I traveled to Mountain Village and Emmonak on Saturday to listen to concerns raised by the village community members regarding the upcoming summer fishing season and how restrictions are going to be implemented on the chinook salmon, the stable and food for many families on the Yukon River.
In attendance were: Denby Lloyd, commissioner of Fish and Game; John Moller, the governor's rural adviser; John Lindermann, area Fish and Game biologist and supervisor; Danielle Evenson, Fish and Game chief of research for the Yukon River; Sue Asplund, deputy director of Commercial Fisheries. The purpose for the trip was to explain the proposed summer fishing schedule and the restrictions that are going to be imposed on the first pulse of chinook salmon, and potentially the second pulse to meet treaty obligations with Canada/U.S. Pacific salmon treaty. The treaty obligation has not been met for the last two years, with low chinook salmon escapements. In Mountain Village, concerns were raised regarding lack of income from commercial fishing by the local community. Families are struggling to pay for food and fuel due to a lack of income from salmon fishing. And when commercial fishing was opened for chum salmon, many felt that they donated whatever they caught to the fish buyers due to the high cost of fuel. Some made enough to cover the cost of the fuel they bought to fish commercially, and many more ended up having more to pay for than before the season started.
Questions were asked regarding the monitoring of the fisheries as salmon go up the river. Is the lower Yukon the only monitored fishery on the Yukon River system? What about reports of fishermen harvesting 500 to 1,000 chinook salmon upriver while our people on the lower river average about 80? The emphasis by Fish and Game is on more escapement and more salmon for subsistence upriver. Fish and Game representatives stated that they will closely monitor the chinook salmon with test nets, genetic studies and sonar counts at Pilot Station. What if a large number of chinook salmon are allowed to pass at the Pilot Station sonar? Are both subsistence and commercial fishing going to be open?
One local resident who works at the school district had heard young people at the school say that they are glad that spring and summer are here. They were asked, "What are you looking forward to do this coming summer?" Many responded that they are looking forward to fishing. With the dismal forecast and imposition of closures, it looks like what they are looking forward to will be limited, if not halted completely.
It has happened in the past that when a larger than expected chinook salmon pulse has passed the Pilot Station sonar, the lower Yukon River fishermen have been forced to sit on the beach.
One of the things that has occurred for the last 10 years is that subsistence and commercial fishing have been closed with imposition of windows of time during which no nets are allowed for periods during the week. These time windows were imposed on the lower Yukon River to allow for more escapement of chinook and chums. These windows were suppose to be temporary, but it seems now that they have become permanent. On top of the windows of time now, we have subsistence fishing restrictions, even closures, on certain pulses of chinook salmon. Are closures on the first pulse going to be part of the trend while the pollock fisheries are allowed to have a high bycatch and waste? Inshore pollock fisheries occur not far from the docks of Unalaska and Dutch Harbor. Both get high tax incomes from these inshore trawl fleets. Don't our village subsistence and commercial fisheries deserve just as much?
When asked about the lack of a disaster declaration by Gov. Sarah Palin for the Yukon River, the answer from the governor's office continues to be that the state Legislature had changed the requirements for a disaster declaration, and the regional situation did not meet those requirements, but the governor is concerned and is still committed to find ways to support the communities on the Yukon River. If she is so concerned, why does she not propose language to make changes that would allow her to make a disaster declaration?
The question was raised in Emmonak as to why it took so long for a response from the governor's office to Emmonak's request for an economic disaster declaration. The request was made in October, and no response until January.
The commissioner of Fish and Game said that the high bycatch for chinook salmon motion was because of the lack of support for a lower number by members of North Pacific Fisheries Management Council. The number was eventually reduced to 60,000 with incentives to avoid the chinooks. The question is: Will the trawl fleet abide by the proposals, as they will not be implemented until 2011? Proposed courses of action by the trawl fleet have not worked. They had high chinook bycatches in 2006 and 2007. These impacts will be seen in the coming years, and we hope there will not be further restrictions and closures of fishing on the lower river, which has become the norm rather than an exception. What more will Fish and Game promise? What more will the state promise to the lower Yukon people in its management of fisheries on the river? We hope that further restrictions will be lifted in the very near future. High fuel prices have not helped the communities and the residents.
Whenever we as a Native community work on resource issues, such as international treaties, federal interpretation comes down that other federal laws apply and that we are bound by other laws and restrictions that are related to those resource issues. Apparently, bycatch of chinook salmon by the trawl fleet is affected by ANILCA, subsistence laws and/or federal laws that may affect the need for conservation and perpetuation of the chinook salmon stocks.
We can be promised that certain actions will be taken. People will make promises to work with the villages, yet more often than not the ones who end up losing are those with the least amount of money to affect the course of action that can be taken to reduce impacts. Why is there not a subsistence fishing representative on the NPFMC? It is a position that should be considered, as we all get impacted by action taken by the council, not only the trawl fleet. Yet we don't have a subsistence representative to speak on our behalf.
Ultimately, there is hope, however, while we wait for the opportunities to come back again, it seems that some things that were to be temporary may end up being permanent to our lower Yukon fishermen, both subsistence and commercial. What was once a thriving industry and what our people had looked forward to for paying bills and helping the economy of villages may end up being a story of what has been to be told to our young people in the future. We are hopeful despite these hard times. Fuel and food prices in stores have compounded the problem.
The rivers throughout the state are where many have gathered their food for centuries, and it does not cost as much as store bought food.
In the village of Hooper Bay, the people in the village were reminded eloquently by an elder that the land is the source of food for the village. We should take care of it like our ancestors did for centuries on our behalf. With the salmon, regardless of where they go to grow and spawn, those should be taken care of to sustain our food source. That is why our people on the river look forward to the spring and summer to be able to gather their food for the winter. We hope that the dismal forecast does not turn out to be reality. But, given that all human impacts are a factor, we need to have those who are known for making an impact also participate in the conservation of the resources, such as chinook salmon for all Western Alaska rivers and streams.
Myron Naneng is head of the Association of Village Council Presidents. This column is posted with his permission.