Andrew Gray

Current Activities
Andrew currently manages the Salmon Ocean Ecology and Bycatch Analysis (SOEBA) sub-program (within the Ecosystem Monitoring and Analysis program). The central objective of SOEBA is to understand the relation between ocean conditions and the distribution, growth and recruitment of salmon and associated species of groundfish well enough to contribute to groundfish stock assessments and the management of salmon bycatch in groundfish fisheries. His team is responsible for managing research at Alaska Fisheries Science Center's Little Port Walter (LPW) marine research station located on Baranof Island in Southeast Alaska, Auke Creek Research Station located in Juneau Alaska, the Southeast Alaska Coastal Monitoring (SECM) project, and the North Bering Sea ecosystem survey. Andrew actively served as the Alaska Fisheries Science Center's representative on the Pacific Salmon Commission's (PSC) Chinook Technical Committee from 2010 to February 2020. He now serves on the PSC Northern Panel and the North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission (NPAFC).

Background
Andrew received his bachelor's in Biology/Genetics in 1988 and M. S. in Genetics/Cell Biology (1990) from Washington State University. His studies included analysis of diploid and triploid salmonid hybrids. In 1990, Andrew accepted a research associate position at the University of Alaska Fairbanks/Juneau School of fisheries and Ocean sciences where his studies included using molecular genetic techniques to investigate cultured and wild salmon populations, rockfish populations, and evolutionary genetics. In 2002, he accepted a position as fisheries research geneticist with the National Marine Fisheries Service at Auke Bay Laboratory in Juneau, Alaska where his research has encompassed impacts of artificially-enhanced salmon populations on wild populations, parentage analysis of wild and cultured salmon, genetic analysis of salmon bycatch, species identification and population genetic analysis of rockfish, and most recently climate impacts on major ecosystem processes that control salmon growth, distribution, and survival in the Alaska Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).