Fisheries Research & Development

The Norton Sound Fisheries Research and Development (NSFR&D) program promotes scientific research in the Norton Sound region with an emphasis on supporting local fisheries. For established fisheries, NSFR&D aims to provide Norton Sound communities with maximum resource benefit while ensuring long-term sustainability. NSFR&D also works to explore the potential of under-utilized stocks and, when possible, enable greater use by local residents. 

Reflecting its importance in the region, many of our projects focus on salmon. Our member communities utilize all five species of Pacific salmon. When salmon stocks were in decline in the 1990s, NSEDC began working with other stakeholders to gather additional data through expanded salmon counting projects. Today, our salmon projects include Chinook and Coho stock rehabilitation through incubation and fry releases, sockeye rehabilitation through lake fertilization, Chum and Coho acoustic tagging, and numerous salmon-counting projects using weirs, towers and sonar equipment. NSEDC continues to collaborate with a variety of organizations, both local and international, to ensure that our fisheries data is rigorous, accurate, and applicable. 

In addition to our work with salmon, we strive to support a variety of local fishers and investigate possible future fisheries. This includes research on red king crab, blue king crab, herring, cod and halibut. As conditions evolve in Norton Sound, so do we, while constantly balancing the needs of our fisheries resources with our local fishers to ensure sustainable sources of sustenance and income. 

Projects

• Salmon Enumeration
• Salmon Incubation
• Salmon Lake Sockeye
• Salmon Acoustic Tagging
• Norton Sound King Crab
• Herring Monitoring
• Clean Waters
• Cod and Halibut Satellite Tagging

Staff