Juneau hatchery funds new endowment for student research

August 9, 2013

Sharice Walker
907-474-7208
8/09/13

Douglas Island Pink and Chum, Inc. presenting a check to UAF School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences. Pictured left to right are: Bill Smoker, former Juneau fisheries division director; Alex Wertheimer, DIPAC board member; Sandy Williams, DIPAC board president; Jim Becker, DIPAC board member; Shannon Atkison, SFOS Fisheries graduate program chair; and Keith Criddle, SFOS Fisheries division director.

Fisheries research has always been an integral part of the mission and operation of Douglas Island Pink and Chum, Inc. The company, which operates the Macaulay Hatchery, recently gave the University of Alaska Fairbanks School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences $175,000 to create an endowment to support graduate students' research at the SFOS Lena Point facility in Juneau. The endowment is in memory of hatchery founder Ladd Macaulay.

“My dad, as a teacher and a biologist, valued collaborative study to continually improve and problem solve,” said Amy Jo (Macaulay) Meiners, Ladd Macaulay’s daughter. “You can see in the design of the hatchery building that education was important to him, from the educational visitor displays to the university lab space: all of it designed to focus on supporting a strong, Alaskan salmon economy.”

Macaulay fostered collaborative research relationships with the National Fisheries Service Auke Bay Laboratory, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, and especially with the University of Alaska. He even included a research laboratory for the UAF Fisheries division in Juneau in the design of the Macaulay Hatchery.

Macaulay recognized the need for Alaska-centric focused research to improve salmon enhancement techniques, strategies and sustainable salmon management. He ensured the concept of research was explicit in the DIPAC mission statement and articles of incorporation. He saw the benefit of developing expertise in an academic context that recognizes the value of salmon enhancement and salmon fisheries to the local community, to the Southeast Alaska region and to the State of Alaska.

“Recognizing that today we continue to have many questions about Alaska salmon, I'm excited that DIPAC is able to support graduate level research as a means to better understand fisheries enhancement and management," said Meiners. “With a goal of getting fish to the fishermen, it is important to understand the fisheries and what makes it sustainable for future fishermen.”