In Alaska, Salmon Hunting Hints at Climate Change Chaos

This summer, fishermen set records in the world’s largest wild salmon habitat 65 million sockeye salmon From Alaska’s Bristol Bay, beating the 2018 record with more than three million fish.

However, about 500 miles to the north, salmon in the Yukon River was alarmingly absent. This summer’s run of friends was the lowest on record as only 153,000 fish were counted in the river. Pilot Station sonar — a stark contrast to last year’s 1.7 million friends. King salmon runs were also critically low this summer—the third lowest on record. of the Yukon autumn run is also sparsely shaped.

The disparity between fisheries types is alarming – a possible precursor to the chaotic consequences of fishing. climate change; competition between wild and brood fish; and commercial fishing.

“This is something we’ve never seen before,” said Sabrina Garcia, a research biologist with the Alaska Division of Fish and Game. “I think we are starting to see changes due to climate change and I think we will continue to see more changes, but we need more annual data.”

Low currents have caused ripple effects for communities along the Yukon River and its tributaries – the Andreafski, Innoko, Anvik, Porcupine, Tanana and Koyukuk Rivers, which has dealt a devastating blow to people who rely on salmon as bait. sled dogs and as an integral and enriching cultural tradition spanning millennia.

“We have over 2,000 kilometers of rivers and our numbers are very low,” said CEO Serena Fitka. Yukon River Drainage Fisheries Association. “Where are all our fish? That’s the question on everyone’s minds.”

Because critically low chinook and chum runs haven’t met their escape goals, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game has banned subsistence, commercial, and sport fishing in the entire Yukon, leaving about 50 communities with virtually no salmon.

“When we have a disaster of this magnitude where people are worried about their food security, worried about their moral security, when they are worried about the ability of future generations to sustain our lifestyle and culture – it is our leadership. very worried,” said general counsel Natasha Singh Tanana Chiefs Conference, a tribal organization representing 42 villages in an inland Alaska region nearly the size of Texas. “Our people are very uneasy. They want to remain Athabascan-Dene. They want to remain indigenous and this is at risk.”

It’s not the first time salmon has flown on the Yukon River and its tributaries have fallen, but this summer’s record low numbers are particularly upsetting. Most of the Yukon River carries only two of the five salmon species found in Alaska: chinook and chum.

“When one species crashes, we’re a little shocked, but we’re fine because we know we can eat from the other stock,” said Ben Stevens, tribal resource commission manager for the Tanana Chiefs Conference. “But this year is unique as we have no stock there. They’re both in the tank.”

Yukon River chinook salmon has been in decline for decades, shrinking in size and quantity over the years. The region also sees mass deaths of salmon. In 2019, as scientists predicted, thousands of chum carcasses hit the banks of the Yukon River and its tributaries. heat stress blamed With water temperatures close to 70 degrees, about 10 to 15 degrees higher than is typical for the region.

While warming waters can create an uninhabitable habitat for salmon, some studies show that the heat benefits stockings in Bristol Bay and increases the food supply for young salmon.

Some fish handlers donate surplus fish from Bristol Bay to communities in the Yukon. SeaShare and other Alaska fish handlers coordinate donations and expected more salmon It will be shipped in the next few weeks.

“It’s very heartwarming that our Alaskan friends are reaching out and donating to us,” said Mr Stevens. “I’m a little sorry we let things get this bad.”

Mr. Stevens is a Koyukon Athabascan from Stevens Village, a small community northwest of Fairbanks, Alaska, where the Trans-Alaska Pipeline crosses the Yukon River. He toured the area last month to hear how communities are coping with low runs. He said people fear a winter without food and the consequences of being cut off from land and animals. Mr. Stevens said that with the loss of fish came “incredible loss of culture”.

Meat harvested from the land is a staple food for people living outside of Alaska’s road system, whose communities are only accessible by boat or plane. High shipping costs and long travel times make fresh food in village shops extremely expensive and limited; The tradition of collecting food with friends and family goes back thousands of years.

No salmon also means no fish camps – an annual summer practice where families gather along rivers to catch, slaughter and preserve salmon for the winter, passing on important life lessons and values ​​to future generations.

“We’re going out and transferring our millennial tradition from young to old,” said PJ Simon, president and chair of the Tanana Chiefs Conference. “This is our soul. This is our identity. And that’s where we draw our courage, our mastery for everything that gets to where we are today.”

19-year-old model and activist Quannah Chasinghorse goes to her family’s fishing camp every summer. Miss Chasinghorse is from Han Gwich’in and Oglala Lakota and Eagle, Alaska.

“Every time I go to fish camp I realize that there is something new that is different – because of climate change, because of so many different things – and it breaks my heart because I want to be able to bring my kids and I want them to go too. Experience how beautiful this land is,” said Ms. “I want to see the younger generation fishing, laughing, having fun and knowing what it’s like to work hard on land.”

The future of Yukon salmon runs remains uncertain. However, lawyer Ms. Singh said there is still time for fishermen in the region to adapt to the effects of climate change and different management approaches. If salmon is allowed to rebound, “our kids will be people fishing,” he said.

“We shouldn’t conclude that climate change will change our fisheries to the point where we have to give up our identity,” said Ms. Singh.

Mr Stevens said state and federal natural resource managers need “more Indigenous science” and “more traditional resource management principles currently in place.”

“I think we need people to know that the last great salmon running on this earth, the last wild salmon, is about to run out,” said Mr. Stevens. “But we can stop it.”