Please see the below highlights for some of our on-going and recent work in Alaska.
Potential Non-Lethal Biomarkers of Fish Health
Research funded by the Yukon River Panel R&E fund as well as the University of Alaska Fairbanks BLaST program has allowed us to test samples collected through collaboration with an on-going Yukon River Chinook salmon disease surveillance project spearheaded the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) and US Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS).
Through analysis of blood parameters we aim to study the impacts of the pathogen Ichthyophonus on fish health towards the goal of identifying biomarkers of infection that might be utilized in the future in place of current gold-standard lethal sampling approaches. Future work will include determining whether blood samples can be obtained from migrating adult fish as part of routine state and federal assessments and without significant impact on migration success. The ultimate goal of this work is for implementation of less impactful in-season disease surveillance.
Research funded by the Yukon River Panel R&E fund as well as the University of Alaska Fairbanks BLaST program has allowed us to test samples collected through collaboration with an on-going Yukon River Chinook salmon disease surveillance project spearheaded the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) and US Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS).
Through analysis of blood parameters we aim to study the impacts of the pathogen Ichthyophonus on fish health towards the goal of identifying biomarkers of infection that might be utilized in the future in place of current gold-standard lethal sampling approaches. Future work will include determining whether blood samples can be obtained from migrating adult fish as part of routine state and federal assessments and without significant impact on migration success. The ultimate goal of this work is for implementation of less impactful in-season disease surveillance.