Yukon First Nations want Alaska salmon fishing closed

Yukon First Nations have repeated their call for Alaskans to stop fishing Chinook salmon until stocks can recover in the Yukon River.
Teslin Tlingit Chief Carl Sidney made the plea this week at salmon management talks in Whitehorse. The international Yukon River Salmon panel will wrap up a week of meetings this afternoon with a closed door planning session to determine a management plan for the 2014 Chinook salmon run.
Alaskan officials say they have enforced harvest cutbacks on their side of the border. Sidney, a former board member, commends recent cutbacks imposed in some Alaskan communities, but says a complete shutdown is required for the fishery to recover.
"There have been families and communities taking drastic measures but not everybody,” Sidney says. "When 106,000 salmon .... http://ca.news.yahoo.com/yukon-first-nations-want-alaska-salmon-fishing-closed-150646784.html

One of the first intellegent things I've seen them come up with. But...closing should mean EVERYONE should stop fishing it including the indians.

Did you even read the article?

Quote; These measures that are in place now are not enough, never mind gearing down or using fish wheels or dip nets,” Sidney says. “We haven't fished period."

The natives have NOT fished for several years. The run is very nearly wiped out. This could be due to the fact the Bering Sea trawl fleet takes 60,000 plus Yukon chinook as by-catch each year. Until the world is ready to give up fish sandwiches the Yukon chinook will be in big trouble.

Or until an enterprising activist decides to petition the NMFS to list Yukon River Chinook for ESA listing. When that happens, all Federal actions will be subject to ESA consultation, including regulation of the Bering Sea trawl fleet.

Given the dire predictions, I'll give it a year. Within a year, someone will file a petition to list. Then we can sit back and watch what happens. It won't be pretty, but it's already ugly.

I doubt the Feds have the gonads necessary to take any action. Too much money and power involved.

Huge hatchery necessary, funded by the trawlers.........................

Good - it all must be shut down including the Cowboys. I know that's not going to happen - but damn it should.

Does anyone here happen to watch "Yukon Men"? I happen to love the show and I can confidently say that all of the little villages up and down the river are done. They're all screwed. Of course I've never been there but it’s obvious to see. One dude set his wheel at the peak of the "run" for 30 hours and got two white fish. He said f it, pulled the wheel and grabbed his rifle. He has like 30 dogs and a family to feed all winter and got zero kings. Another dude had to resort to commercial dog food, which is big bucks relative to income. The river is barren and its going to kill those villages.

And contained within these wonderful chain of events - moose, bear, caribou, seals and everything that swims, flies, runs or crawls is doubly screwed.
Everyone including the sled dogs must eat, so grab your rifle boys.

Nick,

I have been to many of those villages - I worked for Indian health Service for many years. Most are very dependent on those disappearing salmon. Village life is hard enough when things go well. If times get much harder many of those villages will disappear and with them centuries of traditions.

I watch the show too because seeing those villages brings back so many memories. Almost all the people I met I the villages were generous, kind folks. At least twice they saved me from some really awful consequences. ( I hope I'm wrong, but I suspect most of those villages are doomed no matter what.)

Alaska reality shows have very little to do with, well, reality. Most of the content is manufactured with a few thin ties to the truth. Indeed the Yukon kings and most kings runs in AK are imperiled, but don't trust the TV for things like facts and honest pictures if reality.

I do realize that Hollywood scripts it up for good tv. I get it. But what that particular show does show is zero fish being caught. It doesn't take a rocket surgeon to figure out what that means. Its pretty sad to watch. In 10 years, Tanana and the like will be ghost villages and with them - the history, tradition and mother nature working knowledge all gone.

Dave - I envy you brother. I wish I could say I've been there to see for myself - but I can't. I'd probably never come back and maybe that's why I've never gone.

The link Eyefish provided on the other thread seems to provide a far more detailed history of how that fishery has been exploited by all of its users resulting in its current condition:

http://peninsulaclarion.com/news/2013-11-23/king-salmon-part-4-what-became-of-the-yukon-kings

I have read about the problem and it is truly a huge hit for the natives. I know that they rely so much on the salmon runs for many different uses. It's a shame that this is happening but I can't help but think like so much in this world that greed is at the root of this. There are so many people and businesses that feel they are entitled and there is an "I'll get mine and worry about it later" attitude. This should be a wakeup call to everyone everywhere that nothing on this planet is infinite and that at some point the resource will fail and disappear if we don't suck it up and take drastic measures. That’s why it sickens me to see people catch and keep wild fish of any kind. People have posted pictures of beautiful native kings on this site that were kept. Why? What is it that makes someone want to bonk an endangered fish legal or not? I have released many big fish and I find that the feeling of watching the pig swim away is better than the feeling of bonking it. Until all users of the resource get together and solve these problems it’s only going to get worse.

The Natives should just sue the Federal Government, they will win and even the trawl fishery is not powerful enough to stop that!

Seems as though many of those in the upper river are Canadians. Also noted in the article is that upriver escapement hasn't met U.S.-Canadian treaty numbers for most of the recent years.

And then take a close look at the following info extracted from the article:

"But in the middle 1970s many people in the lower river shifted to a technique called drift netting, where a net stretches out from a boat drifting down the river. In 1960, there were 46 drift nets on the Yukon. By 1975 that number shot up to 314, a nearly sevenfold increase. One year later, there were 700 permits that allowed drift netting in the lower river, as Fish and Game established a “limited entry” commercial fishery."

One can point at the trawl fishery all one wants to but they aren't the only problem. And I wonder how many of those 700 permits are held by "Natives."