Several awards were presented at the Chapter Meeting Banquet on November 18 in Girdwood. All recipients were present to receive their awards.

The Wally Noerenberg Award for Fishery Excellence is the highest award bestowed by the Alaska Chapter.It honors an individual’s life-long achievements in a career focused on Alaska’s fisheries. The committee selected two recipients for the 2011 award: William (Bill) Heard and Dr. John (Jack) Helle. 

The Awards Committee selected Ray Hander for the Alaska Chapter Service Award. Ray was honored for his active involvement and leadership in the Chapter, including his service as Chair to both the Molly Ahlgren Scholarship Award and the Financial Assets Oversight Committees and his past service as Treasurer.  

For the first time in Chapter history, the Meritorious Service Award was shared amongst a group of four individuals: Charles Krueger, Christian Zimmerman, Karen Gillis and Joseph Spaeder. Through their efforts, American Fisheries Society Symposium 70 was published in 2009, entitled Pacific Salmon: Ecology and Management of Western Alaska’s Populations. This publication compiles in one place the freshwater, estuarine, and marine ecology of salmon in the North Pacific; human dimensions of AYK salmon; freshwater and marine management; subsistence, commercial and sport fisheries; lessons learned from other fisheries in terms of ecology, governance and management; and finally builds upon these four areas to address new challenges and new approaches to salmon management.