BBRSDA Receives Grant Award for Sonar Salmon Counting Project on the Naknek River
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
BBRSDA Launches Sonar Salmon Counting Project on the Naknek River
Anchorage, Alaska — The Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association (BBRSDA) has been awarded $188,268 from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) through its Electronic Monitoring and Reporting Grant Program to count salmon using sonar technology on the Naknek River near King Salmon, Alaska. The grant is administered by NFWF with funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The project period runs from June 1, 2026 through May 31, 2028.
BBRSDA represents about 1,800 drift permit holders and more than 8,000 small boat fishermen in Bristol Bay, Alaska. The organization works to grow the value of the Bristol Bay sockeye salmon fishery through marketing, advocacy, and community partnerships.
The project will place a hydroacoustic sonar system in the Bristol Bay watershed. The Naknek River is the first place this technology will be deployed, with additional Bristol Bay rivers sites integrated in coming years. Sonar uses sound waves to count fish underwater, allowing the system to measure salmon moving through a wide section of the river. Most sonar systems need a technician to read the data and produce counts every so often, but this innovative approach will count salmon automatically. Counts will feed a real-time online dashboard that fishermen, processors, and managers can check during the season. SeaSignal Technologies, working with Coastal Measures and BioSonics, was selected through a competitive process to build and run the system. The project aims to give Bristol Bay fishermen and managers faster, clearer information about salmon returns while the season is still underway, allowing for confident management decisions and protecting the sustainability of the resource.
“Better information during the season means better decisions for everyone who depends on this fishery. Sonar lets us count fish across a wide stretch of the Naknek and get those numbers to fishermen, processors, and managers while they can still act on them. We are grateful to NFWF and NOAA Fisheries for investing in a tool the fleet has wanted for a long time,” said Lilani Dunn, Executive Director of BBRSDA.
About BBRSDA
Founded in 2005, the Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association represents the Bristol Bay drift gillnet fleet and works to grow the value of the world’s largest wild sockeye salmon fishery through marketing, quality improvement, and industry partnerships.
About the Funding
This project is supported through the Electronic Monitoring and Reporting Grant Program, a partnership between NFWF and NOAA Fisheries. The program was established in 2015 to help fishermen, state agencies, and fishery information networks bring modern technology into fisheries data collection and management. Funding comes from NOAA Fisheries under Assistance Listing 11.472.
Media Contact: Lilani Dunn, Executive Director Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association info@bbrsda.com
Funding Acknowledgment: This press release was prepared by Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association using Federal funds under award NA25NMFX472C0168 from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce. The statements, findings, conclusions, and recommendations are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or the U.S. Department of Commerce. The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as representing the opinions or policies of the U.S. Government or the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and its funding sources. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute their endorsement by the U.S. Government, or the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation or its funding sources.
