Fish Conservation

Even remote national parks are not immune from airborne mercury contamination. How much has accumulated in the environment of Glacier Bay?

In the late 1800s, the waters of Yellowstone National Park (YNP) supported an abundance of fish. Twelve species (or subspecies) of native fish, including Arctic grayling, mountain whitefish, and cutthroat trout, dispersed to this region about 8,000-10,000 years ago following glacier melt. These native fish species provided food for both wildlife and human inhabitants. At the time YNP was established in 1872, park inhabitants and visitors initially harvested fish...

Fish and aquatic invertebrate communities can tell us a lot about the health of streams. We monitor the aquatic community in Hoover Creek at Herbert Hoover National Historic Site to help managers understand the condition of the creek and how it may be changing. Most of the fish and aquatic invertebrates in Hoover Creek are tolerant or moderately tolerant of poor water quality and habitat conditions.

Read the abstract and get the link to an article on the use of salmon streams by brown bears in the Arctic: Sorum, M. S., K. Joly, and M. D. Cameron. 2019. Use of salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) by brown bears (Ursos arctos) in an Arctic, interior, montane environment. The Canadian Field-Naturalist 133(2):151-155.

Alaska has over three million lakes, 12,000 rivers, and an estimated 6,640 miles of ocean coastline. Below the surface swim some of the world’s most abundant, healthy, all-wild fish, including salmon, halibut, and eulachon. Fish sustained Alaska Natives for millennia and continue to represent food and economic security for many people. Alaska Park Science 19(1):2020. ALSO, DOWNLOAD A PDF OF THE FULL ISSUE HERE.

How is sonar used to count spawning salmon? How many salmon return to the Bartlett River?

Welcome to the water world at the bottom of a mile-high desert! In today’s episode, we'll explore how the Glen Canyon Dam changed the Colorado River through one story about wildlife struggling to survive in a damned world.

Some resident lake fish sampled from southwest Alaska parks have elevated concentrations of mercury (mostly methylmercury, a potent neurotoxin and endocrine disrupter). Why do these fish —that inhabit some of the most remote and supposedly pristine waters in North America—have such elevated mercury levels? Answering this question requires an understanding of mercury cycling, or the processes by which mercury moves through the environment. Alaska Park Science 19(1):2020.

Where legacy mining effects have impaired stream water quality in Alaska parks, the NPS is developing restoration techniques. Understanding the potential for recovery in these streams will help the NPS to prioritize those areas where intervention is needed over those areas that are recovering naturally, where disturbance might do more harm than good. Alaska Park Science 19(1):2020.

There are over three million lakes and 12,000 rivers in Alaska, many of which harbor prime habitat for an invasive aquatic plant, Elodea. Alaska’s parks encompass a substantial portion of this habitat and include some of Alaska’s most iconic lakes and rivers. While no infestations have yet been found in parks, we are developing detection methods and monitoring so we can address it early, if we find it. Alaska Park Science 19(1):2020.