Alaska Beat: News and notes from around the state

SOUTHEAST ALASKA SALMON FISHERMEN CRY FOUL

After Washington state-based Wild Fish Conservancy challenged the National Marine Fisheries Service’s approval of the Southeast Alaska commercial troll fishery for king salmon, a U.S. District Court ruling last month sent the Last Frontier’s panhandle into a frenzy.

The Seattle-based judge, Richard Jones, sided with WFC’s argument that NMFS had failed to take into consideration the number of Chinook harvested in Southeast Alaska waters that originated in the Pacific Northwest states and how their absence a ected southern resident killer whales that feed on them. Those salmon are protected and the orcas are considered endangered.

Of course, WFC spokespeople were thrilled with the decision. Director Emma Halverson referred to “decades of unsustainable Chinook harvest management in Southeast Alaska” and said the ruling “marks a watershed moment for the recovery of southern resident orcas and wild Chinook.”

“To date, reducing overharvest on the whale’s primary prey is the only scientifically proven recovery action moving forward that promises immediate access to Chinook for these starving orcas and which will help to recover and restore larger and more diverse wild Chinook these whales evolved to eat, which are fundamental for their long-term recovery,” Halverson added.

On the losing end, Southeast Alaska’s fishing industry disputes the statistical analysis WFC determined about the fish harvested in Alaskan waters. Matt Donohoe, president of the Alaska Trollers Association, told KCAW radio that less than 2 percent of the kings fishermen catch originate from Puget Sound.

“We don’t catch Puget Sound king salmon, the whole thing’s absurd. It’s right out of Alice in Wonderland,” Donohoe said in that KCAW interview.

WFC alleges that 97 percent of the panhandle Chinook catch originates in Washington, Oregon and British Columbia streams.

Fairy tale claims or not, Alaska Department of Fish and Game is certainly not happy with the court’s ruling.

“The State of Alaska abides by the terms of the Pacific Salmon Treaty and the Biological Opinion that is tied to it and it is troubling that this ruling singles out our fisheries. We will be looking at our options in the coming weeks. In the meantime, Southeast Alaska salmon fisheries will proceed as normal,” ADFG commissioner Doug Vincent-Lang said in a statement.

“Alaska should not be expected to be solely responsible for remedy. What is good for the goose is good for the gander. If this decision sticks, we will be looking at having all fisheries that a ect these salmon being treated equally under the law.”

Chinook salmon caught by Southeast Alaska commercial fishing boats have pitted those fishermen and Washington state-based Wild Fish Conservancy, which successfully argued that fish from Puget Sound waters – plus resident southern killer whales that feed on them – are being compromised by the harvest. Alaskans are not pleased

ALASKA BEAT

TWEET OF THE MONTH

On Aug. 10, Alaskans celebrated the state’s iconic fish on #WildSalmonDay.

NOTABLE NUMBER 747

The number of coho salmon counted at the Kuskokwim River’s Bethel Test Fishery as of Aug. 14. The far lower than usual total prompted the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to close the coho fishery for the first time ever.

“THEY SAID IT “They’re happy as pigs in poop – they’re just going gangbusters out there ” in the Arctic tundra and alpine tundra. They’re way ahead. They’re even doing better than the shrubs.” -Roman Dial, ecologist at Alaska Pacific University, as quoted by journalist Matt Simon in Wired last month on the alarming colonization of northwest Alaska by white spruce, occuring at a faster pace than other conifer species and a symptom of “Arctic greening,” with implications in terms of changing landscape cover and its ability to retain snow.

FROM THE ASJ ARCHIVES – SEPTEMBER 2016 ECCENTRIC ARTISTS SHOOT FOR A MILLION BUCKS IN FEDERAL DUCK STAMP CONTEST

Filmmaker Brian Golden Davis’ documentary, The Million Dollar Duck, profiled an eccentric group of painters competing in the Federal Duck Knowing that a large portion of audiences doesn’t hunt, Golden Davis made sure to stick up for the impact the Federal Duck Stamp has because of hunters. Remember that the film industry isn’t exactly known as being sympathetic to outdoor sportsmen and –women or much of anything that involves guns or death of wildlife.

As one person interviewed in the film says, “You can imagine where this conversation goes: ‘You’re collecting money, for what? ‘For wetlands to preserve waterfowl.’ And then some people say, ‘Wait a minute; you’re a hunter. Isn’t that a contradiction?’ And I say, ‘Of course it’s not a contradiction. Hunters care about the land and care about the birds.’”

The artists care too, and Taylor and Grimm became fast friends after years of submitting paintings.

In the film, Taylor visits Grimm’s family in South Dakota and they plan to head out in search of birds to capture on film. (Besides the fact that wild, migrating birds look far more dynamic and healthy than domesticated ducks one might find in a more urban setting, the rules stipulate that paintings of ducks must come from photographs created by the contestants themselves rather than other licensed works.)

“We’re going to look in every puddle, every lake, every pond, until we find them,” Taylor says as he and Grimm travel dirt roads in search of canvasbacks, one of the duck species approved for the particular contest featured in the film.

Grimm, a longtime hunter whose dad introduced him to the outdoors, and Taylor, who has no background shooting ducks, both don camo gear and put out decoys to capture the perfect image from massive camera lenses that they can base their contest entry on.

It’s that kind of obsession that drew Golden Davis to this project. Everyone seems to have his or her reason for coming back year after year, knowing that just one of hundreds of entries gets picked and simple math says you’re more likely to get knocked out in the first round than contend for the No. 1 spot. It’s a can of mixed nuts group. -Chris Cocoles