Three years after a crash in king salmon populations led to a ban on fishing for them in the Yukon River, residents along the river face at least seven more years without the ability to fish for the iconic species. The North Pacific Fishery Management Council is grappling with the impact of the ban, as tribal leaders from the region offer emotional testimonies about the cultural losses suffered due to the absence of salmon.
Tribal leaders are advocating for stricter regulations on the trawl fleet, which inadvertently catches salmon while targeting other species such as pollock. The bycatch of salmon by the trawlers has contributed to the decline in salmon populations, leading to subsistence harvesting bans in Indigenous communities.
The pollock industry, which harvests more than 2 billion pounds of pollock annually, has been working to address concerns about bycatch through voluntary legal contracts. However, tribal leaders are pushing for a hard cap on chum salmon bycatch and a lower annual limit than what is currently under consideration by the council.
The Biden administration has also urged the council to consider lower limits on chum salmon bycatch to protect the Western Alaska salmon populations. The industry argues that hard caps may not effectively address the issue, as a significant portion of the chum salmon bycatch is not native to Western Alaska.
As the council continues to deliberate on bycatch management options, the future of salmon populations in the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers remains uncertain. Tribal leaders are hopeful that stricter regulations will ensure the protection and recovery of salmon populations for future generations.
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Photo credit alaskabeacon.com
