This year, Caleb Abbott, was our intern on Shell, Whiskey, and Hewitt lakes where he primarily harvested invasive northern pike.
Here’s what he had to say:
How did you find out about this position?
After deciding to pursue a career in conservation, I began searching for summer internships in the field. The pursuit led me to email many state and national organizations, as well as scouring for organizations that might offer me an opportunity. Through this search, I found the Student Conservation Association (SCA). SCA offers many different internships in the field, so I began looking at what they had to offer. I was drawn to those that focused on fisheries, as fishing is a passion of mine. After applying to several, this position with CIAA included, I was offered an interview. After hearing more about the specifics of the work, I decided I couldn’t pass up a truly once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work in Alaska for a summer.
Walk us through your daily routine.
While we [Caleb and his teammate Andrew Held] had the smolt weir in place at Shell Lake, our day entailed checking the smolt weir 4 times daily. After we checked the weir in the mid-morning, we would go check our nets for pike and work up what we had caught. By the time we were done with this, it would be time to check the weir again, come back for dinner, and have some time to do camp chores before our final check of the day.
While at Hewitt and Whiskey lakes, our day started with breakfast. After breakfast, we would go check the nets on both lakes and work up the pike. This took most of the day, as there are many more pike on these lakes. Afterwards, we would have time to do what extra work was necessary, then help or hang out with the residents on the lakes. We also had time to fish most evenings.
How do the elements (weather, cold, sun) affect your work?
The weather, for the most part, had no major effect on our work. The only time it really hurt us was when the rain was so persistent that the creek flooded and blew out the weir. This led to us having to rebuild the weir several times. Other than that one week where the weather really hurt us, the weather never really impacted our work.
What is there to eat and drink at the weir?
At Shell Lake camp, we had coolers to keep food cold as long as the ice lasted. This meant that, for the most part, we were able to eat fresh food, and once the ice ran out, we were able to eat fish that we caught. While at Hewitt Lake, we were lucky enough to stay with a resident, which meant we had access to a fridge and freezer. This meant that we had fresh food for the entirety of our time there.
Where do you sleep and keep the stuff you brought with you?
While at Shell Lake, we had a Weather Port tent, which is where we slept and stored our things that we needed to keep dry. While at Hewitt Lake and Whiskey Lake, we stayed at some spare cabins.
When you're not working, how do you spend your time?
While at camp, we were able to use the boat freely. For me, that meant lots of time spent fishing. Most of my time fishing was spent targeting big pike. On Hewitt Lake, this led to numerous 30+ inch pike and too many others to count. We also spent a good amount of time hanging out with and helping the residents/property owners around all three of the lakes at which we were stationed.
What strategies do you use to stay focused on an accurate count?
While counting smolt, we used tally counters, which allowed us to split between the two of us who were counting what species of smolt. This allowed for easier and more accurate counting as we each had less to count and didn’t have to remember the numbers as they were on the counters. While counting the adults, we used a guide for accurate identification and often split who was identifying the salmon and who was recording the numbers. This allowed for a more streamlined process.
Why do you believe your work is important to Alaska?
The work we did in Shell, Hewitt, and Whiskey lakes is important to Alaska as, through removing as many of the invasive northern pike, it is possible for greater numbers of salmon smolt to survive in these lakes and make it out to the ocean. In turn, this has the potential to increase the number of adult salmon returning to these systems. On top of this, our monitoring work on Shell Lake allows us to gather an accurate count of both the outmigration and inmigration of Salmon on this system.
What is the most challenging aspect of this job?
The most challenging part of this job is probably the isolation. Because these lakes are only accessible by float plane if something goes wrong, like the weir blowing out, it is 100% up to you to come up with a solution. This is challenging but also gives a major sense of accomplishment when challenges are overcome.
What is your favorite part of this job?
My favorite part of this job was getting to fish for and catch some very big pike, as well as learn their tendencies. Via the residents on these lakes, it was possible to learn in detail the patterns of all the fish on the lakes. This included the salmon, rainbow trout, lake trout, burbot, and pike.
What lessons will you take away from this experience?
Through this experience, I learned a lot about working through challenges when you can’t lean on other people to help fix it. Whether big or small, when something happens in the field, it is up to you and your partner to figure out a solution for yourselves. To me, this was an invaluable lesson I was given via this internship.
