Project Overview:

As climate change continues to accelerate globally, associated impacts to local seafood are forecasted to become more common. The Navarro Lab focuses on nearshore forage species such as squid and how interact as bioindicators for environmental change. In Southeast Alaska, the study systems include the market squid, Doryteuthis opalescens, commander squid, Berryteuthis magister, and coastal oceanography includes characterizing nearshore environmental exposure regimes (Auke Bay, Berner’s Bay, Taaku Inlet, and Endicott Arm), and developing life support systems to study plankton (phyto, zoo, larval life stages). In addition to SE Alaska, the Navarro Lab collaborates with Iberostar, a global tourism company based in Mallorca, Spain, on their “Lift Up Local” initiative to use only “responsible seafood” that is sustainable, socially equitable, and economically viable. For his sabbatical, he will be in the Dominican Republic working on a biological assessment of the diamond squid, Thysanoteuthis rhombus.

MAGISTER PREMIUM ALASKA SQUID, LLC. (Click on the OPENING GOAL learn More):

IBEROSTAR INITIATIVES (click on the initiative to learn more):

RECENT UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH PROJECTS (click on student name to learn more):

Charlotte Springer, INBRE (2x), BLaST, and URECA Scholar, Projects (3) focused on Berryteuthis magister, the commander squid.

Emma Roloff, BLaST Scholar, Project title, “Berryteuthis magister (armhook squid) demographics”

Hunter Kaufman, Project title, “Exploration of cephalopod science”

Yeraldy Valera, INBRE and Miami Dade College Dean’s List Scholar, Project Title, ““Environmental DNA and Hydrography for biological community surveys in SE Alaska.”

Mike Flunker, URECA Scholar, Project Title, “Zooplankton interactions with Pleurobrachia bachei: Placing ctenophores in the local food web.”

Molly Ekstrom, Undergraduate Researcher and BLaST, DIPAC and Dean’s List Scholar, Project Title, “Ageing market squid (Doryteuthis opalescens) using statolith structures.”

PAST UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH PROJECTS (click on student name to learn more):

Natalya Opsahl, Project Title, “Fjord Hydrography.”

Elizabeth Friday, Project Title, “Berryteuthis magister (commander squid) demographics in SE Alaska.”

Dillon Quealey, Undergraduate Researcher and PEP NOAA Scholar, Project Title, “Environmental exposure regimes affecting Southeast Alaskan fishery species.”

Mikayla Clark, Undergraduate Researcher and URECA Scholar, Project Title, “Spatiotemporal environmental variation in epipelagic zone of Endicott Arm, Alaska.”

Dawn Wehde, Undergraduate Researcher and URECA Scholar, Project Title, "Pilot investigation into the age structure of market squid, Doryteuthis opalescens, in the Gulf of Alaska."

Vasily Sekerak, Undergraduate Researcher and URECA Scholar, Project Title, "Investigation of salinity effects on the otolith microstructure of Pacific herring, Clupea pallasii."

Media Coverage:

  • UNDARK, 14 March 2018

    AS ALASKAN WATERS WARM, MARKET SQUID EXTEND THEIR REACH NORTHWARD

    By Theresa Soley 

    Click here to read the article.

  • JUNEAU EMPIRE, 17 December 2017

    Squid fishery proposed for Southeast

    By Kevin Gullufsen

    Click here to read the article.

  •  JUNEAU EMPIRE, 14 October 2017

    Could migrating squid help Alaska predict climate change?

    By Kevin Gullufsen

    Click here to read the article

  • SCRIPPS INSTITUTION OF OCEANOGRAPHY, 17 January 2017

    Research Highlight: A story of survival

    By Kate Furby 

    Click here to read the article.