Freshwater sportfish catch data used to be entered into logbooks for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. But in 2019, the department cut that program due to budget constraints.
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Biologists in the region say this created a data gap, where managers no longer get regular counts for sportfish species, including where they’re being caught.
One University of Alaska Fairbanks Master of Science student is trying to bridge that gap: Tanner Kohal studies Bristol Bay’s fisheries and also works as a fishing guide out of Iliamna Village.
“We created an app that emulates the old Alaska Fish and Game logbook program, but instead we put it into a phone app that’s much easier to use for guides,” Kohal said.
Guides using the app can log whatever species guests are targeting, including king salmon, dolly varden and rainbow trout. The goal is to have folks who are already out fishing every day help collect data on local sportfish populations through the Bristol Bay region, an area that has become a data desert.
This broadly sourced information can help direct the efforts of agency managers, Kohal said.
“Our app takes advantage of the fact that there are sportfish guides fishing all these areas every day throughout the whole summer, and they’re putting lots of different guests out there,” he said. “When we take the data that they provide us, we get more bang for our buck.”
The program is included as part of an existing app called Skipper Science, a citizen science partnership that allows non-scientists in remote locations to record fishery data. Skipper Science was first piloted in 2021 in Alaska, with the goal of collecting biological and environmental data from folks who are already out on the water every day.
“The first thing that people can do is go to their app store and download the Skipper Science app,” Kohal said. “It’s a big wheel with a blue banner, and get signed up for an account, and then search the Alaska Guide Network program within that app.”
The data can help area managers better understand what unique populations might need more attention and understand long term trends in different fish populations, Kohal said.
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“As time goes on, we’ll be able to build that long-term record,” he said, “just as we have for the salmon, for the sockeye, fishery down in the bay.”
Kohal said using this app is an easy way to help care for the fishery.
“Guides can contribute this information and feel fulfilled that they are contributing somewhat of a record of the fishing health in the region,” he said.
Participating guides also get entered into drawings for goodies like new fly rods and bead boxes.
Curry Cunningham is an associate professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences and Kohal’s advisor on the project.
The app helps bridge the gap between fishermen and scientists, Cunningham said.
“Western Alaska is a big area,” Cunningham said. “And the Alaska Department of Fish and Game Sport Fish Division does a great job, but they don’t have that many people out there on the landscape to operate large scale experiments to estimate abundance in all these watersheds.”
Fish and Game Deputy Director Jason Dye said this kind of data is useful for managers.
The department is also in the process of implementing other measures to help improve sportfish data in lieu of freshwater logbooks, including a revamp of their statewide harvest survey and king salmon permit programs, Dye said.
And on data privacy, Kohal said not to worry, your “honey hole” is safe.
“It’s all confidential when it goes in there,” Kohal said. “Nobody’s looking to get their spot blown up.”
Several lodges are already onboard and logging observations, but they hope to expand the app’s usage across the whole Bristol Bay region, he said.
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