Intership Leads Penn State DuBios Student to Alaska

DUBOIS For a few weeks this summer, the Alaskan Bush will become a classroom for Penn State DuBois student Mike Yakich. While working to earn a bachelor’s degree in Wildlife and Fishery Sciences, he’s completing an internship with The Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association (CIAA), based in Kenai, Alaska. A 44 year old Retuning Adult Student from Brockway, Yakich is working on the Adult Sockeye Salmon Enumeration Program, which he humbly describes as, “a fancy way of saying you’re counting fish”.

In reality, it’s very important work, which could be vital to the Sockeye Salmon Species and Alaska’s economy.

“The information collected will be used to base the limit of salmon harvested each year,” Yakich explains. “Their numbers and range are decreasing, and this is a commercially fished species.”

Yakich and his colleagues trap fish and record their age, weight, length and overall health before returning them to the water. During this process a single scale is removed from each fish and analyzed at a lab, providing a portion of the information they need.

“You can age the fish by looking at the scale in the microscope,” Yakich says. “It’s like counting the rings of a tree.”

But Yakich will spend much of his time far away from microscopes and labs. Primarily, he’ll live out in the Bush and out in the elements collecting data.

“There are 10 different sites we’ll monitor, and they are up to 146 miles away from the home-base in Kenai,” he said.

Those sites offer such accommodations as “Weather Ports”, which Yakich explains is another name for “big tent”. Some have primitive cabins or trailers. He says, “They put you on a plane with your equipment and you head out to the bush,” noting that he’ll share a camp and the workload at each site with one other intern. Food rations are provided, though the interns will still have the occasional opportunity to catch dinner.

“They say a recommended tool is a fishing pole, I packed four,” Yakich said with a smile. He explained that other species of salmon and trout are very plentiful in the area.

Though the amount of work will exceed the number of relaxing fishing trips, Yakich said this internship is still a dream come true.

“I can’t wait, I’ve been day-dreaming about this for months,” he said, remembering when he first learned about the opportunity from a poster hanging outside his instructors’ offices on campus.

Yakich said he spent 22 years in the United States Navy before returning to college and setting out on a second career. He ultimately wants to work with Wildlife at a national park, but may continue his studies and earn a graduate degree first.