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Alaska commercial fishing news and notes
About me
- Deckboss
- I'm a journalist covering Alaska's commercial fishing industry. My real name is Wesley Loy. Reach me at wloy61@gmail.com.
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2026
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March
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- Juneau watch
- And they're off at Sitka!
- Carl Rosier crosses the bar
- Juneau watch
- Trawl rep claps back at Senate candidate Peltola
- It's halibut time again
- CFEC sets Thursday meeting
- Juneau watch
- More council news
- Pollock industry says it's won MSC recertification
- 'This letter clarifies what is permissible'
- Sitka herring update No. 1
- Council nomination news
- New battles coming on hatcheries, trawling
- The wait is nearly over
- Three charged with intentionally sinking boats
- Juneau watch
- Report: 'Deadliest' crewman falls overboard, dies
- Juneau watch
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March
(19)
9 comments:
Mr. Tinning's agrument would br more forcefull if were able to quote a source for the loss of salmon. For years the loss of Yukon river salmon has been a question no one has found answer for, perhaps if a fellow Fisherman used his political clout to ask that question he would absolve his fishery and at the same time answer the question for us all. Where did the salmon go?
ADFG and NMFS have been talking about these declines for years, publishing accessible papers and summaries of this information along the way.
Pretty much every BOF and NPFMC meeting have really good reporting and data about the declines and the role of bycatch.
And yet, too many people get too much of their worldview from a Facebook group known for frequent misinformation. Bad information cannot bring fish back. It's wild to me that people are taking strong positions on this issue when they haven't done even the most basic research (and Facebook doesn't count).
ADFG: What's behind the Chinook and chum declines:
https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/feature-story/whats-behind-chinook-and-chum-salmon-declines-alaska
most excellent reply!
In 2007 the Chinook bycatch peaked around 120,000 fish then bycatch numbers crashed.
Most people in the state have the view that NOAA fisheries AK can't be trusted. The agency has administered several the fisheries into collapse, and their response is to use climate change excuse on everything.
So NOAA blames warm water in the Yukon. That is hard to believe considering Chinook flourished at one time in rivers much further south, even down into California.
Interesting that NOAA avoids blaming marine mammals: "A new University of Washington and NOAA study points to the recent rise of resident killer whales, and their insatiable appetite for large Chinook salmon, as the main driver behind the decline of the big fish." https://fish.uw.edu/2019/12/resident-orcas-appetite-likely-reason-for-decline-of-big-chinook-salmon/
This thread is a great example.
Most people in the state won’t take the time to read even a 5 minute paper about the causes of these collapses, much less sit through a presentation on the topic. They won’t listen to the scientists or seek out credible information. They put their faith in a Facebook group over career scientists, and the politicians line up to court the low information voter.
What could go wrong?
Warm water from the marine heatwave in the ocean (while there was also mass die-offs in-river in 2019). The marine heavewave in the Bering Sea from 2018-22 was intense and had cascading affects throughout the foodweb.
That's a pretty limited view on the world. Bycatch numbers dropped because NOAA implemented bycatch limits are required the use of rolling hot spot closures. NOAA doesn't managed Yukon kings. The Yukon overescaped the higher bound of escapement goals from 2004-2007, then had the highest return on record in 2017 and top five in 2019.
What about all the halibut the draggers kill?
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