in this issueamount of co2 absorbed has increased the global acidity of the oceans by approximately...
TRANSCRIPT
PC: Megan Leary
In this issue:
• Ocean Acidification • Hot Takes: Recipes from around
Alaska • Youth Activities & Reader Feed-
back • Donlin Mine Progress Update • Data Analysis Discussion • Upcoming Events • Literature Cited
July 2019; Volume 5, Issue 1
Its July and salmon are running on the Kuskokwim
river again. Here in Alaska, we are fortunate that we have
managed to keep our salmon stocks as strong as they are.
Further south, our salmon’s cousins are not faring as well.
There are many reasons our southerly neighbors are
struggling to recover their salmon stocks, but this article is
going to focus on ocean acidification.
It is important to understand what ocean acidifica-
tion is and how it affects marine wildlife so that we can de-
velop plans to monitor and mitigate its effects on the wild-
life we depend on. Ocean acidification is a climate related
issue that is occurring globally. It is an issue that is difficult
to monitor due to the remote nature of the problem, the
length of time that this problem has taken to develop, and
the difficulty in collecting pH measurements of large bodies
of water globally.
Ocean Acidification is the term used to describe
the reaction that occurs when excess carbon dioxide from
the atmosphere enters the earth’s oceans. The turbulence
of the earth’s oceans absorbs CO2, among other gasses,
from the atmosphere. The oceans act as a natural sink for
CO2, which in the past has helped reduced the amount of
CO2 in the atmosphere. However, in the centuries since
the industrial revolution of the late 19th century, the
amount of CO2 absorbed has increased the global acidity
of the oceans by approximately 30%. (PMEL… c2019)
This drastic increase in the acidity of our oceans is
currently impacting marine wildlife. As the acidity of our
oceans increases, the availability of minerals used by ma-
rine wildlife to grow shells and carapaces decreases.
Some examples of wildlife directly affected are krill, crabs,
oysters, clams, corals and some planktons (NWF…
c2019). Ocean acidification is also contributing to the mi-
gration of species in the oceans. As ocean conditions
change by becoming more acidic, species that were once
limited in their range have begun to shift into new areas
more suitable to their physiology (Bowen et al. 2015). Cur-
rent models of the food web as related to salmon predict
that that this may be a positive impact for salmon (Reum et
al. 2015).
A recent study from the University of Washington
has shown that an increase in acidity can interfere with a
salmon’s ability to smell. A salmon’s sense of smell has
multiple uses including reproduction, navigation, hunting,
and predator avoidance. The researchers observed that
the salmon exposed to higher CO2 concentrations were
able to detect scents, however, it appeared that the salm-
on were unable to recognize what the scents were and
remained indif-
ferent. The re-
searchers hope
that the findings
from their study
will help spur
more conserva-
tion action from
local authorities
(Salmon…
2018).
In addi-
tion to the direct
effects on salmon and other marine wildlife, increased
CO2 concentrations in the ocean have the potential to re-
duce the amount of dissolved oxygen in water. This can
reduce the amount of marine wildlife a localized body of
water can support, (Johnson-Colegrove et al. 2015,
Takeshita et al. 2015).
Freshwater acidification is a related, albeit less
studied topic at this point, but just as important to the
health of salmon. One recent study suggests that freshwa-
ter acidification can have negative impacts on salmon de-
velopment, such as body length and yolk conversion effi-
ciency, and inhibited sense of smell (Ou et al. 2015).
As climate change continues to progress, observ-
ing and recording its effects will become more important to
developing adaptation strategies and managing wildlife.
Monitoring ocean acidification at this time may only be
possible for government agencies and academic research-
ers, due to the remote and widespread nature of the prob-
lem. However, more accessible bodies of water such as
rivers, estuaries and lakes are also susceptible to acidifica-
tion and can more easily monitored by citizen scientists on
a regular basis. An example of relevant data to collect
would be tem-
perature, pH,
and dissolved
oxygen content.
Sam Bundy
Environmental
Program Assis-
tant
07/17/2019
Georgetown
Contact Information
Office Ph: 907-274-2195
Georgetowntc.com
Ozzy Escarate
Tribal Administrator
Courtney Osolnik
Environmental Coordinator
Sam Bundy
Environmental Program Assistant
Eric Dietrich
Program Director
An Overview of Ocean
Acidification Img From: http://arcticocean.globaloceanexploration.com/?p=151
From Wildsalmonunkimited.com
Hot Takes
• 1 cup of beluga
• 1 cup of muktuk
• 1 cup of dry fish
• 1 cup of dried seal meat
• 1 cup of dried walrus meat
• 1 cup of dried moose meat
• 3 cups of herring eggs
• Fresh veggies~
• 1 small green and red cabbage
• 3 carrots
• 1 turnip
• 1 bunch of broccoli
• 1 bunch of cauliflower
• 1 red onion
• 2 red apples
• Mix together with salt and seal
oil.
:Hot Takes: Eskimo Salad
Recipe and photos courtesy of Jamie Evans
YOUTH CENTER
Coho or Silver Salmon aka Caayuryaq (Oncorhynchus kisutch)
Adult Coho in salt water or newly returning to fresh water are bright silver with small black spots on the back and on the upper lobe of the tail fin. Spawning
adults of both sexes have dark backs and heads with maroon to reddish sides.
(ADFG)
1. Salmon are anadromous fish that migrate from __________ to _________ as juveniles and return as adults
2. Coho in freshwater eat ________, _______, and ___________
3. A female Coho digs a nest called a ____, and lays about ____-____ eggs
4. Adult ____ can grow up to 24-30 in (61-76 cm)!
5. Not much is known about Coho migra-tion at sea, but we do know they gath-er in the _____________ in June.
6. Threats to Coho include, _________, _________, _________.
7. Coho are also called _______. 8. Males who return early are called
_____. Answers are found at adfg.alaska.gov
Muskox PC: J. Dau/ADFG
Source: ADFG
NEWS FROM AROUND THE KUSKOKWIM
Community spotlight
Show off your summer garden! With the summer in full swing gardens are blooming right now! We’d like to show off your hard work in the next news letter, sub-mit your blooming flowers, and prize winning veggies to [email protected]
Flowers Submitted by Renee Fredericks
Tell us what you want to hear! Have you seen something off in your environment lately? Flowers blooming too early, animals exhibiting weird behavior, has the weather been off? Let us know and we’ll upload your information to the LEO network for you and we may cover it in the following issue.
NEWS FROM AROUND THE KUSKOKWIM Donlin Mine Progress Update
2019 marks a new stage in Novagold’s and Barrick’s efforts to construct the proposed Donlin gold mine. With the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Land Management signing off on the Environmental Impact Statement provided by Donlin Gold in august 2018, the mine is now focus-ing on obtaining the final state level permits and planning for the construction stage of the timeline. In January 2019, the Alaska Department of Natural Re-sources (ADNR) approved a Reclamation and Clo-sure plan and The Alaska Department of Environ-mental Conservation (ADEC) approved a Waste Management Permit. Other Permits already issued by state include: the Pipeline and Hazardous Materi-als Safety Administration special permit, the Alaska Pollutant Discharge Elimination System wastewater discharge permits, and the Title 16 fish habitat per-mits for the mine and transportation facilities (Permitting… 2019).
The mine is now preparing to obtain more necessary permitting approvals from both the ADNR and ADEC. Donlin is currently pursuing the Alaska Dam Safety certificate for wastewater and tailings
storage from the Alaska Department of Natural Re-sources. To obtain this permit, Donlin began a ge-otechnical field program earlier this spring that will
begin the permitting process necessary to construct a dam for the mine’s waste products. This geotech-nical field program is drilling project that will test the viability of installing a dam in the area and will con-tinue for up to two years. In addition to the recently granted permits, the ADNR has made preliminary
decisions on land use regarding facilities necessary for the mine’s transportation corridor such as an air-
strip, the port at Jungjuk, and the access road. ADNR has also authorized sections of pipeline on
state lands. Public comment on these decisions end-ed on March 22 2019 and March 29 2019 respec-tively. Once all the permits to construct the mine
have been acquired, Donlin will make several deci-sions to decide whether to proceed with the mine
construction based on market trends, viability, and capital financing options (Investors… 2019, Permit-
ting… 2019). While Donlin has made major strides in the permitting process in the last year, there has been some pushback from local tribal governments and environmental conservation law firms. On February 7th 2019, Earthjustice filed an appeal in cooperation with several tribal governments to the Reclamation and Closure plan and Waste Management Plan per-mits issued by the ADNR and the ADEC. Tribal lead-ers felt that their concerns were not properly ad-dressed during the public comment period and that the proposed mine poses a severe risk to salmon habitat on the Kuskokwim river and the environment of the surrounding area. According to Novagold’s president, the Alaska DEC and DNR are likely to rule in favor of Donlin Gold due to the amount of effort placed in these permit applications. The Alaska De-partments of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation are likely to announce their judge-ments on the appeals sometime in the second half of 2019 (Investors… 2019, Kuskokwim… 2019). We reached out to Donlin Gold’s public relations for a statement on their progress and as of the time of publication, they have not responded. Sam Bundy Environmental Program Assistant 07/17/2019
Source: Donlin Gold
NEWS FROM AROUND THE KUSKOKWIM
2019 Kuskokwim River King Salmon Fishery News: Deciphering the Data
The 2019 King Salmon run on the Kuskokwim river is coming to an end with over 90% of the run estimated to be complete. The initial data recorded by the ADF&G at the Bethel Test Fishery (BTF) initially appear to show that the King run this year has been large, however there has been some discussion over whether this has actually been the case. The Kuskokwim River Salmon Management Working Group (KRSMWG) noted that the data collected from the 2019 Catch Per Unit Effort (CPUE) show a large run in comparison to the cumulative CPUE from previous years dating back to1984. The ADF&G agreed with the working group’s assessment and described the reason for the Beth-el Test Fishery’s high King run data. The apparent cause for this discrepancy is that in 2008 the material used in the BTF gillnets changed, which has significantly increased catchability of King salmon. The increased catchability how-ever does not accurately reflect the size of the run. The gillnets being used at the BTF since 2008 have made catching King salmon more efficient, but without perspective this increased efficiency can ap-pear to show an abundance of Kings. A more com-plete perspective is shown when compared to previous years data and combined with other methods of esti-mating species abundance.
The reality is that the 2019 King run is likely not as large as it initially ap-pears. The nets at the Bethel Test Fish-ery have increased the Catch Per Unit Effort which, on the surface, looks like a high number of Kings. The combined da-ta from multiple abundance estimation methods combined with a historical anal-
ysis show that while the CPUE is higher than in past years, the abundance this year is still below the histor-ical average. Sam Bundy Environmental Program Assistant 07/17/19 Georgetown’s Environmental Department will make every effort to keep you updated on ADFG’s Fisheries management for the Kuskokwim. Reach out to us or Georgetown’s Fish Commissioner, Jonathan Samuel-
Figure 1 (Courtesy of ADF&G) above: This graph shows the Observed Cumulative Chinook (King) Salmon CPUE over the course of the timeframe of the season. This graph represent s the amount of Chinook Salmon caught per unit of effort. Looking at this graph alone would suggest that the 2019 run (the bold connected dotted line) is a large run in comparison to previous years.
Figure 2 (Courtesy of ADF&G) Left: This graph shows the BTF CPUE compared to the total abundance of King salmon across two time frames. This graph shows that be-fore 2008 CPUE was generally lower, alt-hough the abundance was higher. Post 2008 the CPUE is high despite the compara-tively low abundance. 2019 is represented by the black bar as the end of season BTF
Calendar of Events
August
September
October
26-29 Qualified Sampler Training
- Zender Kotzebue AK
24-26 AVCP Annual Convention
Bethel, AK
25 Monthly GAP Net-
working Call
Photo Credit: Kate Schaberg
10 Georgetown Tribal
Council Annual Meeting
17 LEO Network Webinar
20 LEO Network
Webinar
22 LEO Network Webinar
23 Monthly GAP
Networking Call
22 AFN Convention 2019
Fairbanks, AK
10-12 7 - Generations Envi-ronmental Planning—
ANTHC
2 Memorial Day - Office is closed
28 Monthly GAP Net-
working Call
14-16 First Alaskans Institute
Elders and Youth Confer-ence
Literature Cited
An Overview of Ocean Acidification: Bowen, A., G. Rollwagen-Bollens, S. M. Bollens, and J. Zimmerman. 2015. Feeding of the invasive copepod Pseudodiaptomus forbesi on natural microplankton assemblages within the lower Columbia River. Journal of Plankton Research 37(6):1089-1094. Chinook Salmon. [accessed 2019 Jul 5]. https://www.nwf.org/Educational-Resources/Wildlife-Guide/Fish/Chinook-Salmon Johnson-Colegrove, A., L. Ciannelli, and R. D. Brodeur. 2015. Ichthyoplankton distribution and abundance in relation to nearshore dissolved oxygen levels and other environmental variables within the Northern California Current System. Fisheries Oceanography 24(6):495-507. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Crozier L. 2015. Impacts of Climate Change on Salmon of the Pacific Northwest. Seattle, WA: Northwest Fisheries Science Center. Ou, M., and coauthors. 2015. Responses of pink salmon to CO2-induced aquatic acidification. Nature Climate Change 5(10):950-+. Reum, J. C. P., and coauthors. 2015. Evaluating community impacts of ocean acidification using qualitative network models. Marine Ecology Progress Series 536:11-24. staff SX. 2018 Dec 18. Salmon may lose the ability to smell danger as carbon emissions rise. Phys.org. [accessed 2019 Jul 5]. https://phys.org/news/2018-12-salmon-ability-danger-carbon-emissions.html Takeshita, Y., and coauthors. 2015. Including high-frequency variability in coastal ocean acidification projections. Biogeosciences 12(19):5853-5870. What is Ocean Acidification? PMEL Carbon Program. [accessed 2019 Jul 5]. https://www.pmel.noaa.gov/co2/story/
What is Ocean Acidification? Donlin Mine Progress Update: Investors. [accessed 2019 Jul 5]. https://www.novagold.com/investors/news/2019/index.php?content_id=1457 Kuskokwim Tribes Fight Donlin Mine Permits. 2019 Feb 7. [accessed 2019 Jul 5]. https://earthjustice.org/news/press/2019/kuskokwim-tribes-fight-donlin-mine-permits
Permitting. [accessed 2019 Jul 5]. https://www.novagold.com/properties/donlin_gold/permitting/ 2019 Kuskokwim River King Salmon Fishery News: Deciphering the Data: Kuskokwim River Salmon Management Working Group, Staton B. 2019. Alaska Department of Fish and Game.[accessed 2019 Jul 11]. http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=commercialbyareakuskokwim.kswg
www.georgetowntc.com/Environmental.html
http://gtcenvironmental.blogspot.com
5313 Arctic Blvd, Suite 104
Anchorage, AK 99507
Tel: 907-274-2195 Fax: 907-274-2196
Make sure to send in any unusual observations (e.g. weather, salmon, berries, etc.)
to LEO Network or the GTC Environmental Department
Photo Credit: W. Hartman