NOAA Fisheries News Releases
NEWS RELEASE
December 20, 2006
Sheela McLean
(907) 586-7032
NOAA Fisheries joins others in signing state-wide Invasive Species Agreement
NOAA Fisheries representatives recently signed a state-wide agreement to minimize invasive species impacts in Alaska. Five state agencies, nine other federal agencies and six non-governmental organizations have also signed the agreement.
A European green crab is held up to view. Photo courtesy of Washington Department of Fish and Game
The agreement addresses management of any invasive species, including terrestrial, freshwater and marine plants and animals, throughout Alaska.
Many marine invasive species now found on the west coasts of the United States and Canada pose potential threats to marine ecosystems in Alaska. These include Atlantic salmon, European green crab and Atlantic cordgrass due to their potential to invade marine habitats and exclude or directly compete with native species. Atlantic salmon are farmed in British Columbia, and the European green crab and Atlantic cordgrass have recently moved north from the West Coast states to British Columbia. Warming trends in global temperatures may promote range extensions of these and other non-native species to Alaska.
The goals of the agreement, through the Alaska Invasive Species Working Group, are to clarify jurisdictional authorities of signatory parties regarding invasive species, share scientific and technical expertise, encourage collaboration, develop a statewide needs assessment and strategic plan, and consider formal organizational structures designed to minimize invasive species impacts in Alaska.
The undersides of male and female European green crabs.
Photo courtesy of Washington Department of Fish and Game
The agreement was developed by members of the Alaska Invasive Species Working Group, led by the University of Alaska Cooperative Extension in Fairbanks.
NOAA Fisheries—the National Marine Fisheries Service--holds the primary federal responsibility for the conservation and management of certain living marine resources, including commercial fish and invertebrates managed under federal fishery management plans, and the habitats upon which they depend, in the United States.
For more information, visit the Alaska Invasive Species Working Group website at www.uaf.edu/ces/aiswg/.
Contact the Alaska Invasive Species Working Group, by e-mail to Deena Jallen at fndmj@uaf.edu. Contact the Habitat Conservation Division of NOAA Fisheries in Alaska, at 907-586-7358.
Other agencies which have also signed the agreement are the Alaska State departments of Environmental Conservation, Fish and Game, Natural Resources, Transportation and the University of Alaska Fairbanks, plus the federal agencies of the Forest Service, Conservation Service, Coast Guard, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Fish and Wildlife Service, Minerals Management Serve and Park Service. Non-governmental organizations include Prince William Soundkeeper, the Nature Conservancy, Prince William Sound Regional Citizen's Advisory Council, Alaska Inter-tribal Council, Alaska Association of Conservation Districts and the Alaska Conservation Alliance. Private organizations may also sign on to the agreement.
NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries) is dedicated to protecting and preserving our nation’s living marine resources through scientific research, management, enforcement, and the conservation of marine mammals and other protected marine species and their habitat. To learn more about NOAA Fisheries in Alaska, please visit our websites at www.fakr.noaa.gov or at www.afsc.noaa.gov In 2007 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, an agency of the U.S. Commerce Department, celebrates 200 years of science and service to the nation. From the establishment of the Survey of the Coast in 1807 by Thomas Jefferson to the formation of the Weather Bureau and the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries in the 1870s, much of America's scientific heritage is rooted in NOAA.
NOAA is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and information service delivery for transportation, and by providing environmental stewardship of our nation's coastal and marine resources. Through the emerging Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), NOAA is working with its federal partners, more than 60 countries and the European Commission to develop a global monitoring network that is as integrated as the planet it observes, predicts and protects.