Two juvenile coho salmon captured in an under-documented stream in the Tongass National Forest. Photo by Mark Hieronymus.
The Trout Unlimited Alaska Fish Habitat Mapping and Community Science Project is an ongoing effort by TU staff and volunteers to expand Alaska’s Anadromous Waters Catalog by documenting previously unknown anadromous waters and species in Southeast Alaska. During the 2022 field season, the project engaged 18 volunteer observers for a total of 172 hours over 10 survey days and conducted 4 additional surveys without volunteer assistance. In aggregate, these surveys resulted in 16 AWC nominations for species and/or waters additions, with a net total of over 73,500 feet (nearly 14 miles) of anadromous habitat in 20 water bodies. With the 2022 nominations, the Project has added over 356,000 feet (over 67.4 miles) of waters/species to the AWC since its inception in 2018. For 2023, we will be increasing our outreach / engagement with area volunteers in order to expand the scale of the project and continue to add anadromous fish habitat use information to the AWC.
Project Background
In Alaska, one of the first steps toward conserving fish habitat is ensuring a water body is documented on state records as supporting anadromous salmon, steelhead and char. The Fish Habitat Mapping and Community Science Project (the Project) is an ongoing effort by Trout Unlimited, Alaska Program (TU) staff and volunteers to collect and add fish habitat data to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG) Catalog of Waters Important for Spawning, Rearing or Migration of Anadromous Fishes (AWC). The AWC specifies which water bodies are important to anadromous fish species and therefore afforded protection under Alaska state law; water bodies that are not specified within the AWC are not afforded that protection. The AWC currently lists approximately 8,000 streams, rivers and lakes throughout Southeast Alaska which have been specified as being important for anadromous fish – however, this is believed to represent only a fraction of the total number of water bodies with anadromous use. In addition to gaps in actual habitat listing, many of the water bodies currently listed in the AWC have incomplete species assemblages. Until these habitats are inventoried and assemblages fully accounted for, they are not afforded protection under State of Alaska law. Without a complete inventory of important anadromous fish habitat in the AWC, habitat remains vulnerable to incompatible uses and development, and state protections may not reflect the true extent of spawning, rearing or seasonal use habitat.
While ADFG is tasked with surveying and updating the AWC, it is estimated that only 50% of the habitat used by anadromous species in the region is currently documented. Through the Project, TU has the opportunity to add observational data to the AWC and secure conservation measures for currently unprotected anadromous fish habitat, as well as add to the general body of knowledge regarding fish habitat distribution by surveying un- and under-documented water bodies in Southeast Alaska.
The Project also seeks to engage interested individuals and groups (anglers, fishing guides, fish enthusiasts, etc.) in a community science observation and data collection effort to add to the known anadromous fish resources of Alaska.
Project Leader Mark Hieronymus and a volunteer documenting minnow trap catch.
2022 Field Season Results
The field season kicked off in May with three steelhead presence surveys. A persistent sea-level snowpack made streamside travel difficult at times, but we gathered enough data to nominate two new steelhead streams for inclusion in the AWC and extended anadromy in all three surveyed streams. In total, we nominated over 29,600 feet (~5.6 miles) of steelhead habitat to the AWC. During the course of our steelhead surveys, we also observed habitat use by anadromous Dolly Varden in one stream and rearing juvenile coho in another. These observations resulted in over 7,200 feet (~1.2 miles) of habitat nominated for Dolly Varden presence, and over 11,600 feet (~2.2 miles) nominated for coho rearing and presence.
After the steelhead run was over for 2022, we turned our attention to juvenile fish surveys. From early June to late September, we made observations of anadromous habitat use in 15 streams. Despite a 2-week hiatus in mid-July due to covid and several survey flights canceled due to persistent foggy conditions, we were able to collect enough observation information to add rearing coho salmon to five AWC-listed streams, representing over 20,200 feet (~3.8 miles) of habitat. We also nominated 10 new streams and one lake for addition to the catalog, for a total of over 11,400 feet (~2.2 miles) of new habitat. While all of the new habitat was nominated with the presence and rearing of juvenile coho, we also observed previous years’ pink salmon remains in the form of bone piles on three streams, and included pink salmon presence in our nominations as well.
In total, our 2022 surveys led to the nomination of over 73,500 feet of habitat for AWC inclusion in 20 individual waters within our prioritized survey area.
Cumulative Project Results
With the addition of the 2022 nominations, the running total of new waters and species use in existing waters added to the AWC by the Project now stands at over 356,400 feet (over 67.5 miles). Species added include steelhead (anadromous rainbow trout), sea-run (anadromous) cutthroat trout and Dolly Varden char, and pink and coho salmon.
The Community Science aspect of the Project has been steadily gaining momentum as well. Building upon the “pilot year” of 2021 which saw the assistance of 7 individual volunteers representing 83 volunteer-hours, this year we assisted by a total of 18 volunteers representing 172 volunteer-hours of fieldwork. Outreach to the local TU chapter for volunteers will continue, and we hope to have a large pool of enthusiastic data collectors ready to go for the 2023 field season.
Looking Ahead to 2023
As we move into the winter of 2022/23, we will be re-prioritizing the waters within our survey area and ramping up our outreach and recruitment of volunteer observers for the 2023 field season.
The “Tongass 77” (T77) drainages will be the primary focus of the 2023 adult steelhead surveys, along with a few select streams in close geographic proximity to Juneau which have un- and under-documented anadromous habitat in need of documentation as well. Areas of interest for 2023 juvenile surveys include the un- and under-documented streams draining into western Lynn Canal from Boat Harbor south to Point Couverden, northern Icy Strait from Point Couverden to Excursion Inlet, eastern Stephens Passage from Slocum Inlet to Holkham Bay, northern Chichagof Island and the south side of Tenakee inlet from Crab Bay west to Bay Head, and water bodies accessible by the Juneau road system.
Special Thanks
We would like to thank the organizations whose support of fish habitat conservation made the 2022 AKFHMP season possible. Financial support from NOAA, the Evenor Armington Foundation, and the AFFTA Fisheries Fund as well as field support from Trout Unlimited Chapter #581 volunteer observers / data collectors contributed greatly to the success of the Project. We look forward to working with all of you again in the near future.
Notes
The Tongass 77 (T77) is a TU proposal to conserve select high-value anadromous watersheds in the Tongass National Forest. For more information about the T77, go to http://www.americansalmonforest.org/the-tongass-77.html. For more information about Trout Unlimited, Alaska Program’s Fish Habitat Mapping Project and to find out how you can help, please visit http://www.americansalmonforest.org/community-science.html. For more information on the AWC, go to https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/sf/SARR/AWC/index.cfm?ADFG=main.home.