Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association

06/11/2026

"That one was perhaps the most lively one!"

Our staffer Ryan Nascimento says it best as he passes another energetic adult sockeye into Bear Creek on it's way to Bear Lake. These fish aren't just returning home—they're helping create the next generation of Resurrection Bay sockeye salmon. 🐟

Follow the daily counts here: https://ciaanet.org/reports/adult-enumerations/bear-lake-sockeye/?_gl=1*1d2nzbc*_ga*NTk2NTI5NzY3LjE3ODExMTY3Mjg.*_ga_ZVG1L8L536*czE3ODExMzk3OTYkbzIkZzEkdDE3ODExNDAzNjIkajUyJGwwJGgw



📹 Lisa Ka'aihue

05/26/2026

This great feature from Alaska Sporting Journal shines a light on the “unsung helpers of the wild”: the hatchery managers, technicians, and crews who raise the next generation of Alaska salmon in some of the most remote places in the state.

We’re proud to see CIAA's Trail Lakes Hatchery and Hatchery Manager Ryan Schuman featured alongside hatchery programs across Alaska. From collecting broodstock and caring for eggs and fry, to transporting smolt and monitoring returns, this work never really stops. And it helps support fisheries for all.

“The best part is watching people out enjoying the fish we raise.” — Ryan Schuman.

Thank you to all the hatchery staff, technicians, seasonal crews, and fisheries professionals whose hard work often happens behind the scenes.

Read the full story below.

Across Alaska, salmon enhancement programs guide fish through the most vulnerable stages of life. Eggs are incubated in carefully controlled systems, juvenile fish are monitored as they grow and releases are timed so young salmon enter the wild when their chances of survival are strongest. After tha...

05/21/2026

Anyone going fishing this Memorial Day weekend for Resurrection Bay reds?

To learn more about how Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association provides the red salmon run in Resurrection Bay, please visit https://ciaanet.org/cost-recovery-the-key-to-sustaining-resurrection-bays-sockeye-salmon-runs/

Stay safe this weekend and share some pics of your Res Bay reds!

As sport fishers show up in Seward, let's examine how cost recovery helps make the sockeye fishery possible and clear up misconceptions.

05/18/2026

Despite the grip winter has had on us this year, last week Kenai Peninsula School District students got to release their salmon fry to Johnson Lake during the Salmon Celebration. There was just enough open water to get the fish stocked without an ice auger! This event marked the year end of the Salmon in the Classroom program that you can learn more about here :https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=educators.salmonclassroom

The students also got to experience what it's like to be a juvenile salmon moving through a CIAA smolt weir! Danny Tanis, CIAA biologist, also showed students the different data we collect at a weir to help evaluate the fisheries run.

📷 Peter Toggwiler

05/16/2026

Kodiak Regional Aquaculture Association will take eggs from the wild Karluk king salmon run in an effort to save the population.

05/14/2026

It was all hands on deck for a major milestone in our salmon fisheries enhancement efforts!

In April, 627,620 sockeye smolt were carefully transferred from Trail Lakes Hatchery to Tutka Bay Lagoon Hatchery. The operation involved loading fish into transport trucks, then onto a boat for the journey across Kachemak Bay to Tutka Bay Lagoon, and then into the net pens.

These baby fish will be short-term reared in the lagoon before being released to forage and grow naturally in the ocean as wild salmon.

A huge thank you to staff from across the organization who came together to make this transfer a success. Teamwork like this keeps Alaska’s salmon fisheries enhancement program moving forward! 🐟🚛⛴️

📷 Lauren Deal & Hannah Kinsley

05/11/2026

🐟 Now Hiring: Seasonal Fisheries Technician-Hatchery 🐟

We're looking for one more team member for the 2026 season at Tutka Bay Lagoon Hatchery! The position starts June 1.

Visit www.ciaanet.org/employment for more information. See less

05/04/2026

A new Responsive Management survey shows savvy Alaskans know more about aquaculture than their Pacific neighbors.

A new Responsive Management survey shows savvy Alaskans know more about aquaculture than their Pacific neighbors.

04/29/2026

A UAF study of pike in the Deshka River found that the invasive predators have become even more voracious as the climate has warmed.

04/10/2026

A new ADF&G report, covering the 2018–2022 seasons, provides the most rigorous estimates yet of Cook Inlet hatchery salmon production. It shows how the organization boosts the industry and local economy.

The report covers the 2018–2022 seasons provides the most rigorous estimates yet of Cook Inlet hatchery salmon production.