Commerce Sec. Declares Disaster For Yukon Basin King Salmon After Two Terrible Years

[hatrack]

U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke declared a commercial fishing disaster for Yukon River king salmon Friday following two years of poor runs, fishing restrictions and bans. "Communities in Alaska along the Yukon River depend heavily on chinook salmon for commercial fishing, jobs and food," Locke said in a statement from the Commerce Department. "Alaska fishermen and their families are struggling with a substantial loss in income and revenues."

The declaration -- requested by Gov. Sean Parnell and others -- does not automatically send money to communities hammered by the loss of chinook salmon to eat and sell. But in the past, such declarations have meant federal money for research, infrastructure or payments to fishermen. Parnell's office said it could also fund training programs and other regional projects.

"The possibilities are as many as there are salmon out there," said Tim Andrew, director of natural resources for the Bethel-based Association of Village Council Presidents. AVCP has been asking for disaster relief in the region for two years, he said. Friday's federal declaration is key to persuading Congress to send emergency relief money to the region, said U.S. Sen. Mark Begich, who joined Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Rep. Don Young in calling for the declaration last spring.

EDIT

Some village and regional leaders blame the massive Bering Sea pollock fleet for the decline, saying some of the tens of thousands of king salmon caught by trawlers each year would otherwise return to the Yukon. In a statement announcing the disaster declaration, the Commerce Department said the cause of the disappearing salmon isn't fully understood but that scientists believe it's primarily natural events: changing ocean and river conditions and changing temperatures and food sources. The kings caught by the pollock fleet don't account for the magnitude of missing kings on the river, Hilsinger said. But given how few fish are returning to the Yukon overall, the salmon lost to bycatch could still determine how much commercial fishing, if any, is allowed on the river, he said.

EDIT

http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/rural/story/1095790.html

[Nihil]

1. A truly repulsive word: "bycatch"

If you are going to catch fish, you had better eat it all.
If you don't want to catch a particular type (e.g., because it is
endangered or unsustainable) then you *don't* fish there.

The concept of fishing everything up and then dumping the dead
stuff that you aren't allowed to sell is one of the worst crimes
on the seas today.

:grr: