Yupik fisherman Nick Tucker Sr. has proposed a “radical” decision this fall on the Yukon River. He wants the state to allow commercial fishing for the fall run of silver salmon, even if it comes at the expense of subsistence fisherman upstream. It is true that fish politics are messy. It’s where high emotions, people’s livelihoods, traditional ways, state laws, international treaties, and species preservation all intersect.
On the Yukon, fishermen are making drastically less money than in years past, fish aren’t returning as expected, and keeping track of how many fish are heading upstream, which affects how much fishing can take place, is an imprecise but essential undertaking. It is told that the main challenge is managing the different kinds of fish that travel together in the river.
Jack Schultheis, general manager for Kwik’Pak fisheries, the processing plant that serves the region’s six Yupik villages, sees the financial struggles in the stream of faces that come through his office asking for money to fill gas tanks and feed children. Schultheis says this summer the average take-home pay for fishermen was $1,600 — barely enough to cover the cost of gas and gear.
