Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID AK-2023-002

Assessing Environmental DNA Analysis as a Transformative Approach to Building Climate Resilience in Alaska’s Rural Subsistence Fishing Communities

Institute: Alaska
Year Established: 2023 Start Date: 2023-09-01 End Date: 2024-08-31
Total Federal Funds: $21,639 Total Non-Federal Funds: $21,639

Principal Investigators: Maggie Harings

Project Summary: In Alaska, state, federal and tribal entities count Chinook and chum salmon to make decisions about fishing regulations and predictions about the upcoming Yukon River Basin salmon season. However, severe salmon declines have resulted in subsistence fishing closures in recent years. In addition, mid-to-late summer highwater events have created challenging salmon counting conditions, at times forcing biologists to remove counting equipment from the water. When this occurs, they cannot produce salmon counts, introducing gaps in salmon count datasets. In response, we are testing a complementary method to estimate salmon counts by measuring salmon DNA concentrations in river water at five sites throughout the Yukon River Basin. We will also compare results from two laboratory techniques used for determining how much DNA is in our samples. Our long-term vision is to build capacity to support cost-effective monitoring of fish populations and enhance climate change resilience in salmon assessment throughout Alaska.