ABOVE ILIAMNA from Jason Ching on Vimeo.

Fly high above Lake Iliamna in Alaska, following the crew of the Alaska Salmon Program as they conduct sockeye salmon surveys during one of the largest salmon returns in years.

The Alaska Salmon Program is the oldest continuously running salmon research program in the world. Based out of the University of Washington, the program was established to investigate factors influencing salmon production during a declining salmon fishery in Bristol Bay, Alaska in the mid-1940s. The program strives to understand the ecology and behavior of salmon in relation to environmental changes through long-term research and implementation of new ideas and techniques.