understanding remains elusive and ever-changing.

In the meantime, many scientists continue their efforts to improve single-species models and understand the uncertainties associated with them. Work on fishery management models will improve the scientific advice given to the North Pacific Fishery Management Council and Alaska Department of Fish and Game. The goal of this project is to create methods that allow fishery assessment scientists and managers to incorporate and evaluate uncertainty in data sets that are used by integrated age-structured assessment (ASA) models.

The Interannual Variability of Zooplankton within Prince William Sound, Alaska: Assessment of the ZooScan System as a Tool for Optimizing Juvenile Pink Salmon Release [R/101-06]

• R. Hopcroft, Institute of Marine Science, School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, University of Alaska Fairbanks

Knowing how much and what kind of prey is available is important in deciding when to release juvenile pink salmon from hatcheries and in predicting survival rates and ultimately the return of adult salmon. Researchers will assess data on zooplankton abundance collected over 20 years to better understand the timing of specific zooplankton abundance in relation to juvenile salmon release. This project also will test ZooScan, a new digital imaging system designed to measure the abundance, biomass, and composition of major zooplankton groups. If successful, ZooScan systems could be installed in hatcheries to offer real-time monitoring of prey availability that would improve the timing of juvenile salmon releases.

Analysis of the Collapse of the Kodiak Red King Crab Stock and Fishery [R/31-15]

• G.H. Kruse, Fisheries Division, School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, University of Alaska Fairbanks
• T. Weingartner, Institute of Marine Science, School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, University of Alaska Fairbanks

Alaska's red king crab fishery in Kodiak went bust about as fast as it boomed. After a few exceptional harvest years, the fishery has been closed since 1983. Because of interest by coastal communities in the potential to rebuild red king crab through enhancement, researchers in this project will conduct a retrospective analysis of the Kodiak red king crab stock and fishery, including the natural and anthropogenic factors surrounding its rise, collapse, and failure to rebuild. This study is expected to broaden understanding of major changes that have occurred in the Gulf of Alaska marine ecosystem, and aid in planning red king crab stock enhancement efforts.

Exposure of Wintering Sea Ducks to Disease Agents and Parasite Burdens in Southwest Alaska [R/101-07]

• K. Trust, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
• P. Flint, U.S. Geological Survey
• T. Hollmen, Alaska SeaLife Center
• R. Brewer, Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program, School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, University of Alaska Fairbanks

Sea ducks, most notably Steller's eiders, in Unalaska Bay appear to be in poor physical condition and have been exposed to a variety of disease agents. Poor nutrition, disease, and interactions between potentially immunosuppressive contaminants and diseases may directly affect Steller's eider survival on their wintering grounds. In this project researchers will assess sea ducks in Unalaska Bay, and within Izembek National Wildlife Refuge as a control, to determine whether high rates of disease exposure from Unalaska Bay are constant among years. With the data collected, they will assess the effect of disease agents and parasite burdens on population dynamics of sea ducks wintering along the Alaska Peninsula and Aleutian Islands. This study will provide information to local coastal communities related to current management practices of public water resources in marine species harvest areas. Findings will aid in the management of a federally listed threatened species, and spur cooperative partnerships with community wastewater treatment and seafood processing facilities to address potential contaminant problems.

Ma-ku (Dead Beached Sea Mammal): An Alaska Natives' Field Guide to Stranding Response [A/143-01]

• L. Jack and D. Willoya, The Alaska Sea Otter and Steller Sea Lion Commission

Alaska Natives live, work, and pursue subsistence activities along the coast, and are often the first people to witness a stranded marine mammal. Yet few Alaska Natives are trained to collect data and samples from the stranding for use by scientists and managers. Researchers will work with Alaska Native groups, scientists, and resource agencies to produce a field guide for stranding response specific to the needs of Alaska Natives. The guide will blend Western scientific knowledge and data needs with traditional ecological knowledge and practices to achieve the goal of gathering important data on stranded marine mammals. Such a culturally appropriate guide will empower Alaska Natives to contribute to the scientific management of marine mammals.

Outbreeding Depression in Pink Salmon: Effects of Hybridization between Seasonally Distinct Subpopulations (Phase 3) [R/31-18]

• A. Gharrett, W.W. Smoker, and M.D. Adkison, Fisheries Division, School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, University of Alaska Fairbanks
• R. RaLonde, Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program, School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, University of Alaska Fairbanks

This study continues research that examines whether interbreeding between hatchery and wild salmon significantly diminishes the average genetic fitness of wild salmon populations.

Through purposeful or accidental processes, hatchery-bred salmon can mate with wild salmon, resulting in maladapted offspring, loss of genetic fitness, and depressed economic value of wild salmon stocks. In phase 3 of this project that began in 2004, researchers continue studying the effects of outbreeding and its implications on local adaptation in salmon. Specifically, they are attempting to detect effects of outbreeding in hybrids between seasonally distinct pink salmon populations in Auke Creek, near Juneau, Alaska.

Alaska Red King Crab Enhancement: Juvenile Growth and Field Habitat Studies [R/31-17]

• S. Tamone, Biology and Marine Biology, University of Alaska Southeast
• G. Eckert, School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, University of Alaska Fairbanks

This project responds to the need for red king crab enhancement research expressed by the Alaska King Crab Research, Rehabilitation and Biology Program (AKCRRAB), a partnership among the University of Alaska Fairbanks, Alaska Sea Grant, the Alutiiq Pride Shellfish Hatchery, NOAA Fisheries, and a number of commercial fishing trade groups and associations.

In this project, researchers will study the early benthic stages of red king crab through laboratory studies on growth and field studies on the functional importance of biogenic habitats. The knowledge gained will be critical to the effective out-stocking of red king crab, and important to the evaluation of a potential enhancement program.

Outbreeding Depression in Pink Salmon: Effects of Hybridization between Seasonally Distinct Subpopulations (Phase 2) [R/31-13]

• A. Gharrett, W.W. Smoker, and M.D. Adkison, Fisheries Division, School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, University of Alaska Fairbanks
• R. RaLonde, Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program, School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, University of Alaska Fairbanks

Salmon that breed with other salmon outside their own distinct population may be less likely to pass on to their offspring traits that allow them to survive in the wild. These traits are said to become "depressed." Researchers will examine the extent of outbreeding depression in hybrids between related populations of early and late-run pink salmon in Auke Creek in both even and odd broodyears. They will observe traits likely to be depressed by outbreeding: primarily reduced marine survival of hybrids, but also changes in return timing, differences in development rate and embryo survival, and changes in the distribution of family sizes.

Economic Impacts of Alaska Fisheries [R/32-04]

• G. Knapp, Institute of Social and Economic Research, University of Alaska Anchorage

Alaska's fisheries have large and important economic impacts. However, the nature and scale of these impacts are not well understood by policy-makers or the public, and reliable information about economic impacts rarely enters into discussion of fisheries policy. This project will systematically collect, analyze, summarize, and explain the economic impacts and benefits of Alaska's sport, commercial, personal-use, and subsistence fisheries, drawing on data from a wide variety of sources and analysis from a number of earlier studies. The broad objective of this project is to provide Alaska policy-makers and citizens with a useful tool in making public policy decisions.

Combining Traditional Ecological Knowledge with Fisheries Science to Facilitate and Guide Partnered Management and Studies on Anadromous Whitefish [R/72-01]

• G. Haas, Fisheries Division, School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, University of Alaska Fairbanks
• D. Runfola, School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, University of Alaska Fairbanks

Whitefish are an important subsistence food for many rural Alaskans. Alaska has eight species of whitefish, from the large sheefish, which can reach several feet in length and weigh 60 pounds, to the pygmy whitefish, which rarely exceeds eight inches in length and weighs just a few ounces. As a group, whitefish are not well understood by fisheries managers. However, Alaska's Native people know a great deal about whitefish, if only scientists would ask them.

That's just what Alaska Sea Grant–funded researchers will do. Graduate student David Runfola will work directly with Native subsistence fishermen on the Yukon River delta to gather local traditional ecological knowledge of whitefish. Traditional knowledge will help scientists identify whitefish stocks, distribution, life history, and migration patterns. Runfola will record the traditional knowledge so that local communities as well as biologists and managers can make use of the information. Runfola will then use the knowledge to identify locations for sampling and further research on such issues as stock identification, distribution, and seasonal habitat preferences.

Runfola's efforts will lead to working relationships in and between the Native communities and the fisheries biologists and managers. If Native people and their communities continue to work with fisheries biologists, both the users and managers of the resource, and also the whitefish, will be better understood and served.

Post-Harvest Quality of Selected Molluscan Broodstock Oysters Raised in Kachemak Bay, Alaska, and Comparison with Other Northwest U.S. Locations [R/51-05]

• R. RaLonde, Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program, School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, University of Alaska Fairbanks
• A. Oliveira, Fishery Industrial Technology Center, School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, University of Alaska Fairbanks

Efforts are under way in Alaska to develop selected lines of pedigreed oysters in order to supply in-state oyster farmers with high-yielding hatchery-raised seed. These broodstock also will be used to establish pedigreed lines to serve as the foundation of a long-term breeding program in Alaska. The research is a collaborative effort that includes commercial oyster growers in Kachemak Bay, researchers from the Fishery Industrial Technology Center, Oregon State University’s Hatfield Marine Science Center, and the Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program.

Development of Economical Methods to Extract Salmon Head Oil for Use by Small Alaska Processors [R/54-03]

• S. Sathivel, LSU AgCenter, Department of Food Science, Louisiana State University

Approximately 60,000 metric tons of salmon heads are made available each year as a byproduct of pink and red salmon processing in Alaska. Much of the oil in a salmon is found in the head, which contains 11 to 18 percent lipids. Salmon oil is an excellent source of the omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid. These fatty acids are essential for membrane structure and function and to maintain a healthy immune system, central nervous system, cardiovascular system, and for pre- and postnatal brain and visual development.

The objectives are to compare salmon head oil extraction techniques and devise methods for use by small salmon processors. Oil made using these techniques will be characterized for physical, chemical, and nutritional properties. Production design and cost will be analyzed using SuperPro Designer engineering software. The investigator will select the two best salmon oil extraction techniques, purify oils using adsorption technology, and microencapsulate them.

Alaska Oyster Safety: Monitoring and Identification of Vibrio parahaemolyticus [R/51-04]

• B. Himelbloom and A. Oliveira, Fishery Industrial Technology Center, School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, University of Alaska Fairbanks

In summer 2005, more than sixty Alaska tourists were stricken with food poisoning caused by consuming locally aquacultured oysters containing pathogenic Vibrio parahaemolyticus. In this project, researchers will set up a V. parahaemolyticus monitoring and testing system with aquaculture farms in Prince William Sound, Kachemak Bay, and Southeast Alaska. Further, researchers will study the cold-water tolerance of the pathogen in an effort to find creative, cost-effective ways to prevent accumulation of the pathogen in oysters.

Developing Microencapsulated Fish Oil Powder from Alaska Salmon Oil for Nutraceutical Markets [R/54-02]

• S. Sathivel, LSU AgCenter, Department of Food Science, Louisiana State University
• C. Crapo, Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program, School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, University of Alaska Fairbanks

The value of Alaska salmon oil can be increased through purification and encapsulation for use as oil powders for the human-grade food industry. This study will develop an encapsulation delivery system for salmon oil and enriched salmon oil for use as food ingredients. Unrefined salmon oil will be purified using adsorption technology. Purified salmon oil will be evaluated for fatty acid profiles, free fatty acid content, lipid classes, peroxide values, thermal stability, melting point, specific heat capacity, and other properties. The polyunsaturated fatty acid (DHA and EPA) content of salmon oil will be enriched and optimized using enzyme-based technologies. Salmon oil and DHA- and EPA-enriched salmon oil fractions will be encapsulated with protein and/or carbohydrate to produce dry, flowable oil powders. The salmon oil powders will be evaluated for shelf-life stability, sensory quality, nutritional properties, product acceptance, and market potential.

Sea Grant Traineeships [E/142-01]

• Brian Allee, Alaska Sea Grant College Program, School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, University of Alaska Fairbanks

Alaska Sea Grant’s role in education, from preschool to Elderhostel, has been one of the program’s most visible and important outcomes as a formal partnership between the University of Alaska and NOAA. An investment of 20 to 25 percent of the program’s federal funds is directed at education programs and traineeships, and that directly results in capacity building for both the state and the nation.

Over the years Alaska Sea Grant has provided stipends to more than 100 students in direct support of their Alaska Sea Grant–funded research. Most of these students graduate to productive careers in business, academia, and government, with nearly 40 percent remaining in Alaska. Former Sea Grant students are faculty at numerous universities, federal and state resource managers, small business owners, consultants, and teachers.