This month the National Fish Habitat Partnership announces its “Waters to Watch” list for 2022. Of the ten waters listed, three are in Alaska, including the Deshka River and the Susitna River.

Many Partners have invested research into better understanding the Deshka River. Management actions to minimize the effects of warming on Deshka River salmon have been limited by a poor understanding of both their thermal requirements and the extent and distribution of thermally suitable habitats.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services (USFWS), University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA), and Cook Inletkeeper have been working to close those data gaps by monitoring water temperature, streamflow and the distribution of juvenile Chinook and Coho salmon throughout the Deshka watershed; conducting long-term stream temperature monitoring, coupled with remote sensing data to identify cold-water refugia in the Deshka River system which may be critical habitat for salmon in a warming climate; and modeling to estimate how the extent and distribution of thermally suitable habitat has changed over time and how it will change in the future.

Additional partner efforts on the Deshka include the USFWS, Alaska Department of Fish & Game, and U.S. Geological Survey collecting data necessary to secure water rights on Deshka River tributaries so that as the region grows and demand for water resources increases or climate conditions change, water will be reserved to remain in the stream for the benefit of fish and aquatic life.

Cook Inletkeeper has provided real-time temperature monitoring on the Deshka River since 2013.

ADF&G operates a weir at mile 7 on the Deshka River, providing daily counts of migrating adult salmon. These data will be used to overlap timing of warm events with habitat use of salmon by life state. Among other benefits, ADF&G is collecting tissue samples to provide genetic identification of migrating fish.

The University of Alaska Fairbanks is conducting research on invasive Northern Pike in the Deshka River watershed, assessing how pike predation on juvenile salmon in the Deshka may change in response to warming water temperatures.

Given the significance of the Deshka River and the amount of resources partners have invested in research on the river, the MatSu Basin Salmon Habitat Partnership chose the Deshka River as the location for our 2022 Summer Site Tour. You can read a recap of that event in the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman.

Susitna Spotlighted for Lamprey Significance

Pacific Lamprey is a species of conservation concern in North America and is of particular interest in Alaska because this region marks the northern extent of its range. While the Susitna River drainage, a 504-km glacial river that discharges into Cook Inlet and the Gulf of Alaska, is the northernmost river system that is known to support a spawning population of Pacific Lamprey (Mecklenburg et al. 2002), the status and distribution of Pacific Lamprey populations is poorly documented, including the lower Susitna River tributaries where Pacific Lamprey have been reported to spawn as adults and rear as larvae.

To address this data deficiency, with funding from Pacific Lamprey Conservation Initiative/National Fish Habitat Partnership and USFWS, the University of Alaska Fairbanks and partners (including the Alaska Department of Fish & Game, Knik Tribe, and Susitna River Coalition) will assess the distribution and relative abundance of larval and adult Pacific Lamprey at multiple sites within the Susitna River Basin. This effort includes an examination of the rearing (larval) and spawning (adult) habitat use attributes of Pacific Lamprey, a determination of the size and age structure of larval and adult Pacific Lamprey, and use eDNA from collected water samples to detect the presence of Pacific Lamprey.

The Mat-Su Basin Salmon Habitat Partnership is hosting a riparian planting day at Jay Nolfi Fish Creek Park in Big Lake on Saturday, June 4, 2022 from 10 a.m until 2 p.m.

This family friendly event will include planting trees, shrubs and flowers along the streambank of Fish Creek to improve both stream habitat and the public space. Food will be provided by Floater’s Pub and other activities will be both educational and entertaining. Please fill out this interest form to help ensure enough food is provided: https://forms.gle/3eRmYrZKCHHWqcKf6

Work or gardening gloves are recommended, as are boots or shoes that can get wet and dirty. Some tools will be provided, but you can also bring your own shovel, rake, or wheel barrow.

Fish Creek supports five Pacific salmon species and the section of the stream adjacent to the Park is an important sockeye salmon spawning area. Plants along waterways create riparian buffers that help prevent bank erosion and pollution from entering the water. Plants provide shade and food inputs to streams that are important for healthy fish populations. Additionally, plants create habitat birds and other wildlife and improves the aesthetic value of the park.

Special thanks  to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game for the technical expertise and project coordination. Thank you to the Knik Tribal Conservation District for donating the plants, and Floater’s Pub for donating food for the event, with additional support from Big Lake Community Council, Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association, Trout Unlimited Southcentral Alaska Chapter, and Susitna River Coalition.

Want to learn more about why healthy riparian areas are important for fish? Check out this Riparian Area Science Summary!

Questions? Contact grant.robinson@tu.org or jessica.speed@tu.org for more information.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Sport Fish is offering a Streambank Rehabilitation Workshop in the Big Lake area. This workshop will be held over three days: two half-days in a virtual classroom setting and one full day outside in a hands-on setting.

The virtual classroom days will be held on Tuesday and Wednesday, May 10-11, 2022, from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. The classroom will cover techniques for rehabilitation and restoring riparian habitat including bioengineering construction and plant materials, riparian and salmon habitat needs, bioengineering techniques, and case studies throughout Alaska. As the classroom will be held virtually there is no limit to the number of participants who can attend the classroom portion.

The hands-on day will take place in Big Lake on Friday, May 20 from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Participants will get their hands dirty, and boots muddy while installing a portion of a streambank rehabilitation project using techniques and materials that they learned about in the classroom portion. Due to COVID-19, only 20 people will be allowed to participate in the hands-on portion. Sign up for this portion of the workshop will be on a first-come, first-serve basis (with a waitlist). It is required that participants attend both classroom days in order to participate in the hands-on day.

This workshop is free and open to the public but advance registration is required for the course. Registration for this workshop is open now and will close at 5:00 p.m. Wednesday, May 4. To sign up for the 2022 Mat-Su Valley Streambank Rehabilitation Workshop or for additional information, please contact the program’s Habitat Biologist Jess Johnson at (907) 267-2403 or by email.