Alaska fishermen once again in trouble this year due to low king salmon run returning to the Yukon River. But across the border in Canada it’s a different story. It is reported that commercial fishing on the Alaska side wasn’t allowed at all for king salmon, and opportunities for subsistence harvests were severely curtailed.
The authority of Alaska had done this to make sure enough salmon — 45,000 — made it across the border to spawn — a requirement under an international treaty. It is told that the goal has been met and so far, more than 55,000 king salmon have made it to the border. And that means subsistence fishing will be allowed there — in addition to a limited amount of commercial fishing.
This news comes at the hardship of Alaskans — a hardship that fishery managers say they are well aware of. John Linderman with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game said that the sacrifice that folks had to make in order for that to occur is definitely something that they would like to try to avoid in subsequent years, but trying to do that is very difficult on the Yukon. It is told that this is the third year of low runs on the Yukon.
