From Southeast Alaska to Norton Sound, salmon returns to some parts of Alaska have for the past two years (1997-1998) fallen well short of preseason forecasts. While some people are pointing fingers and fixing blame, fisheries researchers and oceanographers at the University of Alaska have been busy studying salmon and the ocean they live in. Four researchers highlighted here offer their views. Collectively, they suggest that changes in the marine environment have in part caused salmon runs to decline. Such changes are influenced by year-to-year as well as long-term cycles, and changing global environmental conditions such as El Niño.

What scientists at the University of Alaska Fairbanks say

Lots of salmon despite some regional shortages

Sea Grant news release on isolated salmon declines

We have a winner! 1999 Bristol Bay Sockeye Return Contest

Links to related sites

UAF School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, http://www.sfos.uaf.edu/

Alaska Department of Fish and Game, http://www.adfg.state.ak.us/

University of Washington School of Fisheries, http://www.fish.washington.edu/

North Pacific Fishery Management Council, http://www.fakr.noaa.gov/npfmc

Canadian Pacific Biological Station, Nanaimo, British Columbia, http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/sci/pbs/default_e.htm

Web sites to visit at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

NOAA website on the North Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea, http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/np/index.html

NOAA El Nino Home Page, http://www.elnino.noaa.gov/

NOAA Fisheries (formerly National Marine Fisheries Service), http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/

NMFS Alaska Fisheries Science Center, http://www.afsc.noaa.gov

NOAA Fisheries Statistics & Economics Division, http://www.st.nmfs.gov/st1/

NMFS statistics on U.S. commercial fisheries landings, http://www.st.nmfs.gov/commercial/landings/lport_hist.html

NMFS Auke Bay Lab, http://www.afsc.noaa.gov/abl/

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