Restoring Salmon Habitat in Alexander Creek Drainage
Alexander Creek Drainage
Alexander Creek Drainage, a tributary of the Susitna River, was on the national “Waters to Watch” list in both 2019 and 2015, and is a sustained focus of the Mat-Su Salmon Habitat Partnership.
As noted in the 2015 ‘Waters to Watch’ page, the remote and slow-moving Alexander Creek Drainage was once thriving salmon habitat, supporting personal use, subsistence and particularly sport fishing, with adjacent lodge and charter industries dependent on thriving salmon populations. Today, Alexander Creek has drastically diminished salmon returns, and pertinacious invasive species – Elodea and northern pike. Our partners work to address these invasive species and to restore salmon habitat in Alexander Creek Drainage.
Invasive Pike and Elodea:
Northern pike are an introduced species to the Mat-Su Basin (while native to other areas of Alaska) and greatly reduce populations of juvenile salmon and other fish. As of this date, pike are found throughout the entire Alexander Creek Drainage, decimating salmon populations. (Learn more about pike in the Mat-Su via the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.)
Elodea was discovered to be present in the Mat Su in 2014, found by Alaska Department of Fish and Game crews suppressing and monitoring northern pike. The presence of Elodea poses further risks for juvenile and adult salmon in the waterway, as Elodea chokes out native plants, fills the water column, and alters the habitats they are adapted to. (More info on Elodea can be found via the Alaska Department of Natural Resources.)
Partnership Strategies and Actions:
In 2019, efforts to address invasive pike and Elodea in the Alexander Creek Drainage were coordinated and collaborative, involving many different agencies and organizations. One exciting, new development is the inter-agency Elodea Task Force, which coordinates all aspects of Elodea control and eradication work.
Below is information on the ways that Mat-Su Salmon Partners are worked to restore salmon habitat in Alexander Creek in 2019.
Alaska Department of Fish and Game – has completed the 9th year of a long-term and large scale annual gillnetting project to control northern pike on Alexander Creek Drainage. The intent is to replenish depleted anadromous and resident fish populations and restoring sport fishing opportunities to this once very popular and productive system. To address Elodea, the department closed sport fishing in Alexander and Sucker Lakes in 2019, and continue to assist with herbicide treatment planning, project implementation, and fundraising.
Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association – has continued long term pike suppression efforts on adjacent watersheds on the Susitna River, including the examination of seasonal movement patterns, population estimates, and field testing of electronic fish barriers. They have also surveyed Susitna River watershed lakes for Elodea in 2018 and 2019 and installed interpretive signs on Elodea of children and adults.
Alaska Department of Natural Resources – is currently working with partners on an Elodea eradication plan. Anchorage infestations are scheduled to be nearing completion in the summer of 2019. Because the infestation in the Mat-Su is so significant and a high concern for dispersal, ADNR along with other collaborating partners, are making Mat-Su Elodea eradication in the Alexander Creek Watershed the highest priority.
Tyonek Tribal Conservation District – continues to conduct district-wide invasive plant survey covering Alexander Creek, Beluga, and Skwentna as well as rivers and roads not previously surveyed.
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service – provides outreach, funding, and technical support for Elodea early detection and rapid response efforts in Mat-Su, Kenai, Anchorage, and Fairbanks.
