Heads up for kings and silvers

THE LOG STAFF

June 19, 2008 at 2:59PM AKST

If you see an Alaska SeaLife Center employee scooping up dead salmon on local beaches and rivers, don’t be concerned. They’re simply doing their job.

And part of their job is studying the otoliths — ear bones — of king and silver salmon to determine the ocean survivorship of individual species.

The center, in conjunction with a private research company, is working on a program to help speed the transition process from fresh to salt water in the early stages of a salmon’s life. This transitional period is generally accompanied by high mortality rates for salmon smolt as they linger in shallow areas filled with numerous predators.

A faster transition, the center hopes, will help salmon survive to adulthood, thus enabling them to return to spawning grounds.

The first SeaReady salmon were released by the center in 2004 and expected to begin returning this season. A marker on their ear bone will identify them as part of the project.

Researchers are collecting salmon heads to see how the SeaReady process has affected the return rate.

A higher rate of return, they said, points toward more fish to catch.