Alaska salmon fishery

Boxes of salmon on a hoist in Petersburg, Alaska ca. 1915

The Alaska salmon fishery was saved due to strict mitigation measures and the implementation of policies. Alaska's successful conservation of their salmon resources is reflected in recent healthy and abundant salmon runs. Currently, the harvest in Alaska represents about 80% of the total wild-caught North American harvest of salmon, harvests from Canada representing about 15%, and harvests from Pacific Northwest states representing about 5%.

History

Alaska did not always have healthy stocks of salmon. The salmon catch grew rapidly with the expansion of the cannery capacity through 1920. This led to over fishing, which resulted in such low salmon stocks that President Eisenhower declared Alaska a federal disaster area in 1953. In fact, in 1959, statewide harvests totaled only about 25 million salmon, which is less than 20% of current sustained production. This was a major factor in the declines of the Alaska salmon fishery that occurred between 1920 and 1959. Alaska achieved statehood in the year of 1959. After analysis, it was clear that the reason for the decline was the lack of implementation of the federal policies in place before statehood. Furthermore, the Federal government failed to provide the financial resources needed to manage and research salmon stocks and fisheries such that fishing could be regulated and depressed stocks could be rehabilitated. The decline was temporarily arrested after Alaska became a state and instituted new conservation measures. However, the inexorable entry of more technological fishing gear coincided with further decline to record low levels in 1972. This decline helped promote the enclosure of the salmon fishery in 1973 under a limited entry permit system. Since then the catch has rebounded to near-record levels due to Alaska’s salmon management.

Policies

Federal management to State management

Anvik River chum salmon

Year	Escapement	Return
1972	457,800	362,587
1973	249,015	856,936
1974	411,133	1,338,657
1975	900,967	843,132
1976	511,475	2,926,444
1977	358,771	1,321,297
1900	307,270	1,187,305
1979	280,537	979,514
1980	492,676	1,744,558
1981	1,486,182	2,779,191
1982	444,581	988,061
1983	362,912	1,220,480
1984	891,028	2,928,193
1985	1,080,243	1,141,620
1986	1,189,602	1,203,267
1987	455,876	1,480,599
1988	1,125,449	628,815
1989	636,906	1,318,363
1990	403,627	1,300,412
1991	847,772	1,588,212
1992	775,626	1,233,719
1993	517,409	467,159

Alaska changed from federal management of its fisheries to state management in 1959. Alaska’s constitution has an article regarding the management and utilization of the state's natural resources. Article VIII, Section 4 states: “Fish, forests, wildlife, grasslands, and all other replenishable resources belonging to the State shall be utilized, developed, and maintained on the sustained yield principle, subject to preferences among beneficial uses.” The Alaska Department of Fish and Game was formed when Alaska became a state. While the Alaska Department of Fish and Game was formed with a strong conservation mandate to manage salmon fisheries for sustained yield, the Alaska Board of Fisheries, on the other hand, was given the responsibility for allocating that yield of salmon to users. The clear separation of primary conservation authority from allocation authority is one of the strengths of the Alaskan fishery management system.

The dominant goal is the harvest policy known as “fixed escapement,” or ensuring that sufficient numbers of adult spawning salmon escape capture in the fishery and are allowed to spawn in the rivers, thus maintaining the long-term health of the stocks. Salmon managers open and close fisheries on a daily basis to ensure that adequate spawning escapements are achieved. When run failures occur, managers close fisheries to provide for predetermined escapement needs and therefore ensuring long-term sustainable yields. When run strength is strong, managers liberalize harvest regulations to utilize surpluses. Alaska’s focused emphasis on in-season management by local biologists with delegated regulatory authority to ensure sustained yields is a key ingredient to successful salmon management.

Limited Entry Act

Alaska has succeeded in sustainable yield management of its salmon fisheries since the enclosure of the salmon fishery in 1973 under a limited entry permit system. The Alaskan legislature adopted the Limited Entry Act, establishing the current limited entry system for the salmon fisheries. The Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission (CFEC) administers the commercial fishery entry permit system. The objective of the CFEC is to “limit entry into commercial fisheries and provide annual licensing and permitting of fisheries to facilitate the management and development of fishery resources for maximum benefit of those dependent upon them and the economy of the state.” Some key features of the program are to prohibit permit leasing, prevent the use of permits as collateral for loans, and allow for free transferability. The Limited Entry law also defined entry permits as a use-privilege that can be modified by the legislature without compensation. Free transferability has resulted in maintaining high percentages of residents within Alaska’s fisheries and has been upheld by Alaska’s Supreme Court. They are a property right of the holder and may be sold, bought and are heritable.

The limited entry permit system has been beneficial to Alaska's fisheries in several ways. Implementation of the Limited Entry Act protected Alaska’s fisheries from an influx of new fishermen from West Coast fisheries where fishing opportunities have been severely reduced by court decisions and stock conditions. Net economic benefits have accrued that may not have existed under open access. In reference to salmon populations, the permit system has been vastly successful in increasing populations (Figure 1).

Alternative explanations

It is relatively clear that the reason for increased populations of salmon fisheries was the conversion to state management in 1959 and then the limited entry permit system in 1973. However, viable alternative explanations always exist.

One such explanation is the enhancement of salmon due to the start of the hatchery program in 1971. Modern salmon hatcheries in Alaska were developed in response to record low wild-stock runs in the 1970s. Initially conceived as state-run systems, most Alaskan hatcheries are now run by private non-profit organizations. Alaska now has 33 production hatcheries in a balanced program designed to enhance fisheries while maintaining healthy wild stocks. Some hatcheries release over 100 million juvenile salmon annually. Statewide totals are 1.2 to 1.4 billion annually over the last decade. During the past decade, hatcheries have produced 27-63 million adults annually, accounting for 14-37% of statewide commercial salmon harvest (Figure 2). These high percentages help show that the massive increase in salmon populations was not only due to the policies implemented during statehood and the entry of the limited permit system, but it may have occurred due to the introduction of hatcheries. If the hatchery enhanced salmon populations in figure 2 (red) is removed from the data, the graph would show a population level similar to the yields from before 1970. Therefore, it can be demonstrated that the formation of these hatcheries is an alternative explanation to the salmon population surge.

Stocks of concern

Kow-Ear-Nuk and salmon catch, early 1900s

The Alaskan Board of Fisheries identified six “stocks of concern” in late 2000, categorizing them as having yield concern. This is defined as “a chronic inability (over four to five years, despite use of specific management measures) to maintain yields or harvestable surplus above escapement needs.”

• Kuskokwim chinook salmon
• Kuskokwim chum salmon
• Yukon fall chum salmon (except Toklat and Fishing Branch stocks)
• Yukon chinook salmon
• Golovin Bay & Moses Pt. chum salmon
• Kvichak sockeye salmon

Areas of concern

Yukon River

In 2001 commercial fishing of the Alaskan Portion of the Yukon River was closed, due to poor runs recorded in the previous years. The 2006 Joint Technical Committee of the Yukon River US/Canada Panel documented the size and sex composition of Yukon River chinook salmon and found “limited, but suggestive” evidence that the fish morphology has changed. Specific findings included a decrease in the mean weight of commercial harvests, a reduction in the prevalence of the largest fish, and the apparent near disappearance of age-8 fish. The committee also reported that mean length-at-age, another important metric, had not substantially changed. In addition to changes in physical characteristics of Chinook salmon, a protozoan pathogen (Ichthyophonus sp.), not previously present in the Yukon River began appearing in increasing numbers of fish. First reported in 1988 the parasite prevalence increased continually until it peaked at a 40% in 2003-2004. During this time it was reported that up to 60% of infected fish died before they could successfully spawn. Beginning in 2004 the infection prevalence has decreased in parallel with a decrease in the Chinook population. Causes of these changes, whether environmental or fishery-induced, were not clear and the committee found expanded monitoring was needed.

References

• Alaska Department of Fish and Games, 2001, ADF&G 2001, Policy for the Management of Sustainable Salmon Fisheries
• FAO Fisheries Department, 2002, FAO 2002, The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture, Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

See also

• Alaska Packers' Association