Where are the Alaskan King Salmon?

Usually in Anchorage during the summer, the smokehouses along the Yukon River are filled with king salmon, an oil-rich, high energy staple used by native Alaskans as a primary food source throughout the long winter months in the frigid weather of Alaska. But this year the fish have decided not to show up.

For the last three years, rivers throughout Alaska have faced emergency closures for fisherman because of the dwindling numbers of fish returning to spawn. Commercial fishermen and residents of the Eskimo villages in western Alaska all agree that this winter will be a very tough one without the traditional stores of salmon to rely on.

King salmon usually spend several years in the Bering Sea before they return as adults, swimming inland to the rivers they were born in, where they spawn and then die. Federal biologists and state fisheries researchers are looking into possible causes for the salmon not returning in sufficient numbers in recent years. Some theories include a shift in the currents of the Pacific Ocean; lack of available food for the salmon; changing conditions of the rivers; and relationships between predators and prey.

But the people who live along the Yukon River have a different theory. The pollock fishery is the nation's largest, and it pulls nearly 1 million metric tons of fresh Pollock from the Bering Sea each year. The wholesale value of the pollock is close to $1 billion. But the tremendous trawl nets used to fish for pollock also pull up huge numbers of king salmon, most of which are tossed back into the ocean dead. Occasionally some are donated to the needy, but for the most part they are just killed and thrown away. Since 2000, the number of king salmon accidentally caught and killed has increased drastically each yer. In 2007, there were more than 120,000 king salmon slaughtered accidentally. Researchers believe that had those fish lived and been able to return to spawn, there would have been about 78,000 adult fish returned to the rivers in the Pacific Northwest and western Alaska.

A spokesman for the Ohagamuit Traditional Council says it is a known fact that the pollock fishery is singlehandedly slaughtering and decimating most of the king salmon that are trying to find their way into the major tributaries to spawn. By wiping out the salmon, the fishery is changing and taking away the traditional way of life for native Alaskans. Village economies are being devastated by the loss of the fish, because commercial fishing is a vital source of income. In past years, the Kwik'pak Fisheries on the lower Yukon River has employed 200-300 people each year. But this summer the fishery has employed only about 30 people. Kwik'pak has traditionally been the largest employer in the area.

Last year the North Pacific Fishery Management Council enacted a cap on the fishery, limiting the capture of king salmon to 60,000 a year. If that cap is reached, then the fishery is required to shut down for the year. But some coordinators at the council believe that the incidental capture of the kings isn't the only reason for the lower numbers each year. Researchers think that plankton blooms, changes in ocean currents, and perhaps even the carnivorous diet of the salmon may be contributing factors. River conditions and the salmon's activities in the ocean could have something to do with it. When the fish are in the marine environment, no one knows what they do or how they survive.

Salmon fishermen used to bring in $5-10 million from sales of salmon. In 2008, the total was just over $1 million. In the 1970s, salmon fishermen were making $20,000-30,000 each year. Now they are making just a few thousand dollars each year. In villages where gasoline costs $8 a gallon, a steak $25, and a gallon of milk costs $15, many villagers are having to pack up and leave just to survive. For half a century, the salmon fishing industry was extremely stable. Now biologists are scrambling to figure out why the king salmon are disappearing, and in the meantime they are doing their best to conservatively manage the Yukon River area.