Pink Salmon Mark and Recapture

Pink Salmon I tagged and recaptured for a research project. Second is them alive in the creek.
Journal post: These Pink Salmon are a part of an independent research project I am doing through the Auke Creek weir and funded by BLaST. People use this species in Southeast Alaska mostly for food. Commercial fisheries utilize the mouths of certain rivers and spawning waters to target the fish in large quantities with large boats. Recently, pink salmon have also been used as an indicator species for stream conditions and habitat as they are usually more affected by changing conditions. We can assume and hypothesize a lot about other pink salmon populations in other watersheds and even other species of salmon in similar or the same watershed based on observations we make with pink salmon in Auke Creek. I started working at the Auke Creek weir this summer and developed an even closer relationship to salmon. For those who don't know, a weir is a man-made barrier that blocks a creek and in the case of Auke Creek, funnels fish into holding tanks so that we can count and sample every single fish coming in and out of the creek. My project focuses on Pink Salmon spawning success and using that information to indicate certain stream health aspects. We tag every female Pink Salmon that comes through the weir, and release it into the stream so that it can carry out the rest of its life. That is what is sticking out of each salmon in the picture just beneath their dorsal fin. Then each day I walk Auke and Lake creek to look for dead female pink salmon that have been tagged, and when I find one, I weigh the remaining eggs in her belly if there are any, and record that data. If more pink salmon are dying without egg release, it could indicate that stream conditions are changing for the worse. Overall, the experience has given me a more appreciative outlook on the natural world, but specifically streams and watershed systems. Doing research like this really puts me at one with my surroundings and I have enjoyed the connection I have been making.