Students in an Ichthyology class remove heart samples from Pacific halibut to test for disease while on a field excursion to the Kenai Peninsula.

Learn how scientific evidence and cooperative research can help sustain fisheries worldwide Marine Biology Program Assistant Professor Brad Harris draws on his professional and personal experience growing up in Alaska to shape APU’s Applied Fisheries Science Lab and its dedication to cooperative projects with research partners.

Industry leaders, state and federal government scientists, and non-governmental agency experts are among sources of perspective you’ll benefit from in the Applied Fisheries Science Lab.

Challenge yourself to develop and carry out structured research that applies scientific evidence to natural resource management and conservation. Work in the field beside scientists, researchers and policymakers.

Course-based projects in the Applied Fisheries Science Lab involve students in undergraduate assistantships working in places like southwest Alaska’s Bristol Bay, site of one of the world’s most productive wild runs of salmon for commercial harvest. Assistantships in the Bering Sea focus on a region known for abundant pollock– a fishery valued at $1 billion and the nation’s biggest commercial catch by weight.   Directed research assesses the effects of midwater trawl fishing on benthic habitats. APU graduate students taking part in this project contribute scientific knowledge as international debate continues on whether trawling should be regulated to protect the sea floor and marine life.

Directed research targeting bycatch mortality in midwater trawl-caught fish species is another example of high-impact inquiry with implications for Alaska and international commercial fisheries alike.