Images

Artificial light at night (ALAN) can be a threat to aquatic ecosystems.  Light in the sky penetrates through the water and brightens the water column. Even small increases in light at night can dramatically improve some predators’ ability to hunt and kill their prey.

Artificial light at night (ALAN) can be a threat to aquatic ecosystems.  Light in the sky penetrates through the water and brightens the water column. Even small increases in light at night can dramatically improve some predators’ ability to hunt and kill their prey.

This image is from Steve Waste's last day at the Columbia River Research Laboratory. Steve served as the Director of the Columbia River Research Laboratory, a facility of the Western Fisheries Research Center of USGS, from 2008 to 2024. He retired in 2024 and now continues to support WFRC as a Scientist Emeritus. Steve holds a Ph.D.

This is a map of the Snake River, used in the publication Back from the Brink: Estimating daily and annual abundance of natural-origin salmon smolts from 30 years of mixed-origin capture-recapture data. 

This is an image of Kenneth Tiffan out in the field. Ken works to conduct applied research to provide information that would increase our understanding of Snake River fall Chinook salmon, listed as “threatened” under the ESA in 1992. His career has focused on this unique stock and facilitating recovery efforts. 

Artificial light at night (ALAN) can be a threat to aquatic ecosystems.  Light in the sky penetrates through the water and brightens the water column. Even small increases in light at night can dramatically improve some predators’ ability to hunt and kill their prey.

USGS Western Fisheries Research Center scientists are investigating the relationship between ALAN, predators’ hunting ability, and juvenile salmon survival in Lake Washington. This includes using a new instrument that overcomes significant issues experienced when attempting to measure light at night underwater.

These are graphs detailing the number of natural origin age-0 Chinook salmon passing Lower Granite Dam over the years.

Dr. Jill Rolland, Director of the USGS Northwest- Pacific Islands Region, visited Idaho during the week of September 23, 2024. During her visit, Dr.

USGS meets with four fisheries commissions at 2024 American Fisheries Society (AFS) meeting; Honolulu, Hawaii, HI; collaboration; fisheries; meeting; inter-regional; Greg McClenchy GLFC; Rachel Reagan USGS WFRC; Joshua Miller USGS GLSC; John Dettmers GLFC; Daniel Wieferich USGS CSS; Deborah Epperson USGS WARC; Marc Gaden GLFC; Tom O'Connell USGS EESC; Bob Beal ASMFC

This is a photo of Bob Beal kicking off the 2024 American Fisheries Society (AFS) Symposium in Honolulu, Hawaii. 

This is Gael Kurath at her retirement party. Viruses and infectious diseases are natural components of every ecosystem. In aquatic ecosystems of the Pacific Northwest infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV) is a significant viral pathogen of many salmonid fish populations.

Photo shared by Dave Beauchamp from the first week of quantitative light measurements for the Artificial Light At Night (ALAN) project. This week was a big data collection push, with 2 boats out nightly Tuesday through Thursday, plus day activities and prep. 

Photos shared by Dave Beauchamp from the first week of quantitative light measurements for the Artificial Light At Night (ALAN) project:

This week was a big data collection push, with 2 boats out nightly Tuesday through Thursday, plus day activities and prep. 

Fish health monitoring efforts in Upper Klamath Lake have revealed a high prevalence of warmwater pathogens. The fish health team is investigating parasites as a potential threat to the vulnerable sucker populations.

This is a photo of a sunset in August, 2024 in Klamath Falls, OR. The Western Fisheries Research Center (WFRC) conducts work on fish health and monitoring in this area.

Profile view of a Bell Jet Helicopter with a thermal infrared and true-color sensor co-mounted to the underside of the nose. These sensors are used in airborne thermal infrared surveys for remotely sensing land/water surface temperature.

This is a photo of Paul Hershberger at Marrowstone Marine Field Station Lab. Dr. Hershberger studies diseases in fish.

This is a photo of pelicans on the Upper Klamath Lake in Klamath Falls, OR. The USGS Western Fisheries Research Center (WFRC) has a field station in Klamath Falls. Scientists at the WFRC monitor suckers in the Upper Klamath Lake.

This is a photo of the fisheries scientist, Paul Hershberger, fishing for salmon predators in Lake Washington.

A landscape of sagebrush (Artemisia tridentada) and yellow sweet clover (Melilotus officinalis) on the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge in Montana.