Friday April 15, 2022
KYUK —
Last week, Alaskan and Canadian biologists and salmon managers met to share their forecasts and management recommendations for Yukon River chum and Chinook salmon. It’s looking like another year of low returns.
In 2021, the Yukon River saw unprecedented low chum salmon runs. This meant that subsistence fishing was closed while the salmon were running, and fish camps and freezers sat empty. The only commercial salmon processor on the Yukon, Kwik’pak Fisheries, couldn’t buy salmon. Kwik’pak usually provides steady summer income for Yukon River commercial fishermen and factory workers alike. The company could only hire a fraction of its normal amount of workers for its non-salmon endeavors in 2021.
Chinook runs were low on the Yukon in 2021 too, although that’s been the case for years. Unfortunately, it seems like the numbers aren’t looking much better in 2022.
Last week, the Yukon River Panel met to discuss run forecasts and management strategies for salmon in summer 2022. The panel is an advisory body that makes management recommendations to governments on both sides of the border.