Background Articles

Federal officials denied an emergency request to close crucial habitat for Bristol Bay red king crab to all commercial fishing.

The Arctic Sounder - Serving the Northwest Arctic and the North Slope

Yukon River chinook salmon runs have been steadily declining, with 2022 the smallest run on record. As the fish disappear, Yukon First Nations fear the cultures and traditions built around the salmon over countless generations will too.

As big fish crop up in unexpected places, experts say that they're relocating to new environments as waters warm.

As chum and chinook salmon numbers dwindle in Western Alaska, salmon bycatch in the pollock industry was a main concern addressed by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, or NPFMC, from Jun…

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.

Copper River Seafoods is ending its run in the old Snug Harbor Seafood plant, leaving one major salmon processor in the area.

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.

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.

Restrictions exist for East and West Mackey, Sevena, Union, Derks and Stormy lakes in 2022

Deglaciation could increase salmon habitat by nearly 30% in the Gulf of Alaska by 2100.

On Dec. 8 and 9, U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan and Rep. Don Young held a Zoom meeting between salmon researchers, tribes, and managers. Their goal was to unite these groups’ efforts to determine the cause of the ongoing Chinook declines and the sudden chum crash in Western Alaska. After two days of meetings, the groups are still at odds over what’s causing the declines, and what the best way to move forward is.

Fish Factor: The summer setline survey could result in increased catches for most regions in 2022.

Salmon abundance is down and population distributions have changed, according to NOAA’s 2021 surface trawl survey.

Multiple fish populations in the Bering Sea have experienced a slight decline, according to the 2021 Bottom Trawl survey.

Drought and extreme heat that scientists link to climate change are altering the UNESCO-protected marshlands. Iraq's average annual temperatures are increasing at nearly double the rate of Earth's.