Subsistence fishermen along the Kuskokwim River are reporting water on the is low, and nets are coming up mostly empty.
Other fishermen, facing tight restrictions and cultural tension, have decided to refuse to fish.
“I’m a lifetime fishermen. I’m 72 years old,” said John Alegyuk Andrew, a subsistence fisherman in Kwethluk.
He represents the Lower Kuskokwim in subsistence fishing on the Kuskokwim River Salmon Management Working Group.
The group advises the Alaska Department of Fish and Game on management decisions. It held its first meeting of the season Wednesday.
The meeting opened on a solemn note, with a moment of silence for Greg Roczicka, a founding member, who has left a big hole. Roczicka died last week at his home in Bethel at the age of 61. Andrew worked with him for decades on fish and game issues.
“He accomplished a lot in this region. And we just…we’re missing him right now,” Andrew said.
The lower and middle Kuskokwim had its first gill net fishing opening this past weekend: 4-inch mesh, set gill nets; a 12-hour opener from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
But, when fishermen pulled up their nets, some came up empty. Many had about three fish. Others had none.
About a dozen subsistence fishermen, representing every section of the Kuskokwim River, called in or showed up at the meeting to report these findings.
And they all said the same thing as Andrew:
“The water is very, very low. The lowest I’ve ever seen in my lifetime.”
Andrew says the water is about 8 feet lower than it usually is this time of year, and that makes fish hard to catch.
“When the water is really low, the water is clear,” he said. “The fish can see the net and avoid it. They can swim under it or on the sides.”
It’s also more difficult to find an eddy to set the net in. With less water, fishermen are noticing that the water is warmer.
The higher water temperature is another problem; the fish die faster in the net.
There was another issue: The fishing opening was on a blue sky, clear day. Not good fishing weather.
“We do our best fishing when it’s a little windy or stormy,” Andrew said.
Even if fishing conditions were good, there still might have been fewer fish caught than normal.
Andrew said some Yup’ik fishermen refused to fish during the opening. The 4-inch gear that was allowed is meant to target whitefish and other non-salmon species.
Managers are asking fishermen to return king salmon alive to the water so that they can reach their spawning grounds during this conservation period.
“That’s more of a cultural slap in the face for my people,” Andrew said. “We the people have a tradition. If we catch something, we bring it home. We bring it home and prepare it to be our food, not the other people’s tradition of catch and release. When we do that, we are playing with our food.”
Many fishermen said that they are waiting until the 6-inch mesh openings begin in mid-June to start fishing.
They’ll be more likely to catch salmon, and they won’t be encouraged to release their kings.
