Juvenile Pacific Salmon

By Wyatt Fournier, NOAA Fisheries, on the Northwest Explorer

Our third new science crew member for this leg is Brian Beckman of NOAA’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center in the Resource Enhancement Utilization Technology Division (REUTD). Brian is on board to continue his studies of juvenile Pacific salmon which are frequently caught in our trawl net as we fish the epipelagic. Brian is collecting blood to measure Insulin-like Growth Factor, which is an index of growth rate. This relative parameter will allow him to compare the ocean growth of juvenile salmon from surveys off of California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, and Alaska.

Brian is an experience marine researcher and has yet to puncture anything except juvenile salmon with his 22 gauge needle.



Brian & Liz                                                                                                                           Needle