Images

Dr. Gael Kurath, Joanne Salzer and Bill Batts joining Spokane fish health scientist Rebecca Cook and Spokane Tribal intern Justine Flett to conduct virus exposures in the WFRC Seattle weblab.

Joanne Salzer and Spokane Tribal intern, Justine Flett, conducting virus exposures in the WFRC Seattle wetlab. Our scientists are collaborating with the fisheries staff from the Spokane Tribe and Coeur d'Alene Tribe in a study to determine how susceptible Redband trout are to IHN virus (infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus).

Photo (left to right): Dr. David Paez, Joanne Salzer, Jossline Aranda-Jackson (SEALASKA intern), and Dr. Gael Kurath sampling a patch of sea asparagus near the Western Fisheries Research Center’s Marrowstone Marine Field Station (MMFS).

WFRC partners with researchers investigating the causes of Sea Star Wasting Disease and the impacts of viral infection on fish swimming performance. Left - right: Dr. David Paez, Dr.

Two groups of sea lions can be seen some distance away from the shore in deeper water. Sea lions are herring predators, feeding on herring while they spawn. Therefore, the presence of sea lions can be indicative of the presence of herring. However, herring schools are absent in this image.

Ashley MacKenzie, U.S. Geological Survey, watches as Heather Scannell, Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) and Jenni Morella, ADF&G pull the purse seine onto the deck of the research vessel R/V Solstice after setting on a school of Pacific herring in Prince William Sound Alaska.

Northern lights above Hawkins Island, Alaska. Large purse seine net is deployed from the stern of the research vessel R/V Solstice (owned and operated by Alaska Department of Fish and Game) during a joint collection effort with the USGS to sample fish for an annual disease survey in the sound.

Group photo of USGS staff and partners who participated in the Fish Passage Tour sponsored by the USGS Western Fisheries Research Center.  Partners: NOAA Fisheries, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the California Department of Water Resources, the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S.

Toby Kock (right, in plaid shirt) listens to a question during the Fish Passage Tour while standing on the North Shore Collector in the forebay of Cowlitz Falls Dam. The group discussed various ways that migrating juvenile salmon approach and pass the dam.

Participants of the Fish Passage Tour view the North Shore Collector separator at Cowlitz Falls Dam, WA. Fish are collected here to allow staff to count, determine species, and sample fish as they migrate downstream.

View of the forebay of the North Fork Dam of the Clackamas River Dam Complex, OR. An orange buoy system is seen on the right side of the image showing an exclusion net to prevent fish from getting behind the collector.

Purse seine net filled with Pacific herring in Prince William Sound Alaska. The seine net is deployed off the research vessel R/V Solstice (owned and operated by Alaska Department of Fish and Game) during a joint collection effort with the USGS to sample fish for an annual disease survey in the sound. Collection of herring is rare during the daytime.

U.S. Geological Survey, and Alaska Department of Fish and Game researchers perform disease sampling on herring collected from a purse seine in Prince William Sound Alaska. Sampling includes length, weight, sex, age, blood for VHSV antibodies and VEN slides, gills/kidney/spleen for VHSV, and hearts for Ichthyophonus.

Large purse seine net being loaded onto the research vessel R/V Solstice (Cordova Alaska). This net is used to collect Pacific herring throughout Prince William Sound. The herring disease surveys are the beginning of the field season for Alaska Department of Fish & Game in Cordova AK.

Using an ultra-light plane, researchers are looking at the landscapes where herring spawn in Prince William Sound Alaska.

Using an ultra-light plane, researchers are looking at the landscapes where herring spawn in Prince William Sound Alaska.

Using an ultra-light plane, researchers are looking at the landscapes where herring spawn in Prince William Sound Alaska.

Dr. David Paez observes as Chinook salmon undergo a swim performance trial. Water velocity in the swim chamber is increased over a prescribed period to determine time of exhaustion for each individual fish. Virus-exposed and healthy control fish are swum together in a small group and must be watched carefully.

(Left to Right) Dr. David Paez, Joanna Salzer, Dr. Jee Youn Hwang and Bill Batts observe as Chinook salmon are conditioned in the swim flume prior to swim performance trials.

Chinook salmon orient into the water current of the swim flume during a performance trial.

(Left to Right) Bill Batts, Joanna Salzer, and Dr. Jee Youn Hwang sample fish during a swim performance trial. Once fish have completed swim trials they are euthanized and kept fresh on ice. Sampling includes length and weight measurements, and collection of a small portion of tissues to confirm the presence of virus.