Environment Minister Nils Clarke has congratulated the Alaska and the Government of Canada for reaching an agreement regarding chinook salmon in the Yukon River drainage system.

The agreement applies a Yukon River fishing ban on chinook salmon for all commercial, sport, domestic, and individual fisheries – including those fishing in Alaska.

In February, Clarke told the legislature Monday, he sat down with Kwanlin Dün First Nation Chief Sean Smith, Ta’an Kwäch’än Council Chief Amanda Leas and Doug Vincent-Lang, the commissioner of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, to discuss the pact.

“This agreement is a foundational step in protecting, conserving, and increasing the number of salmon in the Yukon River drainage,” Clarke said.

In 2023, only 15,304 chinook were recorded passing into Canada and just 153 reached the Whitehorse fish ladder.

In 2003, there were more than 1,400 salmon counted at the fish ladder.

“Wild salmon are integral to many northern communities and people living along the Yukon River,” Clarke said.

“The importance of salmon to Yukon First Nation persons cannot be understated. The health of our rivers, environment and communities continues to depend on the health of the salmon in our territory.

“This agreement strengthens our rebuilding target to 71,000 Canadian-origin salmon reaching their spawning grounds within the next seven years, which accounts for one full life cycle of a salmon, by implementing measures on both sides of the border,” the minister added.

Addressing the fishing ban on chinook salmon, Clark said, “I cannot emphasize enough the magnitude of this step.

“I want to thank all Yukoners who abide by the chinook salmon fishing ban on this side of the border, which was implemented in 2010.

“I recognize the great sacrifice of Yukon First Nations to voluntarily reduce or cease subsistence salmon fishing.”

The agreement recognizes the importance of chinook salmon for ceremonial use and cultural knowledge, allowing for parties to provide limited harvesting opportunities for these purposes.

The agreement requires that all partners address several factors, including examining the impact that infrastructure and development has on the Yukon River salmon population.

“It commits parties to work collaboratively on habitat and stock restoration activities and to support research to better understand the declines of chinook salmon,” Clarke said.

“The agreement urges Canada to seek an increase in funding to be directed toward salmon habitat in the Yukon River and stock restoration activities.”

It also instructs the Yukon River Panel to develop a recovery plan.

At the last Yukon Forum, the minister added, First Nation leaders spoke about the importance of protecting salmon.

“Their continued advocacy has helped Canada move this precedent-setting agreement forward with partners across the border,” Clarke said.

He also mentioned the role of a Nov. 23, 2023 trip to Washington, D.C. by Yukon MP Brendan Hanley, Senator Pat Duncan, Little Salmon-Carmacks First Nation Chief Nicole Tom, and other members of the Yukon Salmon Sub-Committee.

Yukon Party MLA Wade Istchenko called the agreement “ important for all Yukoners, especially Yukon First Nations.

“We are pleased to see the moratorium in place on chinook fishing in the Yukon River for seven years on both sides of the border. I know that Yukon First Nations have been doing their part for several years and have had a moratorium in place on this side of the border, and they have been calling on our friends in Alaska to do the same, so this agreement is certainly good news,” Istchenko said.

The moratorium extends for one full cycle of life for salmon.

Steven Gotch, senior director of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, has said, “It’s time to look beyond a single year’s management and look at a life cycle to try to recognize that it’s going to take longer than a single year to rebuild these stocks.”

Seeing the number of chinook salmon crossing the international border into Canadian waters plummeting for years, Istchenko said, “we are glad to see the moratorium put in place. It is good to see both sides working together to address this issue.”

NDP MLA Lane Tredger noted the closure had been in place in the Yukon since 2010, “while Alaskans continued to harvest just downstream. This agreement corrects a long-standing unfairness,” they said.

“The Yukon NDP understands the importance of salmon for Yukoners and particularly for Yukon First Nations and also that the Yukon government can’t leave all the work to the federal government.”

That’s why, Tredger said, the NDP pushed to include a salmon recovery clause in the Confidence and Supply Agreement with the Liberal government in January 2023.

“From the impact of placer mining on salmon wintering grounds to the effects of the Whitehorse dam to the possibilities of large-scale habitat restoration in creeks and streams in the Yukon River watershed, there is so much the Yukon could do,” Tredger said.

“Next door in British Columbia, we see the provincial government taking an active role. They announced $17 million in new funding last year for salmon restoration projects.”

That’s in addition to $286 million in federal and provincial money that was committed over seven years, Tredger said.

“Here in the Yukon, how much money is this government putting toward salmon recovery?” they asked.

Clarke said the government “shares Yukoners’ concerns about the continued low escapements of chinook and chum salmon and the overall decline in salmon returning to the Yukon.”

“We support the Canadian delegates of the Yukon River Panel in their efforts to negotiate for larger escapement numbers.”

Both the territorial government and the Yukon Energy Corp. “are taking collaborative approaches to working with First Nation governments during the assessment and licensing of energy projects and on an ongoing basis throughout their operation,” Clarke said.

“I am confident that Yukon Energy recognizes the cultural importance of salmon and is working with Yukon First Nations to mitigate the effects of its facilities on salmon populations.”