Northern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association
With headquarters in Sitka, Alaska, NSRAA conducts salmon enhancement projects throughout northern southeast Alaska - from Petersburg to Haines.
NSRAA has been serving the southeast Alaskan fishing community since 1978.
This site contains information about who we are and what we do.
Come in, look around.
Thanks for visiting - we look forward to serving you.
New! NSRAA Galleries
January 11, 2010
Check out our new photo galleries! Access them under Gallery on the main menu bar.
Medvejie Hatchery - general shots from Medvejie & Deep Inlet
Hidden Falls Hatchery - general shots from Hidden Falls
Sawmill Cove Hatchery & Salmon Lake - our new hatchery, and the Salmon Lake weir & broodstock collection
Deer Lake - Experience the extreme conditions the Deer Lake crew have encountered during spring setup in recent years.
Fishing - Commercial, cost recovery, and sport photos.
Fall 2009 FishRap goes to press
December 22, 2009.
The Fall 2009 edition of NSRAA's newsletter has gone to press and will be mailed in the next couple of weeks. The online version is available now.
Below are a couple of articles from the latest edition.
2009 Fishing Season Recap
This year’s fish returns were unusual for several reasons. Not only did NSRAA staff observe abnormal patterns in the timing, direction and sex ratio of returning fish, but the majority of fish were also substantially smaller than their historic average size.
Though chum returns at Hidden Falls, Boat Harbor and Limestone Inlet exceeded this year’s forecasts, the chum returns at Deep Inlet and all coho and Chinook projects reported numbers below projections.
An estimated 3.5 million fish returned to NSRAA this year. Commercial fishermen caught about 79 percent of those fish, for an above-average ex-vessel value of approximately $10.6 million. Prices remained relatively strong this year, despite the smaller fish size and lower numbers.
Chum comprised the bulk of the NSRAA catch, at about 2.7 million fish. The remainder included 26,000 Chinook and approximately 61,000 coho. While Chinook numbers came close to the 10 year average, coho totals were about half of their average.
At Deep Inlet, the lower numbers and low rainfall created difficulties with the cost recovery harvest. In addition, hatchery chum returns were weak, with too few fish returning for broodstock needs. To ensure they had sufficient fish to meet eggtake goals and cost recovery, NSRAA management was forced to close down commercial fishing. NSRAA staff collected about 15,000 brood fish from inside Deep Inlet and towed them back to the hatchery. Commercial fishing resumed at the end of August, once NSRAA met its cost recovery and broodstock goals.
The sizes of this year’s returning adults were also below average. Chum, which averaged around 6.5 pounds this year, were approximately 80 percent of their normal size. Coho were about 75 percent of average, at approximately 5.5 pounds. Smaller fish have been reported throughout Southeast Alaska this year and are attributed to unfavorable ocean conditions, including colder water temperatures.
Smaller size was not the only unusual characteristic of this year’s returning fish. NSRAA also recorded unusual patterns in their timing and direction.
“Most of the Hidden Falls fish come through the Cross Sound – Icy Strait corridor,” explained Chip Blair, NSRAA’s Data Analyst. “But this year, it seemed like a lot more fish were hitting the coast well to the south and coming north up Chatham Strait (instead).”
Reports from commercial fishermen indicate this pattern included wild fish as well. Otolith sampling by Southern Southeast Aquaculture Association (SSRAA) substantiated those observations. An estimated 53,000 NSRAA chum were intercepted in Districts 101 – 108, compared to 1,200 in 2007 and 6,400 in 2008.
“It’s the first time we’ve been able to document this pattern,” explains Chip.
Also unusual was the ratio of males to females. While the ratio varies throughout the return, the final ratio is typically close to 50-50. But this year’s coho were about two-thirds male, he says, adding that other hatchery operators reported similar observations.
“In the end, it seems there was a missing group of female coho,” says Chip. “We never reached anything close to a 50-50 balance. It’s somewhat of a mystery as to what caused this. We did have plenty of females to reach our eggtake goals though.”
Employee Changes at Medvejie & Hidden Falls
The change of seasons coincides with several employee changes at NSRAA.
Dan Demers joined the Hidden Falls crew in November as the new Maintenance Assistant. This is not Dan’s first position with NSRAA; he worked as a fish culturist here for a couple years around 2001. Dan lived in Colorado and South Carolina before returning to NSRAA this year.
Melissa Malmstedt also joined Hidden Falls’ full-time crew in November. Melissa has been working with NSRAA as a seasonal fish technician since February. She has been promoted to Fish Culturist.
Hidden Falls also welcomed Ben Smith to its crew earlier this year. Ben is the new Maintenance Supervisor at Hidden Falls. Ben was in the Navy in San Diego before moving to Sitka for a temporary position with ADF&G. His arrival coincided well with the replacement of the hatchery’s alarm system, says Scott Wagner, Hatchery Manager.
“He’s very skilled in the technical side of things,” Scott says, adding that the crew updated the entire alarm system from analog to digital this year.
Ben lives at Hidden Falls with his wife, Christiana, and their son, Tristan.
Over at Medvejie, the employee changes occurred at the beginning of the summer.
Angie Bowers, who has worked as a Freshwater Culturist at Hidden Falls for several years, was promoted to a Saltwater Culturist at Medvejie, where she will assist with incubation for chums, kings, cohos and pinks.
“She’s very good,” says Bill Cotharp, Medvejie Hatchery Manager. “She’s a natural.”
Angie and her boyfriend, Jamal, who are expecting their first child in January, are one of two families currently living on-site at Medvejie. Their arrival was made possible when long-time NSRAA employee, Ritch Phillips, and his wife, Lucy, decided to move to town.
“We’re still adjusting,” says Ritch, when asked how they’ve enjoyed the move. “We’ll probably be adjusting for quite a while.”
Ritch has lived at remote hatcheries for the past 25 years. He and Lucy have lived at Medvejie since 1993 – long enough to see their daughter grow from a young girl into a woman. He is wistful when he talks about their time at Medvejie.
“What I miss the most is the sense of purpose,” Ritch says, explaining that, as the caretaker, “you always sleep with an ear open. You have to be able to respond. Since I left, that sense of value has changed.”
But, “it’s good to pass the torch,” he says. He and Lucy will always have fond memories of their time at Medvejie.
