Climate Connection:
Herring Also at Risk of Virus
By Callie Simmons
The COVID-19 pandemic reminds us that all populations can be susceptible to disease outbreaks, including herring. Federal scientists who study Sitka Sound herring populations are monitoring for a fish virus and wondering how or if it might become an epidemic too. This year scientists from the Sitka Sound Science Center were able to assist in this virology research to understand the course of the disease.
Yaaw or Pacific herring provide immense cultural and ecological value to the marine food webs they sustain – including Sitka Sound. Given herring’s importance and the changes we are currently seeing at sea (warmer temps, shifts in pH, etc.) it’s no wonder that there is tremendous interest in keeping our local herring populations healthy.
The collapse of the Prince William Sound herring population in 1993 is believed to have been caused by an epidemic of Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia or VHS. That event motivated fisheries researchers to monitor herring populations in Alaska for disease. Beginning in 2007, U.S. Geological Survey scientists teamed up with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to study VHSV (the virus that causes the disease) in Alaska.
Though the natural occurrence of this virus is usually low, outbreaks can occur when herring are stressed due to environmental conditions, being in a confined space, or a lack of food. With the onset of shifting environmental conditions it’s important to continue to monitor for the disease’s prevalence in our waters.
In 2018, the USGS team found a zero prevalence of VHSV in the Sitka Sound herring sampled. This year we have seen a strong herring spawn, around 60 nautical miles in Sitka Sound, indicating that there are lots of spawners in our local population. That is a good thing because VHS epidemics can be devastating to all age classes of herring. University of Washington scientists recently estimated that the Prince William Sound herring population decreased by 60% in 1993 when VHS was first observed. The population hasn’t really recovered from that event.
For the last 12 years, scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey at the Marrowstone Marine Field Station have come here to evaluate the health of our spawning herring. The group leads the effort on herring health surveillance work and is primarily interested in understanding how diseases affect herring populations. The team has developed an antibody test for VHSV, which is much like the antibody test developed for COVID-19. Using blood samples Marrowstone scientists can tell if herring have been exposed to the virus and are now immune. When a large percentage of the herring population is immune to the virus, infections can’t easily spread through the population and the population remains relatively safe. In contrast, if there is little evidence for large scale immunity, then the population is at risk for an epidemic. USGS’ new test will allow researchers to forecast the disease impacts on future wild herring populations.
This year, the pandemic prevented USGS scientists from coming to Sitka to examine the herring. The Science Center scientists dissected the fish to collect the tissues needed by USGS and ensured that the time series of observations has remained unbroken. Maintaining the time series is important for detecting change in the population because the population can be sampled only once a year during spawning. As we notice shifts in the environment and witness the impacts of climate change, the continued surveillance of our shared environment and the health of organisms in it, remains important.
If you are curious for more herring pathology you can visit the herring disease program at usgs.gov. Until then, may your hemlock branches be heavy and your stomachs full.
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Callie Simmons is research coordinator for Sitka Sound Science Center
State Forestry to Suspend
All Burn Permits May 1
The Alaska Division of Forestry will suspend all burn permits – both small- and large-scale – effective at midnight April 30, in anticipation of the impacts of COVID-19 on Alaska’s wildland firefighting resources this summer.
The use of burn barrels, the burning of debris piles, and any other outdoor burning activity authorized under previously issued burn permits will be prohibited on all state, private and municipal lands throughout Alaska as of May 1, the division said. Any person or business found to be violating this order may be issued a citation to pay a fine or appear in court.
The statewide burn permit suspension will not include cooking, warming or signaling fires that are less than three feet in diameter with flame lengths no more than two feet high. It also will not include commercially manufactured outdoor cooking and heating devices with built-in open flame safety devices.
‘‘Given the potential effects of COVID-19 on the upcoming fire season, Alaska’s wildland fire suppression agencies need the public’s help more than ever to keep firefighters and communities safe,’’ the division said in a press release.
The suspension of burn permits will help firefighting agencies mitigate some of the significant challenges they’re likely to face this summer, including:
–An anticipated lack of firefighting resources available from the Lower 48 as a result of COVID-19 travel restrictions and quarantine requirements;
–The possibility of exposing firefighters to higher risks of contracting and spreading COVID-19 when responding to human-caused nuisance fires; and
–Limited firefighting resources available to respond to higher-priority wildland fires which may place lives, property and infrastructure in imminent danger.
Until the May 1 suspension takes effect, small- and large-scale burning on state, municipal or private lands continues to require permits from the state, or from local governments whose burn permitting programs meet or exceed state standards. The Division of Forestry will re-evaluate the burn suspension on a regular basis to determine if and when it is safe to rescind it.
Those burning before May 1 should read and follow the requirements of their permits. They should also continually monitor and constrain any burn piles, and when finished burning, ensure fires are completely extinguished and cold to the touch so they will not holdover, rekindle and escape as conditions grow warmer and drier.
The website is https://dnr.alaska.gov/burn to contact them directly for more information.
Homeless Panel
Meets April 30
The Sitka Homeless Coalition will meet via teleconference 6:30 p.m. Thursday, April 30.
All can join the meeting. Call 747-7978 or email sitkahc@gmail.com for information.
Al-Anon Support
Group to Meet
Al-Anon, a support group for people who are, or have been, affected by someone else’s drinking, meets via Zoom noon-1 p.m. Thursdays.
E-mail sitkaalanon@gmail.com to receive more information and a link to join the meeting.
Food Business,
Preservation
Classes Online
Juneau Cooperative Extension agent Sarah Lewis will offer free distance-delivered food business and food preservation classes this spring.
Participants from any location may register at www.uaf.edu/ces/juneau to receive a Zoom link. Upcoming classes will meet on Saturdays. They include:
– ‘‘Starting a Cottage Foods Business in Alaska,’’ 2-3:30 p.m. April 25;
– ‘‘Canning Dry Beans,’’ 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. May 9;
– ‘‘All About the Basil: Preserving Herbs,’’ 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. May 30;
– ‘‘Canning Wild Berries,’’ 11 a.m.-2 p.m. June 13.
Lewis is a family and community development agent with the University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service. For information, contact Lewis at sarah.lewis@alaska.edu.
Kindergarten
Registers Online;
Sneak Peek Set
Baranof Elementary School online registration for the upcoming school year is open. Children who are 5 years old on or before Sept. 1 are eligible to attend kindergarten.
The annual kindergarten Sneak Peek event will not be held this year; however, a virtual kindergarten Sneak Peek is available to parents before they complete the online registration.
Individuals can find information on the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/BaranofElementarySchool/. Parents should like and follow the page to stay up-to-date about school happenings.
‘‘This is, of course, optional and you are welcome to go straight to registering,’’ the school said.
The registration link is on the school web site at sitkaschools.org, on the Baranof Elementary page, Sitkaschools.org/page/3326.
‘‘The budgeting process is underway and it is very important to know how many new students to plan for next year so your on-time registration is greatly appreciated,’’ the school said in a press release.
On-time registration closes on May 1 with class placement beginning soon after.
BIHA Board
Meets April 29
Baranof Island Housing Authority Board of Commissioners will meet 5 p.m. April 29 at 245 Katlian Street. The meeting is closed to the public.
Child Center
Gets AK Can Do
Grant Award
Betty Eliason Child Care Center received an Alaska COVID-19 Rapid Response Grant Program first round grant worth $15,000.
As part of the AK Can Do COVID-19 response effort, the Alaska Community Foundation funded 25 nonprofit organizations this week with more than $215,000 in direct support to meet the critical needs of Alaska communities related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This is in addition to the $240,000 deployed by United Way of Anchorage to struggling families since the pandemic began. A second and third round of support for nonprofit organizations will be available over the next several months.
To donate, go to www.AKCanDo.org. Families and individuals seeking assistance should call 1-800-478-2221. Nonprofits can visit https://alaskacf.org/.
Creation Care
Service Sunday
St. Peter’s by-the-Sea Episcopal Church will offer a Creation Care 10 a.m. Sunday prayer service. Lisa Sadleir-Hart, parishioner and Citizens Climate Lobby member, will offer the message ‘‘On a Wing and a Prayer.’’ All are invited.
For the link to the Zoom meeting, send an email to stpetersbytheseak@gmail.com. Sitkans can pick up an “I pledge to be a Faith Climate Voter” sticker on the table at the entrance of the See House and mail it to Interfaith Power & Light.
Face Mask
Contest Listed
The public is invited to join in the Greater Sitka Face Mask Design Contest. It is open to all ages.
Entries are due 5 p.m. May 1. Categories include: black and white, color, patriotic, worst, originalist and funniest. Each person can enter up to three masks. Prizes include gift certificates to the local business of choice.
Send photo, name, age, phone number and email information to photo@sitkasentinel.com. Those with questions can call Jeff at 747-4821.
