Alaska Beat: A lost season for Chinook

ALASKA BEAT

The waters have been murky in recent years for king salmon in Alaska and this summer the state has seen plenty of fishery closures and restrictions. (KATRINA MUELLER/USFWS)

THE (NOT SO GOOD) RETURN OF THE KING

It’s been a far hotter than normal start to summer in Alaska, which has meant dry terrain and plenty of wildfires (more on that later). But summer has also meant a constant barrage of Alaska Department of Fish and Game press releases limiting and often closing king salmon fishing in various sections of the state.

Here’s part of a list of restrictions announced this spring and summer: • April 7: King salmon fishing closed on Kuskokwim River • April 13: King salmon fishing closed on Situk River • April 14: King salmon (and chum) fishing closed on Yukon River • April 25: Hatchery king salmon fishing only allowed on Kuskokwim River drainage • May 30: Early-run Kenai River king salmon fishing limited to catch and release • June 15: Copper River king salmon fishing limited to catch and release • June 16: Little Susitna River king salmon fishing closed • June 20: Susitna River king salmon fishing closed • July 11: Chignik River king salmon fishing closed

Some of these fisheries reopened on a limited basis, but clearly 2022 is not the year of the king.

ADFG biologist Lee Borden, talking about a reduction limit for kings on Bristol Bay’s famed Nushagak-Mulchatna Rivers’ drainage, could have been talking about multiple fisheries in the state when discussing a river in his territory.

“This year’s run has fallen behind on the projection curve,” he said. “With the possibility of the escapement goal not being met, we are taking a conservative approach with this restriction to slow down inriver sport harvest.”

To keep up with the changes, go to adfg.alaska.gov.

Meanwhile, here’s to better days ahead for Alaska’s iconic salmon royalty.

TWEET OF THE MONTH

Each week on our website, aksportingjournal.com, we feature a YouTube video from the account Raised in Alaska. Subscribe to get all of their videos and follow them on Twitter (@akkingon).

BY THE NUMBERS 9.5

The asking price for the famed Bristol Bay Lodge in Aleknagik, which went on sale last month for $9.5 million. For more information, check out the listing by Hall and Hall realtors on its website, hallhall.com.

FROM THE ASJ ARCHIVES – AUGUST 2016 ALASKAN ‘SALMON SISTERS’ ACT IS PRETTY FISHY

“W e didn’t want to give up fishing in the summer but needed some fulltime, year-round employment,” Claire [Neaton] says. “So we started Salmon Sisters.”

The ladies wanted to create a clothing line durable enough to handle the unpredictable conditions for Alaskans, but also with a stylistic and creative touch that buyers “would feel good about wearing,” Claire says.

Claire majored in business at Vermont and figured she would utilize that degree to sell fresh and wild seafood for a processor. Emma’s Williams degree was in studio art and English, so with one sister’s understanding of how to start and maintain business and Emma’s artistic touch – plus their love of all things fish – why not combine it all and make good use of their time in the offseason?

“She’s always sketching something or dreaming (up an idea); she just excels at it,” Claire says of Emma [Teal Laukitis]. “I can’t draw anything.”

“I actually get a lot of my ideas from my sister and my dad,” adds Emma.

They started out modestly – creating a few designs for apparel meant for family and close friends. But as they wore hoodies with their own artwork, it started to sink in how symbolic the gesture was and the reaction they received. Claire recalled a defining moment when they were delivering fresh halibut in Dutch Harbor.

“‘This is us; we fish here and this is our identity and I feel so proud to wear this,’” she remembers being told. “It was such a good representation to what we were all about. We started screen-printing rockfish or salmon on shirts and they were received so well by our peers and we were so excited to wear them. And we just can’t thank Alaskans enough for supporting us.” -Chris Cocoles

“THEY SAID IT “Our back-to-back low salmon returns have been devastating to Chignik’s communities. Wild salmon has been the ” backbone of our culture for millennia. Without wild salmon, our cultural identity and our food supply is in jeopardy.” –George Anderson, president of the Chignik Intertribal Coalition, reacting to a new program, Fish to Families, which will distribute Bristol Bay salmon to Alaska communities with struggling runs of fish.

FANNING THE FLAMES Bristol Bay’s Pebble Mine opponents obviously had karma vibes when a portion of the Lime Complex fire destroyed equipment at a Pebble Partnership supply camp the corporation was using for exploratory purposes as the proposed copper and gold mine is on hold.

Pressure has mounted on the Environmental Protection Agency to implement permanent protections and shut down the mine for good, but this mishap allowed opposition to go scorchedearth after the fire literally created scorched earth.

“The proposed Pebble Mine’s supply camp at headwaters of Bristol Bay burned to the ground in a wildfire, leaving a charred mess of melted metal on state land. Meanwhile, July 11, Bristol Bay’s fishing fleet broke its harvest record, reaching 46,564,310 sockeye salmon harvested,” the press release stated. “The contrast between the charred mess of the proposed Pebble Mine’s helicoptered-in materials and the sustainable, record-breaking, world treasure of the Bristol Bay sockeye salmon run could not be more clear.”

Tim Bristol, SalmonState’s executive director, was also clear in his own destruction of the project.

“This mess is a prime example of how unable the Pebble Partnership is to predict, prevent and respond to climate-change-driven events like wildfires and extreme weather – and showcases the risks of locating a giant open pit and waste site at the headwaters of the greatest sockeye salmon fishery in the world,” Bristol said. “Twenty years of fighting this ill-conceived idea is enough.”