Wednesday August 19, 2026
Yukon News —
By now, most Yukoners are probably at least somewhat aware that Yukon River Chinook salmon are in trouble.
The population has suffered from an unheard-of population collapse driven by stressors such as historical overharvest, habitat destruction, and the impacts of a warming planet.
All this has led conservation officials in both the Yukon and Alaska to declare a seven year moratorium on harvesting Chinook salmon as conservation organizations on both sides of the border have worked to understand why the fish are disappearing in a bid to return the once mighty summer salmon runs to the Yukon River.
Although researchers have examined the factors described above, the cause of the collapse remains unclear, with no single definitive explanation for the decline.
As a result, scientists have begun searching for additional stressors throughout the salmon’s ecosystem and beyond. For researchers at the Yukon First Nations Salmon Stewardship Alliance, this has meant focusing on a little understood species: the Rainbow Trout.
Rainbow Trout are considered a non-native species across most of the Yukon with only a few native populations found around the Kathleen and Aishihik watersheds around Haines Junction, according to the Yukon Department of the Environment.