The growing Kachemak Bay mariculture industry and a booming population of local sea otters appear to have a surprisingly uneventful relationship, according to a new University of Alaska Fairbanks study. The study, published recently in The Journal of Wildlife Management, focused on otters around a handful of oyster farms in the area, comparing their actions to […]
Spotted seals in some of the most remote marine areas around Alaska are consuming significant amounts of microplastics in their diets, according to a new University of Alaska Fairbanks–led study. The paper, published in the current issue of Marine Pollution Bulletin, analyzed the stomach contents of spotted seals harvested by subsistence hunters in the Bering and […]
The U.S. National Science Foundation has funded the first year of a new $53.8 million, four-year cooperative agreement with the University of Alaska Fairbanks to continue operating the research vessel Sikuliaq through the end of calendar year 2028. The global-class ice-capable research vessel, which is owned by NSF, has been operated by the UAF College of Fisheries […]
Northern pike are moving through salt water to invade freshwater habitats in Southcentral Alaska, according to a new study. Researchers at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game made the discovery by collecting and analyzing tiny ear stones called otoliths from northern pike caught in the region. It’s the first […]