Commercial salmon fishing is one of the only ways to earn cash in villages along these rivers. Last winter villages like Emmonak, Kotlik and Nunam Iqua, due to low salmon harvests and record high fuel prices, were forced to choose between heating their homes and feeding their families. Residents throughout western Alaska hoped the Council would make meaningful reductions in salmon bycatch so that a commercial Chinook fishery would be possible. Right now villagers must watch those salmon swim by, to meet escapement targets and to meet treaty obligations between the US and Canada.
The solution seems simple; just stop the offshore trawlers from catching Chinook salmon. Trawlers can avoid bycatch by not fishing in waters where the Chinook population is high and by using new technologies that encourage salmon to swim out before they are crushed in the trawl net.
But fish politics are never simple. In the early 1990's the Council established the Community Development Quota program called CDQ. Sixty five communities get a share of the Pollock resource allocation each year. They either contract to have it harvested or own the trawlers to do it themselves. CDQ groups earn tens of millions of dollars each year for their communities. They have built a variety of local seafood processing enterprises, made loans to fishers in their regions, and provide scholarships and good paying jobs to their residents.
With so much at stake, hundreds of western Alaskans came to testify to the Council. Unlike past testimony on this issue, rural residents were divided.
Unfortunately, in the end, the Council voted unanimously for a hard cap almost twice the number hoped for by those depending on the salmon fishery. Incentives and penalties were also established to encourage the trawl fleet to avoid catching salmon, which industry says will help reduce bycatch below the hard cap of 60,000.
The Council has done a good job over the years, but it seems at this point all western Alaska residents can do is hope they are right. If the Pollock trawlers already know how to reduce salmon bycatch and only need encouragement to adopt better practices and gear, wouldn't a lower hard cap be the best encouragement?
If western Alaska continues to see poor returns this year and bycatch isn't significantly reduced as a result of the Council's action, the Council needs to immediately revisit this matter and put more stringent bycatch limits in place. This isn't just about economic contention for limited fish resources - it's about feeding families who have traditionally obtained nutrition and income from salmon runs in the Yukon and Kuskokwim.
Bob Poe is a Democratic candidate for governor in 2010.
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