Dismal salmon runs prompt fishery closures

An emergency closure of the aboriginal fishery on the Klukshu and Tatshenshini rivers has been implemented by the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations.

An emergency closure of the aboriginal fishery on the Klukshu and Tatshenshini rivers has been implemented by the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations.

Lawrence Joe, the director of lands and resources for the first nations, said it was decided at a chief and council meeting Wednesday to issue the closure, given the almost non-existent return of sockeye and chinook salmon.

As of Wednesday, only six sockeye had passed through the fishing weir on the Klukshu River, when normally there should have been 1,000 at this point in the early summer run.

Just 105 chinook had gone through the weir by Wednesday, when normally there should be 953 by now.

“We have well over 100 elders who depend on the fish from Klukshu,“ said Joe, adding the council has instructed staff to look at options to find fish elsewhere to fill the void.

Whether that means looking to relatives in Haines, Alaska, and the fishery there is something to be determined, he said.

“The people of Klukshu are known as fish people, and now there is no fish. It’s pretty dismal,“ Joe said.

The situation has raised awareness about the state of the salmon stocks locally, nationally and even internationally, he said.

Joe pointed out that under the first nations’ land claim settlement, the federal government is committed to providing a base level of 3,000 sockeye for harvest by Champagne and Aishihik members.

It may be, he added, that Ottawa will have to look at the situation internationally to exert pressure on more conservation in Alaska and beyond, to ensure the continuance of a healthy salmon stock and an adequate aboriginal harvest.

It may equate to something like the international effort to ensure protection of the Porcupine caribou herd with lobby efforts to prevent oil and gas exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, he said.

Joe mentioned, for instance, that Alaska’s pollock fishery - the fish for imitation crab - caught somewhere between 30,000 and 40,000 chinook as a bycatch in the Gulf of Alaska last year. The majority of the bycatch is thrown back into the sea as waste.

The decision for the emergency closure came after discussions with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

Last week, the DFO issued a zero catch order for the Tatshenhini, Klukshu and Alsek rivers and their tributaries.

The department has also closed the commercial, domestic and sport fisheries for Yukon River chinook because of a below-average return.

Sandy Johnston, a management biologist with DFO, explained it’s not clear how much of a factor the pollock fishery’s bycatch of chinook and other salmon is having on local salmon stocks.

There is evidence, however, that some of the salmon caught and thrown back into the sea originated in the Yukon and northern B.C., Johnston explained.

He pointed out that in addition to the 40,000 chinook caught in the Gulf of Alaska last year, it’s estimated more than 120,000 chinook where caught as a bycatch in the Bering Sea’s pollock fishery - most of which were thrown back as waste.

As a disincentive to catch chinook and other salmon, the pollock boats are not allowed to sell their salmon bycatches.

Johnston said some of the bycatch is donated to food banks and such, though the majority is thrown back.

The concern over the rising amount of salmon caught by pollock industry has been raised with the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, the U.S. body responsible for managing fisheries off the coast of Alaska.

The salmon bycatch has also been flagged as a problem for the Marine Stewardship Council, the body responsible for giving the pollock fishery a green stamp of approval.

It appears, however, that something greater is going on in the salmon environment which is affecting the stocks, he said.

Johnston noted returns are poor for the entire Alsek River and Yakutat Bay systems, and returns on the Taku and Stikine rivers are below what was expected.

“And the return on the Yukon is less than expected,“ he said. “That suggests there is some larger factor affecting those stocks, and the bycatch could be contributing to that. I am not saying it’s a major reason, but it certainly could be contributing to it.“

Joe said he’s hopeful the fall run of sockeye into the Tatshenshini and Klukshu will come back strong to help make up for the loss of the early run of sockeye.

But the summer run is of particular traditional importance because the warmer temperatures and wind make it easier to dry and process the salmon, in advance of the fall hunting season.

And, like many, Joe is also wondering if this summer’s low return of sockeye and chinook is a sign of the times.

“This may be part of the larger issue of climate change as well, which raises certain fears that we may be looking at long-term changes to our fishery.“