Right now, on the brushy tundra of northern Alaska, grizzly bears are gathering at quiet streams and rivers, attracted by the largest calorie reward they can find — spawning salmon. Until recently, scientists did not know salmon swam up some of these waterways, nor that grizzlies were fattening up on them before entering hibernation. […]
A new federal report says that Alaska’s rainforests contribute an average of 48 million salmon annually to the state’s commercial fishing industry. The study led by the US Forest Service’s Pacific Northwest Research Station found that the average value of these “forest fish” when they are brought back to the dock is some $88 […]
University of Alaska Fairbanks scientists are developing a new method to predict ecosystem change in Interior Alaska, and their techniques could prove useful elsewhere in the world. The study uses real-time water data, rather than simulations, to predict ecosystem “tipping points.” “We’re pretty good, as ecosystem ecologists, at using stream chemistry to tell us […]
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska says a mine that can’t stand on its own without negative impact to fisheries resources should not be permitted. Murkowski’s concerns, addressed during a Washington DC celebration of Bristol Bay’s wild salmon, came in the wake of her reading the draft environmental impact statement for the proposed Pebble mine produced by […]