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As of June 16, 48 cases of highly pathogenic avian flu were detected across the state of Alaska, according to the Department of Environmental Conservation. None of these confirmed cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza are in the northernmost regions of Alaska.
Birds that USFWS sent in from the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) for testing for highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) have tested positive. Sabines gulls, glaucous gulls, and black brant all tested positive for HPAI.
The vast majority of callers at the North Pacific Fishery Management Council meeting last week called for a reduction in bycatch limits, which they said would help reverse a dramatic trend of salmon declines on the Yukon and Kuskokwim Rivers.
It's become the norm in recent years — the closure of the once-popular recreational salmon fishery on the Yukon River. And it's happening again this summer, for both chinook and chum salmon.
By Megan Gannon
Cases are being detected all over the state, from the Aleutians to Mat-Su to Haines and the Interior.“What we’re seeing this year is an unprecedented level of highly pathogenic avian influenza in wild birds,” said Andy Ramey of USGS.
News of avian flu outbreaks in dozens of states in the lower 48 have wildlife managers and bird hunters on edge as the spring migration gets underway in Alaska.
Copper River Seafoods is ending its run in the old Snug Harbor Seafood plant, leaving one major salmon processor in the area.
Ten years ago, Mike Gibeau, then the carnivore biologist for Banff National Park, identified a problem: collisions between grizzly bears and trains were increasingly prevalent. Between 2000 and 2010, ten grizzly bears there were struck and killed by trains and several more unconfirmed strikes were reported.
With marine heat waves helping to wipe out some of Alaska’s storied salmon runs in recent years, officials have resorted to sending emergency food shipments to affected communities while scientists warn that the industry’s days of traditional harvests may be numbered. Salmon all but disappeared from the 2,000-mile (3,200-kilometer) Yukon River run last year.
They have so far identified fewer than 100 hares in the Nome area, fewer than 20 in Ekuk near Bristol Bay and about 10 in the Kotzebue area. Alaska hares are distinct from snowshoe hares mainly because of their size. Jackrabbits are two to three times bigger than the snowshoe, according to Barger.
The dam altered the subsistence gathering patterns of the Tagish Kwan, the Daḵká Kwa’an and the Kwanlin Dün people. Residences, cabins and fish camps along the Whitehorse rapids were dismantled, gatherings at M’Clintock stopped, and many people dispersed to Fish Lake and Whitehorse.
Fourteen Alaska fisheries have been declared federal disasters by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce. Gina Raimondo issued the declarations on Jan. 21. The announcement includes Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta salmon fisheries, and could lead to federal funding for fishermen.
The Skagway Traditional Council is asking harvesters to avoid blue mussels until the population rebounds.
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