Selawik Wildlife Refuge

The Pacific herring is the only known herring species in Alaska — at least, for now. But University of Alaska Fairbanks researchers say herring further north might be a separate species.

According to Fraley, now sheefish can be found as far north as Point Hope and as far south as Shishmaref, a significant increase over what was previously thought to be their range. And there's a reason for it.

Norma Ballot was one of the sign’s designers.“The old sign? It needed help,” said Norma Ballot, one of the sign’s designers. “The old sign looked too much federal-y style.”

Carter said that the lack of baseline data could be detrimental, especially as climate change heats Arctic waters.

Although sheefish are abundant now, they could be threatened by warming Arctic temperatures, according to Bill Carter, a fish biologist for the Selawik National Wildlife Refuge, based in Kotzebue. His focus is on the refuge’s aquatic habitat. For eight years, he and a group of Fish and Wildlife colleagues studied a potential threat to sheefish: the permafrost thaw slump.

Brittany Sweeney of the Selawik National Wildlife Refuge says the annual Bird Sighting Contest helps scientists pick up changes in bird migration patterns.