Kuskokwim salmon management group wants earlier meeting with state managers on summer king run

Chinook King Salmon Yukon Delta
Chinook salmon, Yukon Delta NWR. (Public domain photo by Craig Springer/U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service)

There may be fewer king salmon on the Kuskokwim River this summer than hoped, and some residents want to meet with state biologists now to figure out how best to manage both expectations and the fishery.

“Our preference is that preseason plan doesn’t start being discussed the very last few days of March, or April or May,” said Mary Sattler Petola, one of four members of the Kuskokwim River Salmon Management Working Group who sent a letter to the State Fish and Game Department asking for a meeting well before the season begins. “(In) May we are all preparing for fish camp.”

In the letter, Peltola, along with Fritz Charles, Bev Hoffman and LaMont Albertson, said biologists have the information they need by January to begin a summer management plan and should have been consulting with the working group in February.

Peltola and the other signers of the letter are concerned that state biologists’ estimates of King returns this summer may be too optimistic.

She points to the parents of this year’s kings, which swam up the Kuskokwim in 2013. They showed up in such low numbers that there were practically no late kings to speak of that year.

“We harvested it pretty heavily,” Peltola said. “So I think it would be best if the department did have conversations with us about the possibility about it being another tough summer.”

Nowhere near enough kings made it to the spawning grounds, but luckily for the fishermen, there was a nice silver run to help fill nets and pantries that summer.

Fish are not a small issue for Yupik people.

“Our word for fish, neqa, is our word for food. Our generic word for food; the same word,” Peltola pointed out.

In their letter, the four working group members worry that the projections for the king return may be too optimistic. They point to Fish and Game’s reliance on models that may not truly reflect what is going on in the salmon populations. The members say those models need to be reviewed by independent scientists.

“Getting really solid peer review is important,” Peltola said. “There is this concern that Fish and Game may be having these conversations among just Fish and Game people or retired Fish and Game folks. Maybe the peer review should happen earlier and with a broader group of people.”

The king runs on the Kuskokwim have been struggling for some time.

Peltola, who grew up fishing the river, said that 2010 was the year she first realized that the king run was in major distress.

“When I think about fish camp and king fishing I have the pre-2010 memory, and then the more recent memory after 2010 that has been much much tougher,” Peltola said. “Even with me it was very emotional. Thinking about kings being weak, weak runs, it was like a family member being sick.”

In their letter, the four members of the Kuskokwim River Salmon Management Working Group said they want the state to take a conservative approach and limit fishing on kings to help restore the run to its former strength.

Fish and Game is trying to schedule a meeting of the Working Group in Bethel for the end of March.

KYUK - Bethel

KYUK is our partner station in Bethel. KTOO collaborates with partners across the state to cover important news and to share stories with our audiences.

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