The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG) is getting closer to understanding how its commercial salmon hatcheries impact wild populations: a hotly debated topic that may hold implications for the state's $452 million (€402.8 million) hatchery program and its eco-label status.

The multi-year study, known as the Alaska Hatchery Research Project (AHRP), has already yielded new insights on the interactions between hatchery-origin fish that have spawned and produced adult offspring with both wild and other hatchery-origin fish.

ADFG delivered some preliminary results from the multi-year study to state legislators in March, highlighting a few key findings, one of which was the discovery that female hatchery-produced pink salmon from Prince William Sound (PWS) were about half as productive at reproducing as wild pink salmon from the same area.