Contact Information
Fisheries DivisionP.O. Box 757220
University of Alaska Fairbanks
Fairbanks, AK 99775-7220
Phone: (907) 474-7636
pmerritt@sfos.uaf.edu
Peggy Merritt Affiliate Associate Professor
Affiliations
- Past President, 1997, American Fisheries Society Alaska Chapter
Specialties
- Strategic fisheries research and management planning
- Fisheries socioeconomic, human dimensions research
- Fish population assessment
- Multicriteria decision analysis
Education
- B.S. 1974 University of California Riverside (Biology)
- M.S. 1978 Utah State University (Ecology)
- Ph.D. 1995 University of Alaska Fairbanks (Fisheries)
Research Overview
As a fisheries biologist for 23 years with Commercial and Sport Fish Divisions, Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game, I supervised fisheries research from southeast to the Arctic, including Kotzebue Sound chum salmon early life history studies, Copper River sonar, Cook Inlet shellfish investigations, Yukon River chinook stock identification, Seward Peninsula Arctic grayling assessment, etc. As Research Supervisor of the Arctic-Yukon-Kuskokwim region for 13 years I focused on socioeconomic and human dimensions research, population dynamic modeling, and strategic planning. I have facilitated major planning efforts for state and federal agencies including the Copper, Kuskokwim and Yukon Rivers, southeast and Cook Inlet salmon research; most recently for the USFWS Office of Subsistence Management Copper River-Prince William Sound, Bristol Bay-Alaska Peninsula. My current interests include working with managers and stakeholders to develop optimal policy for sustainable fisheries. Since receiving affiliate status in 1997, I have been funded by the Meek Visiting Professorship and the PCCRC to develop and teach courses in fisheries management and decision-making techniques for fisheries management.
Selected Publications
Merritt, M. and A. Skilbred. 2002. Planning for sustainable salmon in Southeast Alaska, and prioritization of projects for the Southeast Sustainable Salmon Fund, 2001. Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Fishery Special Publication No. 02-01, Anchorage.
Duffield, J. M. Merritt and C. Neher. 2002. Valuation and policy in Alaskan sport fisheries. In T. Pitcher and C. Hollingworth, editors. Evaluating recreational fisheries: an ecological, economic and social balance sheet. Blackwell Science.
Merritt, M. 2001. Strategic plan for salmon research in the Kuskokwim River drainage. Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Fishery Special Publication No. 01-07, Anchorage.
Merritt, M. F. and T. J. Quinn II. 2000. Using perceptions of data accuracy and empirical weighting of information: assessment of a recreational fish population. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 57 (7) 1459-1469.
Duffield, J., C. Neher and M. Merritt. 2000. Effect of proposed changes to rod and reel subsistence harvest regulations in the lower Yukon/Kuskokwim area: surveys and analysis. Special Publication No. 00-02. Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Sport Fisheries, Anchorage.
Merritt, M. F. 2000. Strategic plan for chinook salmon research in the Copper River drainage. Special Publication No. 00-03. Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Sport Fisheries, Anchorage.
Merritt, M., J. Duffield and C. Neher. 1999. Economic value of northern Alaska sport fisheries and the influence of management on stated trip frequency. Pages 119-123 In Evaluating the benefits of recreational fisheries. Fisheries Centre Research Reports University of British Columbia vol 7 (2).
DeCicco, F., M. Merritt and A. Bingham. 1997. Characteristics of a lightly exploited population of Arctic grayling residing in the Sinuk River, Seward Peninsula, Alaska. Pages 229-239 In J. Reynolds, editor. Fish Ecology in Arctic North America. American Fisheries Society Symposium No. 19, Bethesda, Maryland.
Merritt, M. 1995. Application of decision analysis in the evaluation of recreational fishery management problems. Doctoral dissertation, University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Merritt, M. and K. Criddle. 1993. Evaluation of the analytic hierarchy process for aiding management decisions in recreational fisheries: a case study of the chinook salmon fishery in the Kenai River, Alaska. Pages 683-703 in Proceedings of the International Symposium on Management of Exploited Fish Populations, University of Alaska Sea Grant No. 93-2, Fairbanks, Alaska.