Sunday, June 26, 2011

Four out of five ain't bad

The Metlakatla Indian Community has won Marine Stewardship Council certification for its salmon fishery in waters surrounding the Annette Islands Reserve, a federal Indian reservation in Southeast Alaska.

The MSC certification, which signifies sustainable management, covers pink, chum, coho and king salmon taken with gillnet, seine or troll gear.

And what about sockeye, you ask?

The MSC press release mentions something about "depleted local sockeye salmon populations."

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

MSC is a crock of shit.

Anonymous said...

It's interesting to see that "depleted local sockeye salmon populations" is also a problem down there in the Southeastern part of the state. What was done to the Nome, Teller and Brevig Mission area Pilgrim River sockeye run was totally incompetent. The man responsible didn't follow the recommendations of an expert consultant working for the State of Alaska.

That's our problem up here in the Norton Sound - we have incompetent people at the steering wheel on salmon management. The rivers in the Nome area have salmon stocks that are in the RED ALERT and "depleted local ..... salmon populations" applies to Chum, Silver and King Salmon. Yet the State continues to regulate a 'salmon fishery' in the Southern part of Norton Sound - Unalakleet, Shaktoolik, sometimes Koyuk and Elim.

According to Norton Sound's CDQ group, NSEDC's newletter published last fall (2010), a total of 11,717 chum salmon; 60,922 silver salmon; 120 king salmon; 90 sockeye; and, 31,826 pink salmon was harvested in the Norton Sound Commercial Salmon Fishery by 113 permit holders. This fishery can possibly be an 'intercept' fishery for all we know. Perhaps some of those salmon 'intercepted'were heading toward the "Rivers of Concern" in the Nome area.