A diverse group of researchers, managers, and fishery stakeholders will convene in Copper Center in late February to share information about changes in various environments in and adjacent to the Copper River watershed and how they might be affecting salmon. The workshop, Copper River Salmon 2125, will focus on how fish might cope with changes decades into the future.

Dr. Pete Rand, a research ecologist at the Prince William Sound Science Center (PWSSC), is one of the conference organizers and considers the meeting very important given the unprecedented changes observed in habitats and trends in the overall condition of returning salmon to the river in recent years. “We’ve seen dramatic changes in the ocean and significant departures from average conditions in temperatures and flows in different parts of the river,” Dr. Rand described in a recent interview. “While many salmon rivers, including many Alaskan rivers, are showing trends of increasing water temperature and decreasing flow rates, the current and future dynamics in the Copper River are going to be considerably more complex given the massive volume of glaciers in the watershed."

Conference organizers expect about 25 attendees, with specialists from a variety of fields, including climate science, glaciology, hydrology, oceanography, and fish biology. The event is part of a workshop series that will include another gathering in Cordova this fall. Workshop participants will focus on sharing knowledge about the status of Copper River salmon and their habitat and how fishery managers may need to adapt to changing conditions in the river in the future. Participants plan to assemble a computer model to project future conditions in the Copper River (over the next 100 years) and determine what effect these changes might have on salmon.

PWSSC and the University of Alaska Fairbanks are organizing the workshops scheduled for February 27-28. The National Park Service has provided funding. For additional information on the workshops, please contact Pete Rand.