Alaska Fish & Wildlife News
August 2008

What Are Sea Lice?

Have you ever noticed those tiny little oval things stuck to the salmon you just caught? Most likely they are sea lice, tiny crustaceans that have been around as long as salmon have been swimming. These small copepods are incredibly abundant – they constitute the largest source of protein in the world's oceans in their early larval stages. Copepods have colonized almost every aquatic habitat on earth, and collectively comprise the largest animal biomass on earth.

The life cycle of the sea ...   What Are Sea Lice ArticleContinued

Snaring Bear Hair
Low-Tech Snares Yield Valuable Insights

Visitors to Berners Bay north of Juneau may encounter odd bear traps this month - bear hair snares - at two popular camping and picnicking spots.

State wildlife biologists studying Berners Bay bears aren't capturing the whole bears, just snagging bits of hair. Hair snares are set to collect samples from bears at six salmon streams. Four salmon streams are fairly remote and two are visited by anglers. The hair snares pose no threat to people; they simply collect bits of hair from passing ...   Snaring Bear Hair ArticleContinued

Pigeon Guillemots

Learning to identify birds in Alaska can be intimidating, but it can also be very easy. The trick is to learn the most common birds, the same ones you see over and over. Pigeon guillemots are one of the most abundant diving seabirds in Southeast Alaska, and they are one of the most common seabirds in the west. Pigeon Guillemots are found from the Bering seacoast in Northern Alaska along the Pacific coastline to Southern California.

Pigeon guillemots are black birds with a distinct white ...   Pigeon Guillemots ArticleContinued

Why There is a Division of Subsistence at ADF&G

Why does the Alaska Department of Fish and Game have a “Division of Subsistence?” The short answer is that, 30 years ago, the Alaska Legislature passed the state's first subsistence statute, establishing subsistence as the priority use of Alaska's fish and wildlife.

At the time, the legislature recognized the need for basic information about subsistence uses --who, what, when, where, how, and how much -- to assist the Board of Fisheries and the Board of Game to develop regulations providing ...   Subsistence Division ArticleContinued

Salmon in Lime Ginger Sauce

This recipe proved to be a standout at the most recent Becoming and Outdoors Woman workshop in Alaska. The three-day event in Haines featured a couple dozen outdoor skills classes, including three notable cooking classes: Dutch Oven Cooking, Smoking and Pickling Salmon, and Pond to Pan. In Alaska, the latter class should really be Ocean to Kitchen, but that lacks the ring.

The night before the Pond to Pan class, instructor Tracy Smith selected a dozen fish recipes. Beautiful red fillets ...   Lime Ginger Salmon ArticleContinued