A subsistence fisherman checking his net in the Chilkat River. (Alaska Department of Fish and Game)
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KHNS public affairs program Lynn Canal Voice focused on king salmon decline in the Chilkat River. We looked at the science behind the trend and upcoming restrictions for local fishermen. Host Abbey Collins spoke with Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s Brian Elliot and Mark Sogge. We also heard from Ken Gross of Skagway’s Never Monday Charters, Chilkat Indian Village Tribal Council President Kimberly Strong, and commercial gillnetter Cynthia Adams.
In the 1990’s the bottom trawlers were taking hundreds of thousands of salmon out of Alaska’s waters. In 1998 a foot note appeared in a Washington State publication mentioning that many Trawl nets were coming up with 50% salmon by catch in the Gulf of Alaska. There were very few salmon fishermen attending the NPFMC (North Pacific Fisheries Management Council) when salmon by catch was being discussed then, although the trawlers packed the meetings. As Kimberly Strong said, there has been a steady decline in King numbers over the past 20 years, Guess what was happening twenty years ago? Gross by catch intercept in the Gulf of Alaska. Where do you think our Kings go? They swim to the Gulf.