Yukon Fish Swimming Up the Mainstream.
MSNBC has picked up a story by the Associated Press that addresses the failing salmon fishery on the Yukon River. The article cites several possible reasons for the decline in numbers of king salmon, but the major focus is on bycatch. The spotlight on the issues of Western Alaska is getting brighter, and larger, thanks to the efforts of many.
Kudos to the AP and to MSNBC for recognizing the importance of this story and bringing it to the mainstream media. This issue touches not only the lives of rural Alaska residents, and this state, but increases awareness of the critical situation of fisheries across the globe that are in danger of collapse, and the delicate balance that is needed to provide jobs, subsistence food and sustainability.
The lack of salmon last season triggered a crisis of huge proportion in rural Western Alaska. Too few fish meant not enough subsistence food, and not enough commercial income to adequately supplement with other foods, or to purchase fuel (sometimes topping $9/gallon) for the winter. Grassroots efforts from churches, talk radio and the blogosphere managed to keep residents fed, but the prospect of another long winter without an adequate amount of fish looms large.
People living along the Yukon River think they know what is to blame — pollock fishery. The fishery — the nation’s largest — removes about 1 million metric tons of pollock each year from the eastern Bering Sea. Its wholesale value is nearly $1 billion.
King salmon get caught in the huge pollock trawl nets, and the dead kings are counted and most are thrown back into the ocean. Some are donated to the needy.
“We do know for a fact that the pollock fishery is slaughtering wholesale and wiping out the king salmon stocks out there that are coming into all the major tributaries,” said Nick Andrew Jr., executive director of the Ohagamuit Traditional Council. “The pollock fishery is taking away our way of living.”
As many as 120,000 king salmon have been tossed overboard at sea dead, meaning not only a non-existent commercial fishery on the Lower Yukon, but fewer fish harvested for subsistence food, fewer left to spawn and create more fish, and fewer fish reaching Canada.
Treaty agreements between the U.S. and Canada have been a sore point for some native leaders. Alaska must let 45,000 kings escape across US borders to fulfill treaty obligations. High water levels contributed to inaccurate sonar fish counts this year, letting a surplus of fish escape to Canada at the expense of Alaska’s rural residents. For the first time in three years, Canadians are permitted to engage in sport fishing on the Yukon, yet downriver, Alaska Native and rural residents go without subsistence food.
Fisherman on the Alaskan Yukon have even engaged in illegal fishing activities in acts of civil disobedience to protest what they feel are bad policies. Fish taken have been given to elders and the needy. Myron Naneng, President of the Association of Village Council Presidents had this to say to legislators.
It seems our agencies and country are more concerned about providing for foreigners and high sea fisheries. Our people who fished for food ended up becoming criminals in their own country for the benefit of those who live on both side of the fence. On top of this, the unreliable or non-functional operations of the sonar at Pilot Station and lack of confidence we now have with ADF&G. Where is the justice in all of this? We would recommend and request oversight hearings by both the Federal government and State Legislature on the operations and management of fisheries on the Yukon River and for that matter the whole of Western Alaska.
The news is not good…despite what you may have heard just weeks ago.
AKGovSarahPalinJohn also met w/CNN reporter while in Emmonak & shared welcomed GOOD NEWS of region…as a result, highly unlikely interview will air : )
How could we forget ol’ whatsername?
Eyes and ears will be focused on Sean Parnell, and how he handles the situation on the Yukon this winter. Will the people be supported in tangible ways by their state? Will new rural policies be a focus of this administration? Or can we expect more pastors and cookies?
**Don’t forget to tune in to hear the organizer of this winter’s Nunam Iqua food drive tomorrow morning at 9am Alaska time (10am Pacific, 1pm Eastern) on Native America Calling. Live streaming and blogging on the Mudflats beginning 15 minutes before air time.**
I sure hope positive results will come of this, and hopefully it will be reported as open and transparent as possible.
is pollack that white fish that ends up in every fish stick and fast food joint?
why do they count the dead salmon? is there a state law or is it part of a treaty requirement?
why don’t they sell the salmon they catch? is it a fishing permit restriction?
if we can take pictures of the moon – can’t we find a better sonar device?
I would hope that Sean Parnell would do better that Ms Palin did for the people of western Alaska at least we can hope he will only time will tell but not a spotlight is on it and him so something must be done
I will now have to avoid pollack as well as salmon. I figure, the more I consume of either, the less fish there are for natives. They are now both on my no buy list (and we buy seafood weekly). If I was not so fond of meat/seafood I would become vegetarian… maybe one of these days? After I give up booze and smoking…
good to see that this is finally getting the attention that it deserves.
The good news is that $arah’s and her bff’s antics have brought international attention to progressive Alaskan bloggers who expose the reality of the harm created by her administration. With every screech uttered, facebooked or tweeted, she, Stapleton & the guy who says he’s an attorney bring more readers to learn about the neglected needs of the state.
For what it’s worth, the AP story is currently available on Yahoo news. If you have and account you can recommend it or Buzz it up.
What? John Moller said everything was just fine in the villages. 50% already had their quota’s and the rest would, in short order. This is according to some mysterious spokesperson. Nick Tucker, would like to find out who spoke with such authority. Of course, Moller, was unavailable to answer that charge. Seems he was out fishing. Moller, another, of Palin’s last year appointees.
the August issue of National Geographic has story about salmon on Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia. Alaska gets a mention in the article
Boy, the exposes’ just keep on rolling.
Forge the Yukon!
Here is the link for the Yahoo item so you can buzz it up.
http://tinyurl.com/forgingtheyukon
The ironic thing is that the pollock fishery itself is on the brink of collapse by the mostly Seattle-based factory trawlers. Sigh. It’s really all about the fast buck, damn the consequences, for all but the subsistance folk.
http://www.foragefish.org/pollock.html
EnoughWithThe TrainWreck:
Yes, they have to count the dead salmon because they are limited as to how many salmon can accidentally get caught in the pollack nets. [In the past 10 years, the yearly average was 40-something thousand to 60-something thousand (I forget, to be honest) but in 2007, over 122,000 salmon were just wasted this way.]
There is also a treaty that says Alaska has to count salmon in the rivers, and allow 45,000 (?) to make it into Canada for their fishing needs.
I’ve read that the reason they (the pollack fishermen) don’t keep and sell the salmon is that the salmon flesh is so much thicker than pollack, that their equipment doesn’t freeze adequately.
The media exposure is great news. I also saw this story in DU (democratic underground) this morning. I honestly think that Parnell WILL pay thoughtful and meaningful attention to this – NOT cookies and bibles. He mentioned the
rural village issues shortly after being sworn in. So far, he seems to have a genuine zeal for the JOB of Governor and most certainly has a professional approach. I don’t have to agree with his politics (and generally I don’t) to get a sense that he will be a huge improvement over the tabloid, ditzy predecessor.
I have hope. I won’t forget to catch Ann on the radio tomorrow – is this an issue she will discuss (along with the food drive)?
AKM THANKS!!!
The issue of by-catch effects ALL of us!!! Billions worth of product is accidently caught (by-catch) while fishing for other seafood. There is no need for this.
Tune in tomorrow and here Ann Strongheart and hopefully Nick Tucker, if not fishing, talk about this issue first hand.
BTW- DON”T stop eating wild salmon, you hurt the villagers even more. Overall Alaskan Wild Salmon is sustainable and is not being hurt.
IF you want to stop eating a fish in question- do the pollack – fish sticks and fake crab products!!
AKM – thanks again for continuing to support our efforts to help the Western Alaskan villages!!
It makes me nauseous to the point of passing out that so many salmon are killed and tossed because of bycatch.
It is so immoral to me.
Pollack is most often used to make faux/imitation crab and lobstah products. I refuse to buy those things. I realize people in other parts of the country lack easy access to seafood products but I get my crab from MD and my lobstah from Maine.
Thanks AKM-!
I’m excited to see mainstream media pick these stories up .
I’m more excited that Alaskans Ann Strongheart and Mr Tucker, if he’s not fishing, will have a chance to speak to a broad audience- it’s so hard to get news OUT of rural Alaska…
Fisheries issues are complicated, with multiple interacting levels of government, international treaties, etc., and various players with hugely disparate economic and political influence. The story here is not easy to cover, and the issues not easy to solve, but what’s clear is that the Yukon River villages have got the short end of things.
I am in solidarity with the village communities, but would not suggest, as an earlier commenter has, that people not buy salmon as a way to help conserve the stock, even though that is well meant. By opting out of the fresh salmon market, we would actually be diminishing the economic benefit that goes into the villages from the small scale individual commercial fishing which families depend on for income. Also, it helps to be aware that other salmon stocks are managed sustainably in other Alaska watersheds, where there is not a conservation issue.
The Yukon River fishery- specifically- is a big problem area where the social repercussions of the fishery politics are now finally getting more attention. I would like to see the regulators control the overcapitalized Bering pollack fleet and do something meaningful for once about the bycatch. Let the trawl fleet take a year off; they’ll still be able to heat their homes and eat.
So she was talk’in good news. Was she makin’s stuff up?
Great news, meanwhile, keep fishing! Last winter news from the rural villages was way heartbreaking. I hope Governor Parnell acts now to ensure a less harsh winter, meanwhile, keep fishing. Hope is in the air, meanwhile……..does it make any sense that this hard to reach regions can be left to fend by themselves on the bitter cold Winter but come Summer, they can be charge with civil disobedience for doing the same? Keep. fishing.
In a similar bent, AKM I wanted to report that today’s Seattle Times had a BIG write up on Pebble Mine & Bristal Bay, from the LA News, – with a big picture of Bristal Bay. Seems like the recent lawsuit is FINALLY getting the issues into the MSM. Yippee!
“Lawsuit seeks to halt huge Alaskan mine”
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2009584102_pebblemine02.html
This is perfect timing for Ann Strongheart’s interview / talk tomorrow! She also has a post up about the Yukon salmon bycatch issue on Anonymous Bloggers:
http://anonymousbloggers.wordpress.com/
Rural Alaska – we heart you!
I forgot to say also, too, thank you AKM for bringing this to our attention and getting the word out!
Where do they sell all that pollock? We never eat fish sticks, and never eat immitation crab. Pollock is a water logged fish that does not cook up nicely. We can do without it. Salmon is so much better and better for you.
I buy Alaskan salmon whenever I can; I also told the manager of the market I go to that the pollack in the faux crab was killing the Yukon salmon industry. He is doing research, but- in the meantime- won’t carry the (nasty) stuff.
One small victory for the Alaskan villages, way south in Colorado.
Someone needs to seriously explore the question of failing wild king salmon stocks in Alaska in concurrence with the explosive numbers of hatchery kings being released for terminal sport fisheries.
In the past several years, millions of hatchery king salmon smolts have been released into Alaska’s waters. These larger than wild smolts compete with wild smolts for food. In addition there is risk of spreading disease to the wild stocks from the hatchery stocks. And wild king salmon may get over-fished when hatchery kings are targeted but wild kings are also fished when their migration paths overlap.
The aquaculture industry in Alaska has gotten out of hand.
To care for wild fish stocks, we need to care for their habitat–in both their watersheds of origin and in the ocean. Ocean conditions that may be contributing to the problem of low wild king salmon returns include too many hatchery kings.
Other factors may also be involved. But there are plenty of reasons to take a look at this.
Please enjoy your wild Alaskan salmon. A lot of small businesses rely on selling their salmon to earn enough money to pay for winter fuel.
The Yukon empties into the Bering Sea, and much of the Alaskan commercial pollock fishing occurs in the Bering Sea and the Aleutian Islands area. The bycatch issue seems to hurt most the smaller family groups in western Alaska along the lower Yukon River who are restricted in their seasonal king salmon river fishing when the fish return upstream to spawn.
You may not want to support pollock. Limiting your purchases of pollock products would include Asian surimi, fish sticks, pollock fish fillets, and imitation crab. It is pretty much guaranteed that fish sandwiches at these fast food places — Dairy Queen, Arby’s, McDonald’s, and Burger King–are made from Alaska pollock. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska_pollock
Might be a good time to reconsider “Where’s the beef, and, the chicken??”
Always choose wild Alaskan salmon, as opposed to, perhaps, farmed Atlantic salmon.
The Monterrey Bay Aquarium (CA) is a good online source for fish to eat or avoid. They usually recommend no Atlantic salmon, due to high levels of mercury and other toxins. They promote eating wild Alaskan salmon-
Thank you, AKM, for directing attention to Ann Strongheart’s radio show tomorrow, and for the great article you wrote here about the AP picking up the salmon bycatch story.
It’s looking like a critical situation is developing and is now facing the western Alaskans, again this season, who were largely restricted, yet again, from catching their needed salmon. The winters are brutal; the many families along the Yukon require an annual catch each summer of good king salmon, cleaned, smoked, and put away for the winter. Few, if any, have what they need now, as the king salmon run draws to a close in the lower Yukon. It is frightening to consider what this winter will bring. The villagers might make up some of their shortage with fall runs of chum salmon, but that is a lesser quality fish and really only an emergency stopgap.
I’m grateful the Canadians and their First Nation people along the upper Yukon reached their allotment of king salmon this season, which was agreed to in years past in a US-Canada treaty.
I just wish our Alaska natives and other rural people along the lower Yukon would have been as fortunate. Now what? Where do we go from here?
One thing that seems to get lost is the fact that many of the pollock boats are owned by Western AK Native groups.
Since the mid 1990s, with the blessing of the feds/state, nearly 60 villages bordering the Bering Sea banded together to form six CDQ groups, representing distinct regions – Aleutian Islands, Bristol Bay, the Pribilofs, Kuskowkim, Yukon, and Norton Sound. The CDQ groups each received a portion of the pollock quota (6% I think, at first). They partnered with at-sea processing companies which caught the fish and the groups got royalties based on their shares of the catch.
Since then the CDQ program has been expanded to include royalties (10 to 13%, I think) from EVERY fishery in the Bering Sea: pollock, cod, crab, halibut, etc.
The CDQ program is the only one of its kind in the US that allocates a portion of a resource specificially to a region for economic development. The program has generated tens of millions of dollars to the CDQ groups – and that is what has allowed several of them to purchase their own big boats and really take control of fishing the resources.
At the N. Pacfic Fishery Management Council meeting when the pollock/ salmon bycatch limits were decided upon, Comm. Denby Lloyd and several others pushed for lower king salmon limits – it was largely the push by Native interests, including Chairman Don Olsen, to go for the higher caps.
The big question is: Where are the CDQ groups when it comes to helping out their own people?? Why were folks in Emmonak taking heating fuel from Hugo Chavez/Venezula and not provided for by their own CDQ money?? Why is no research being funded?? Why is there never any open discussion on this issue by the CDQ reps? I know this is a hot topic among many of the villagers, who feel disenfranchised from the CDQ decision makers.
I also know that whenever someone poses hard questions to the CDQ directors, they are branded as ‘racist.’ So nobody ever pushes it at a political level. And the CDQ books are closed to all who are not ‘insiders.’
A couple of years ago, the six CDQ groups formed a consortium and hired Wanetta Ayers to be the executive director, based in Anchorage. Maybe she has some answers…
This issue is Extremely important.
The thrust of the blame on these fish return shortcomings should be directed at the Federal government and our elected representatives in Washington DC.
Sen. Begich is on the committee that oversees the future of this complex, under-researched ecosystem. All efforts should be directed toward convincing Mark Begich it is up to him to save this fishery.
I’ve been telling him and his staff this since February. They claim that they intend to help, but have offered no credible details.
Please join me in forcing him to step up to his responsibility.
Thanks guys! Yes salmon,(yes!!) no pollock, and please no veal!
I remember not too long ago someone saying:
“We eat therefor we hunt”
Fisherman on the Alaskan Yukon need to say:
“We eat therefore we fish”
I look foward to hearing Ann speak, tomorrow.
When you have a governor spreading a false sense of optimism via a mass communication device (Twitter) based on inaccurate field reports by her rural advisor, then it’s very responsible to point out the inaccuracies. Citizens who have been lulled into complacency by false reports aren’t going to step up and voice concerns…..whether it’s the appropriate governmental entity or not.
I read that article at Yahoo news and immediately thought of you and Phil and Gryphen and Shannyn and Tspey and Emmonak and all of the subsistence fishermen. I also read an article about blocking Pebble mine. I hope that goes through. But mostly I hope something is done about the factory pollock trawlers and bycatch.
I’ve never eaten salmon. I look at it in the cases in the butcher section and I just can’t bring myself to buy any. I feel guilty that they’re selling salmon in the grocery store but the subsistence fishermen in Alaska are denied their right to fish. I have no idea where the salmon has come from.
This whole story is so important. Your input is very important. As best you can site facts. Should you have time, go to Salon.com read Glen Greenwalds article about the corporate media and Orielly and Olberman. that should be enough to let you see how much your voice means today. these blogs can work as the REAL news if we us them correctly. Having been a commercial fisher. I know that factory fishing is a very bad idea.
All this makes me glad I’m basically a vegetarian (although a chicken leg now and then is nice) who likes to “eat local” as much as possible. My son is a catch and release fisherman, and we wouldn’t dare eat fish out of the lake we live near–it’s manmade for 2 power plants–one coal, one nuclear–but fish is pretty much off my diet anyway. Most of the fish in supermarkets here is from China or “fish farms.”
I’m a person who believes eating should be as local as possible. There can be plenty of food available where you live to sustain you–you may not have the variety you want, but you’ll have what you need–but that’s not universally true. Luckily, I live in an area where lots of vegetables are available. It’s hard to resist buying stuff that is shipped thousands of miles (esp. from the west coast and even South America), but I generally try to do without those products. And of course, there are things like rice, macaroni products, etc. that are impossible to grow and purchase locally. The best I can do with dairy products is getting milk from a dairy somewhere in the state. Eating locally has almost become impossible for many (although there are plenty of things you can do without or use substitutes for) because it’s so much easier to purchase food in supermarkets that comes from Big Food. Now, I live in NC and there should be plenty of a variety of foods here, we have the coast, too, but the agrarian life is pretty much a thing of the past in lieu of modern mfg and technology and fishing in the Atlantic has become problematic.
Unfortunately, modern life has almost made it impossible for people to be truly self-sustaining. How do you feed 6.3+ billion people on the planet? It continues to be a huge problem and a conundrum, too. Humans reproduce exponentially, Big Food has taken over and favors only those with enough cash to eat, and I’m not so sure we’ve taken the right path there, or in curbing population growth.
I wrote to a company I use for home-delivery and told them why I was not buying anymore of their pollock. They use one of the agencies that is supposed to control abuse, but this agency has come under fire as well. So my stance is as long as the guidelines are no-good compromises which put Native Alaskans that depend on subsistence living I refrain from buying these products. (If I should at all in the “balance of all” earth questions is another topic. I agree with granny68 to try to go more local and if you have a patch with some sun, be it only a balcony or a windowsill, start growing your own stuff. A lot of great knowledge has been lost in our modern lifestyle and you rediscover it by visiting gardens, for example in England, where they rediscover our traditions. It was very well possible to have fresh vegetables in the deepest of winter, without importing it. It is all about how.
Apologies for typos and missing words and stream of consciousness type post above. My toothbrush transmissions must be faulty and I´m tired. It´s almost a word salad. BIG apologies.
I believe a lot of the pollack goes to Japan and China. I don’t consider fish sticks and artificial crab food and would never buy such low quality things for my family. When I go to my local markets, the meats and fish are labeled by country of origin and whether they are are wild caught or farm raised. I would never buy anything farm raised because I don’t believe they are a healthy nutritious product. I pay more because I believe when you buy cheap food you perpetuate cheap food. My DH always says, “Buy the good meat, G!”, and he’s so right. Eat less meat, but eat GOOD meat/fish/chicken as much as you can. I have spoken with the produce manager in my market in favor of local, organic fruits and veggies and now we have them.
I believe that we can effect change if enough voices are raised and enough letters are written and enough people are brave enough to say that a situation is unsustainable and needs to be fixed. We are beginning to see the results of that effort. Hooray!
I am unshakably convinced that we mudpuppies have effected and will continue to effect positive change because we will NOT be silenced or cowed because we bring wrongdoing and injustice into the light of day. Make no mistake, this IS war. There are forces afoot who want to control our thoughts and dreams and the very fabric of our being. But, like roaches, they scurry for cover when the light goes on. They may never disappear, but we certainly can be vigilant and stomp on their hideous and disgusting nastiness when they emerge.
@35 mlaiuppa-
“I’ve never eaten salmon. I look at it in the cases in the butcher section and I just can’t bring myself to buy any. I feel guilty that they’re selling salmon in the grocery store but the subsistence fishermen in Alaska are denied their right to fish. I have no idea where the salmon has come from.”
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Please, please- IF your market can verify they are selling WILD Alaskan Salmon, buy it and enjoy it knowing it’s good for you nutritionally AND that those very same subsistence fishermen OR their neighbors in Bristol Bay or elsewhere are earning the dollars they need for fuel and supplies.
You are supporting self-sufficiency and dignity in providing for themselves in BOTH worlds- subsistence AND cash economy.
This year the Yukon is out of the picture in providing subsistence AND SMALL commercial fishing but please support Bristol Bay fisheries…
It makes great sense to support the fisheries there- especially in light of the threat of Pebble Mine.
If we manage to save BB for the fish and generations of jobs for locals , we HAVE to be able to sell the fish…
Buying locally is the best policy but for items that come from somewhere else bug your markets about where they come from and who provides them.
My market now has a tiny offering of beef certified to be raised properly. I am happy to support, in my small way, farmers in Oregon who raise their stock sensibly and humanely.
While there are truck farms around the Mat-Su area there are none in the part of Southeast Alaska where I live… I grow a lot of cool weather crops myself but I also buy from a CSA organic farm in WA state- I am proud to support my neighbors in WA who are working hard to tend the land properly and feed themselves and others…
Ask you grocers where your food comes from…
IF you turn your back on ANY products out of Alaska , make it products made from pollack… please.
When you buy wild Alaska salmon, you are supporting people in rural Alaska.
Good morning all! Slightly OT, but since we’re talking about food, locally grown, and sustainability, has anyone read ‘The Omnivore’s Dilemma’ by Michael Pollan? It is about the journey of food from source to table. I am only about 1/3 of the way through the book and thus far it has been mainly about corn. It is fascinating and disturbing. I recommend it.
thanks for the greater insight into the relationships between small fisheries and large fisheries in Alaska. i would like to know more as this story develops. the consumer needs a better understanding of who directly benefits the most from our food-purchasing dollars and to be able to decide if the source and methods of acquiring the food is appropriate for long-term sustainable food supplies.
and i do buy wild Alaskan salmon – never “farm” raised.
I’m sure that interview of Sarah Palin’s will be shown. Just to show how void of facts she was during her short tenure as the Gov of AK. Now she PRAYS it won’t be shown!
I gave up on my “splurge & comfort food” fish sandwich @ McDonalds months ago when I read of the bycatch tossing salmon away like so much garbage. Never liked that fake imitation crab stuff myself, although every store seems to sell it here in Seattle.
Meant to post this earlier, but it seems like the MSM is taking a closer look at the problems with the issues (unlike last year). On my Earthlink news they gave:
“King salmon vanishing in Alaska, smokehouses empty”
http://enews.earthlink.net/article/us?guid=20090802/4a751d50_3ca6_15526200908021688554696
“ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Yukon River smokehouses should be filled this summer with oil-rich strips of king salmon – long used by Alaska Natives as a high-energy food to get through the long Alaska winters. But they’re mostly empty.
The kings failed to show up, and not just in the Yukon.
One Alaska river after another has been closed to king fishing this summer because significant numbers of fish failed to return to spawn. The dismally weak return follows weak runs last summer and poor runs in 2007, which also resulted in emergency fishing closures.” … *snipped*
@26 CO almost native Says:
August 2nd, 2009 at 9:24 PM
I buy Alaskan salmon whenever I can; I also told the manager of the market I go to that the pollack in the faux crab was killing the Yukon salmon industry. He is doing research, but- in the meantime- won’t carry the (nasty) stuff.
One small victory for the Alaskan villages, way south in Colorado.
———————————
Good on your grocer!
Thank YOU!
And MANY small victories add up…
Yes, we can!
We have started purchasing wild AK salmon, and it is far superior in taste and quality to the farmed Atlantic garbage. No pollock products here. When you have had real lobster and crab, that stuff is laughable.
So the State of Alaska takes many fishing rights away from the First peoples, gives licensing rights to huge out-of-state commercial fishing industry, or gives licensing rights to rich private individuals who can afford boats, can afford to purchase land, or are lucky enough to inherit land, with fishing rights. So, lots of benefits to the Cheechakos, and to the Sourdoughs, but what about the Native Alaskans?
47 rebekkah –
The Feds are the big guys here…
FEDERAL Pollack plan,
FEDERAL treaty with Canada- AlaskaFish and Game fufilling American end of FEDERAL treaty…
Look to what Phil Munger said above…
#43 @who me?
Michael Pollan is brilliant. Read (also too) In Defense of Food. He has an article in this week’s Sunday NY Times: Out of the Kitchen, Onto the Couch – How American Cooking Became a Spectator Sport, and What We Lost Along the Way. Fascinating.
I worked for (most of) 40 years (some of those at two jobs) while rearing three children, being voted class mother for three years running, participating in soccer, basketball, ballet, helping with homework, reading to them, keeping my home reasonably hygienic with cats, dogs, birds, hamsters, etc., gardening AND making lunches (until my babes were big enough to do it themselves) AND COOKING a meal nearly every night of those 40 years. We did NOT eat at McDonalds, Burger King or the like – that is not FOOD. It takes no time at all to make a meal. To say it does is just wrong. By the time you’ve driven to a drive-thru, ordered a “meal”, eaten it and driven home, you could have put a perfectly good nutritious meal on the table (having your children help with peeling veggies, or making salad or setting the table – even the littlest tot can put a placemat on the table and fold a napkin).
Rant over.
Alaska PI: Thanks for the correction – Like many governments, federal and state (province) work together, and it’s an old problem, where lack of good communication between the two, sometimes makes the “left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing.”
Besides the bureaucratic stall by state and federal, am certain that it is a complex issue, and really needs a man on it now. Hope this most recent exposure will push it ahead on the top of the list.
Yes, EAT WILD SALMON! It’s good for you and it’s good for Western Alaska! I’m just an echo chamber for Victoria and Alaska Pi – if you are going to drop a fish dish then let the pollock take the walk!
I’m a scientist by nature and I would like this discussed in a non-political way, because it’s not political. The ocean is changing, we cannot deny that.
It is natural for a group suffering from a cultural and economic catastrophes to want to find a culprit. Whatever your feelings are about the pollock fishery, you cannot ignore the hard science available. For example, the North Pacific Oscillation which has been happening for centuries. Every couple of decades, the north Pacific and Bering Sea temperature regime shifts between cold and war phases. We’ve been in a warm phase for decades and now have shifted to cold. Salmon do not thrive in the cool temperatures that are occurring at this time. King Salmon returns are low throughout the state.
Number One, the volume of the fish that is missing much larger than the amount of bycatch. The bycatch is less than 5-10% of the total run estimated by Alaska Department of Fish and Game. That is not enough to explain the whole problem.
Number Two, 80% of the bycatch is observed by National Marine Service trained observers. The quality of bycatch estimates is good to excellent, probably better than the projections or actual subsistence catch numbers.
There are alot of things that we don’t understand. Look at all of the things that are happening in the ocean. If we dismiss the big picture at the expense of blaming bycatch completely than we have missed the point. there is a scientific effort underway in order to better understand salmon biology in the Bering Sea called “BASIS”. Many papers are due out in the next year, stay tuned.
We can and should not jump to conclusions based on the need for a target for our frustration.
http://www.afsc.noaa.gov/ABL/MESA/archives/mesa_occ_basis.htm
This is about BASIS. Please be well informed and not jump to conclusions.
This is a way more complicated issue than most of you realize. You aren’t going to solve the problem with simplistic solutions like avoiding pollack or going vegetarian. You could actually be making the problem worse in some ways. More on that later.
First off, I am a salmon fisherman in Alaska, Copper River to be precise. We fish in a very regulated and sustainable fishery as are all Alaskan commercial salmon fisheries. There are escapement goals in the spawning streams that must be met before we are allowed to fish. Part of the escapement is dedicated to subsistence fishermen, part to personal use, part to sport fishing, and part to spawning needs to make the fishery sustainable.
Myron Naneng’s statement that “It seems our agencies and country are more concerned about providing for foreigners and high sea fisheries” is disingenuous at best and short sighted. First and foremost, those fish that make it to Canada are important as spawners for the sustainability of the run. Second, they are every bit as important to the Canadian “First Nations” natives as they are to Alaskan Natives as a traditional food source. http://www.adfg.state.ak.us/news/99-02/4-3gov.php http://www.cbc.ca/news/story/2001/06/27/27salmon.html These are two of the most important reasons The US has treaty obligations to get fish into Canada. The fact that Yukoners get a small sport fishery this year also figures in.
Here is my reasoning. If I want my fishery to be sustainable, I want the people who live and control the spawning grounds of my fishery to care about it every bit as much as I do. If they have no stake in it, it’s pretty much a sure thing they won’t care what happens to the fish or me. They could dam the whole river at the border with no fish ladders, and say, Why do we care if no spawners make it past the dam to continue the run. We don’t get to catch any of them anyway. Or why do we care if we rip up the spawning beds to mine for minerals or to use the gravel for construction?
I want them to be good stewards of the spawning grounds and the best way to accomplish that is to share the bounty. The sport fishery is good too, because it lets other Yukoners feel like they have a stake in what happens to the salmon. It’s why I don’t mind sending extra fish (over spawning needs) up the Copper River for the people who live there and other Alaskans who use the personal use fishery. I want them to all care about the watershed and what happens to it.
A side note, it has been three years since Alaska has met it’s obligation for escapement into Canada. http://newsminer.com/news/2009/jul/05/yukon-river-king-salmon-run-might-fall-short-canad/ While this article was written before it was realized how many fish made it into Canada this year, it points out that getting shorted on fish can go both ways.
Now back to the pollock fishery. I fished pollock for three years in the 90′s. I also worked in a pollock plant in Dutch Harbor one season. There is a problem with the salmon counts as far as observers go. I have no doubt that the actual salmon count (chinook and chum) is higher than reported which would make the problem worse than most believe. The main problem is, only the catcher processor boats have full time observer coverage, at least that was the case when I fished. The smaller boats were only required to have coverage for a quarter to a third of the season or so and the observers were rotated from boat to boat. This leads to highgrading (tossing salmon over the side to keep reported bycatch low. On catcher boats, the nets are unzipped and the fish drain from the net into the fish hold. While it would be next to impossible to sort the whole catch, any salmon that are apparent can be tossed. The actual counts of by-catch from catcher boats are done in the cannery where the fish are delivered. As the fish are pumped from the boat into the cannery, there is a sorting belt where people grab any fish that isn’t a pollock and throw them into a bin to be counted. A plant observer does the counting.
Pollock is a relatively clean fishery as it is done mid-water and not on the bottom. Usually there are a few salmon and maybe a small amount of cod, and maybe some sharks. Squid made up the bulk of the by-catch in some areas we fished. A few other species may be in any given tow but usually in no big numbers. When I say relatively clean, I’m talking volume-wise in any given tow or set. The problem is the size of the fishery. The shear volume of the fishery means that in the long run of a season, significant numbers of by-catch can occur.
The best way to control by-catch in the pollock fishery is to have a hard cap and better observer coverage.
Now, as far as avoiding pollock, if enough people did, you might get the fleets’ attention, but much of it is shipped overseas. In an overpopulated world like ours, pollock is an inexpensive source of protein and there is no reason not to exploit it sustainably. What is needed is to get a reasonable definition of sustainably and work towards that goal, not shut the fishery down completely.
And as for going veg……. that leads to it’s own set of problems, especially if the farming is done on an industrial scale. Ever heard of oceanic dead zones? Fertilizer from industrial farming has a lot to do with them. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_zone_(ecology) Read the part about the reversal of dead zones and what happened in the Black Sea.
You could go organic of course, but economically, that isn’t realistic for most folk who are struggling to get by in today’s economy. And our food supply chain isn’t set up to make organic food available to everyone.
One last thought. A lot of people are concerned for the subsistence users and native people in Alaska. That’s a good thing. But many of the same people who want to do the right thing as far as the fisheries go to try to help bush Alaskans make a living and survive are some of the same people who have taken a large part of bush Alaskans’ incomes away by opposing trapping and wearing fur and leather. Fur prices being in the tank are a big part of the problem in rural Alaska. The lack of effort trapping because it’s hard to make money off it now is one reason predator populations have grown to where some people in Alaska don’t have a problem with aerial gunning of wolves and some are advocating gassing pups in their dens. So while you are patting yourselves on the back for slowing trapping, stop to consider the long term consequences.
This is a sad tale but reflects only the tip of the iceberg. Humans are living an unsustainable lifestyle on many levels.
In general, the ocean is overfished and stocks are collapsing everywhere as documented in this blog, and the movie:
http://climateprogress.org/2009/07/31/for-slimehead-orange-roughy-goosefish-monkfish-toothfish-chilean-sea-bass-overfishing/#comments
http://endoftheline.com/film/
But even beyond overfishing, the oceans are absorbing vast amounts of the CO2 we put into the atmosphere, becoming relatively more acidic, and this is going to eventually basically destroy the ecosystem and life in the sea.
It’s the same on land. We are changing the climate, and this is leading inevitably and inexorably to mass extinction.
jo in AK – @52 & @53 – I appreciate your valuable information.
Seeing how Sean Parnell has taken Southeast Alaska out of the Palin Dog House, I am hoping he will handle this situation in the same hands on,, calm and communicative manner.
After watchiing Parnell in the legislature for many years, I believe he’ll take all of the information into account and “openly share and communicate the findings” rather than jump to conclusions that may create unnecessary hype and divisiveness like you know who would have done.
“BASIS” will be on my radar and I know if you send this information to Parnell’s email, it’ll get his attention! I am thankfull for the National Marine Service trained observers. If the bycatch isn’t as great as some are leading us to believe, it won’t do Alaskans any good to focus on bycatch as being the main culprit in this mystery. Thanks again.
I e-mailed the Yahoo link to AKM yesterday afternoon (evening my time), and then posted the same link on the Open Thread from yesterday.
As I wrote on the Open Thread:
41 PepperzMom (GA) Says:
August 2nd, 2009 at 5:23 PM
Bad news on king salmon…yet another LIAR LIAR moment for SP, eh?
King salmon vanishing in Alaska, smokehouses empty
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090803/ap_on_bi_ge/us_vanishing_king_salmon;_ylt=A0wNdPzMPXZKpnkAkCKs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTNhM2pmMzU1BGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMDkwODAzL3VzX3ZhbmlzaGluZ19raW5nX3NhbG1v
Jo in AK~
Jumping in here really quick this morning b/c I thought your comment needed addressing.
We are NOT jumping to conclusions and looking for a scape goat. I have tons of information from various State and Federal websites that discuss by catch plus many other sources that aren’t gov’t related.
It would take a week of postings on a blog to even touch the surface of this topic let alone understand it or to be able to put it in laymans terms.
I would suggest that you do some research and really look at the numbers. Do you realize that it is NOT just salmon that are by catch?? In the North Pacific the by catch includes everything from fish to crab to ripping up the ocean coral. If you research it you will find that the by catch is measured in pounds and the lowest number I have found for all by catch in the North Pacific is…
two hundred and forty nine MILLION pounds of by catch that is thrown over board as waste! Yes that is 2,490,000 lbs. I am not saying that there aren’t MANY MANY factors that come into this…including climate change. But by-catch is 100% manmade and 100% preventable!
We do not just jump to conclusions here nor on anonymous bloggers. There are many, many, MANY people behind the scenes that do extensive research before we post things on blogs about such serious issues!
Ok, gotta get ready to go on the radio!! Stepping off this soap box for an hour before I go on the air.
JMHO,
Ann Strongheart
It is of important note that SP had no interest in any hard science. The North Pacific Fisheries Council is the world leader in true fisheries management. They voluntarily drop quota to meet the needs of the fishery and subsistence lifestyle, at times these two are one and the same.
Much more attention needs to be given to hydraulic fracturing and the implications of pollution to the riverhead spawning grounds by gas and oil. Can we even hesitate about the implications of the Pebble Mine? That is nothing short of disaster to the state of Alaska for the pittance of jobs it would create and the horrible environmental impact to the good souls of Bristol Bay. We need to be shouting about the polluting of our state and work towards maintaining sustainable fisheries.
@ Jo in AK,
I disagree, I do not think that MORE attention needs to be focused on one versus the other. This needs to be addressed as a WHOLE. There needs to be more science on the WHOLE.
We can’t fix this by JUST focusing on one area, if we do that then it will still collapse. Everything needs to be addressed. Right now we are focusing on by-catch because it is a manmade and preventable waste of our ocean resources. And right now it is seriously affecting the lives of the people on the Lower Yukon.
There is NO instant fix for any of these issues. We have to go day by day, issue by issue. It is of the utmost importance to ensure that people in rural Alaska are fed and warm this winter!
We can’t tackle everything at once, so here we plug along addressing by-catch and hopefully someday will be able to take on other factors that play into the sustainability of our ocean resources. I am quite certain that others are tackling the issues you describe but here and now we desperately need to address by-catch before not only the salmon become endangered or extinct along with the rural Alaskans that live along the Yukon River.
JMHO,
Ann Strongheart
aww crap…am I feeding trolls again?? sorry all!!
Annstrongheart, I don’t see Jo in AK as a troll, but someone who is trying to point out the wider picture. I sit down here in Washington watching the Puget Sound salmon industry suffer too. We desperately need more people like you, focusing on the narrow picture of the villages. At the same time, we need scientists working on the whole system. The bycatch is a major issue in my opinion. The world’s fisheries are in enough trouble without wasting hundreds of thousands of tons of fish. The villages have to have enough catch to insure a reasonable living for your people. We need people working on all the issues at once.
Annstrongheart, I have great respect and admiration for what you have done in the last year. I think you are incredible! I just pray you have the energy to keep it up.
Ann, totally agree with you. Even if there are other factors reducing the salmon population, perhaps even because there are other influences, then the by-catch issue becomes more important so as to maximize the number of fish that have a chance of making it upstream to supply subsistence requirements or spawn for future fisheries. As you said, the by-catch issue is man-made and can be prevented. No reason not to address it while studying and understanding the climate change issues. Good on ya.
Jo, tell me, please:
Who actually sits on the board of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council? Most, if not all, members of that board are commercial fishermen headquartered out of Seattle, Washington. What is the history of the representation on that board? How did all that power to control and determine the fisheries of the Bering Sea, Aleutian Island and the Gulf of Alaska end up in Seattle?
Is anyone on that board an actual Alaskan?
Is any even ONE member on that board who represents the lower Yukon people, or, do all of them represent just the big football-sized, at-sea processors that scrape everything up out of the sea into their nets, process the “legal” catch, and toss overboard the rest, as “bycatch”, all illegally caught fish, crabs, coral, etc.?
“The North Pacific Fisheries Council is the world leader in true fisheries management. They voluntarily drop quota to meet the needs of the fishery and subsistence lifestyle, at times these two are one and the same.”
Perhaps, in a fair world, the world leader in true fishery management would not be the fox guarding the henhouse.
Maybe we can just agree to disagree:
Until the time the pollock fishing conglomerates do not get a pass with wasted, illegally caught “bycatch”, and the lower Yukon people get to fish minimally, according to their family needs each season, then the pollock industry needs to stop wasting salmon (and other bycatch) that is needed by the unrepresented people of western Alaska.
Jo in AK
It is of important note that SP had no interest in any hard science. The North Pacific Fisheries Council is the world leader in true fisheries management.
The NPFMC is heavily weighted toward commercial fishing. The new rural advisory committee is another little scrap with Rural in its name thrown out to make it looks like it’s doing something. Rural people would have to travel at their own expense to Anchorage to have any input.
It seems if they took some of the money spent on sonar counters, weirs and broken fish counters, on producing salmon (and everything else) safe nets, there wouldn’t be a problem.
Gosh, I’m all fired up and wanted to jump in here with Jo and everyone, but dang it – Ann and Jane pretty much stated what I also feel. The bycatch is the most immediate issue relating to fewer salmon in the Yukon because it is something we can examine, and affect relatively quickly.
We have all reviewed scientific info coming from around the country regarding environmental and other theories, but there is not enough solid information for us to affect these factors immediately. The bycatch cap doesn’t even go into effect until 2011, so it’s not exactly like that’s any great response to THIS winter’s upcoming shortage, either. Other modifications to bycatch issues will also take time. New scientific data will hopefully be more conclusive as we go along, also – and when it is, and we can act on it, or adjust for it, we will most certainly attempt to!
C’mon Jo – we may be laypeople but we keep well informed and continually discuss these issues on the blog at Anonymous Bloggers as well as behind the scenes.
@ cuppajava
I just re-read your post – good work! Great questions! It ticks me off to think about this council right now. Didn’t they just have a big meeting in Seattle regarding the pollock industry and we couldn’t find anyone who knew about it?
50 rebekkah Says:
August 3rd, 2009 at 7:12 AM
Alaska PI: Thanks for the correction – Like many governments, federal and state (province) work together, and it’s an old problem, where lack of good communication between the two, sometimes makes the “left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing.”
… Hope this most recent exposure will push it ahead on the top of the list.
————————————————
oy- it IS the not knowing what each or doing and in this case, to some extent, compartmentalizing within the same place/function and not being aware of what all the fingers on one hand are doing!
I think this is exciting… having so much more talk and news -out in the open…
I’m hoping it all spurs some deep re-thinking across the board… and a consolidated approach to solving problems.
56 twodux
I want them to be good stewards of the spawning grounds and the best way to accomplish that is to share the bounty.
————————–
There’s a attempt on the Yukon to share the spirit of co-operation…
your comment is a great add here!
hear stories about non-observing obervers but your info makes sense in a an everyday life manner…
Agree- hard cap and MORE oberservers .
http://www.yritwc.org/
@31 EatWildFish Says:
“I also know that whenever someone poses hard questions to the CDQ directors, they are branded as ‘racist.’ So nobody ever pushes it at a political level. And the CDQ books are closed to all who are not ‘insiders.’
“A couple of years ago, the six CDQ groups formed a consortium and hired Wanetta Ayers to be the executive director, based in Anchorage. Maybe she has some answers…”
————–
EatWildFish —
Sounds to me like the answers to these questions have something to do with money ………
Just sayin’ ………
@#56 twodux:
“I fished pollock for three years in the 90’s. I also worked in a pollock plant in Dutch Harbor one season. There is a problem with the salmon counts as far as observers go. I have no doubt that the actual salmon count (chinook and chum) is higher than reported which would make the problem worse than most believe. The main problem is, only the catcher processor boats have full time observer coverage, at least that was the case when I fished. The smaller boats were only required to have coverage for a quarter to a third of the season or so and the observers were rotated from boat to boat. This leads to highgrading (tossing salmon over the side to keep reported bycatch low. On catcher boats, the nets are unzipped and the fish drain from the net into the fish hold. While it would be next to impossible to sort the whole catch, any salmon that are apparent can be tossed. The actual counts of by-catch from catcher boats are done in the cannery where the fish are delivered. As the fish are pumped from the boat into the cannery, there is a sorting belt where people grab any fish that isn’t a pollock and throw them into a bin to be counted. A plant observer does the counting.”
————
Ah — you answered a question I had! …. and that was, who determines what the bycatch numbers are?
What a good answer! Thank you for explaining it from your own personal experience.
Methinks there need to be some ‘impartial’ counters on those boats! Not just sometimes, but all the time! (or at least they can show up unannounced, get on the boat, and say, “I’m counting bycatch!”)
Let it be noted that while I think the pollock by-catch is a problem, and not one to be ignored, I also don’t believe it’s the only problem. And this is coming from someone who usually catches lots of Copper River kings. The last two years have been horrible on the Copper and just about every other system in South Central Alaska and Western Alaska.
I could be wrong, but something else is going on besides by-catch.
Hope this thread isn’t closed; here’s a FEMA update from Monday:
Over $4.7 Million In Federal Assistance Goes To Alaskans Affected By Disaster:
August 10th Deadline for Individual Assistance Fast Approaching
Release Date: August 1, 2009
Release Number: 1843-011
» More Information on Alaska Flooding and Ice Jams
» 2009 Region X News Releases
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Since President Obama declared the spring flooding and ice jams a federal disaster on June 11, 2009, federal agencies have committed over $4.7 million in disaster-related individual assistance and loans to residents of the Yukon River and Kuskokwim River communities.
Officials of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management remind all Alaska residents affected by the disaster in the federally declared areas that the deadline for individual assistance registration is August 10. They can register by calling, toll-free, 1-800-621-3362 (FEMA) (TTY 1-800-462-7585) from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Alaska Daylight Time, seven days a week, or by registering online at http://www.disasterassistance.gov.
State Coordinating Officer Bob Stewart said, “We don’t want anyone to miss the deadline. People should get appropriate help in these situations.”
Residents of the Alaska Gateway Regional Educational Attendance Area (REAA), Yukon Flats REAA, Yukon-Koyukuk REAA, Lower Yukon REAA, Kuspuk REAA, and Yupiit REAA are eligible to apply for disaster-related individual assistance.
So far, 658 Alaska homeowners and renters have applied for disaster-related individual assistance, and inspectors have visited 636 homes. Funds awarded to date total $4,747,726 which includes:
* $1,999,312 in Housing Assistance to cover temporary rentals, home repairs and replacement;
* $1,795,114 in Other Needs Assistance to cover essential personal property losses, subsistence items, medical, dental, transportation or serious disaster-related expenses not covered by insurance; and
* $953,300 in Small Business Administration loans to pay for the repair or replacement of homes, businesses, or personal property not fully covered by insurance or other compensation.
Federal Coordinating Officer Doug Mayne expects the amount of federal funds invested in the recovery effort to increase. “Because of the climate in the affected areas, we have a limited time during which rebuilding can be accomplished,” observed Mayne. “Right now, there’s a flurry of activity. FEMA will continue to process applications for individual assistance as quickly as possible, to get funds and materials to the people who need them.”
FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.
Last Modified: Monday, 03-Aug-2009 08:31:51
BEFORE reading this article I bought a piece of smoked pollock, at my localMaine market. In looking for recipes online I found this
LIE by a corporate entity, Good Food Channel. Someone needs to educate them ( if they are receptive)
“Not only are Alaskan pollock abundant in numbers, the way that they swim and are therefore caught is also very eco-friendly. They move in large shoals near to the surface of the water and so can be easily caught using mid-water trawling methods which do not disturb the sea bed, and so very few other unwanted fish are caught in the nets at the same time. ”
http://uktv.co.uk/food/stepbystep/aid/589099 …. OH! UKTV! makes it worse!
Obviously the King Salmon have not read the above paragraph!