Fish Talk

Juneau residents have a chance to learn more about the fish that feed Alaska's economy in a lecture series organized by the University of Alaska Fairbanks School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences this fall.

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The lectures, which will take place from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. every Friday at the UAF Juneau Center, part of the University of Alaska Southeast's Auke Bay campus, will be on various topics related to fish biology and fishery management. Most will stem from presentations given at an international symposium held in Juneau last May on the genetics of subpolar fish and invertebrates.

"I'm a geneticist, and we had the genetics symposium in May, so there will probably be more genetics lectures than usual," said A. J. Gharrett, who is coordinating the lecture series this semester. Presenters will include professors, professional scientists in the community, a visiting lecturer from the University of Washington and students defending parts of their theses.

The genetics work used in fishery management is a topic of particular relevance to many people in Juneau.

"Juneau has one of the highest density populations of fisheries biologists of any city in the world," Gharrett said. He added that the lecture hall is frequently packed with students and members of the community. "I would say that about a third of the people who come are students and the rest are people from the community: fishermen, scientists, retired people - I think there's even a high school program that sends half a dozen or so students."

Lectures to be included in the series this fall will cover how genetics are used in maintaining sustainable salmon runs, determining the effects of heavy fishing on a species and the biologic and ecological effects of transplanting a salmon species from its native stream.

"Down south they'll take a stock of fish and move it all over the place because it's cheap and easy," Gharrett said. "The problem is that fish are adapted to certain areas, and if they are moved and interbreed with local fish they can cause problems for local fish."

This type of problem is called an outbreeding depression, and it can cause the same types of problems as inbreeding depressions.

Another lecture will present a study that used genetics and geologic history to postulate the origins of chum salmon in the waters of Southeast Alaska.

"Eighteen thousand years ago this area was covered by ice," Gharrett said. "So you have to ask yourself where the salmon came from."

Although the lecture schedule for the semester has not been entirely established, Gharrett said that almost every lecture will present something accessible and enlightening to nonscientists.

The lectures are held in Room 221 of the Anderson Building, 11275 Glacier Highway, part of the University of Alaska Southeast's Auke Bay campus. Lecture topics will be posted in the Around Town section of the Empire on a weekly basis.

Christine Schmid can be reached at cschmid@juneauempire.com.