The 2024 Yukon River salmon fishing closures are underway, but communities along the Western Alaska River face another year with very few chances to catch salmon. This is the fifth year in a row that fishing has been almost completely stopped.
There’s a slight chance that people living in the lower part of the Yukon could catch some summer chum salmon. But it takes work. They’ll have to use different fishing gear, which might not be worth the effort for many of them.
Holly Carroll, who manages fishing for the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, says catching enough fish with the new gear is tough. For the next seven years, there will be no fishing for chinook salmon because the number of chinook salmon has been getting smaller and smaller.
A new agreement between Alaska and Canada aims to ensure that there are at least 71,000 chinook salmon each year. But less than 15,000 are expected to journey up the river.
Some people think big fishing boats catching other fish might be part of the problem. But Holly Carroll says other issues, like environmental changes, make it harder for salmon to survive.
Researchers are trying to understand what’s harming the salmon in the Yukon River. They’re studying things like fish eggs to see if there’s anything that could be harming them.
As the salmon start their journey up the river, people living along the Yukon are doing their best to protect them. They know how important salmon are, not just for food but for their way of life.
