NEW CHUM SALMON RESEARCH & MONITORING PLAN IDENTIFIES PRIORITIES FOR DECLINED WESTERN ALASKA POPULATIONS
The Arctic-Yukon-Kuskokwim Sustainable Salmon Initiative released its new research and monitoring blueprint addressing declined Western Alaska chum salmon populations entitled: “ARCTIC-YUKON-KUSKOKWIM CHUM SALMON RESEARCH AND MONITORING ACTION PLAN: EVIDENCE OF DECLINE OF CHUM SALMON POPULATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH AND MONITORING.”
Beginning as early as 2018 chum salmon populations experienced widespread declines and have not yet returned to their former abundance in the Yukon River, Kuskokwim River, and rivers in the Norton Sound region. These disastrous declines of chum salmon over the past decade have resulted in widespread commercial fishing closures, restrictions in subsistence harvests, and unmet escapement targets.
The Chum Salmon Action Plan was developed by the AYK SSI’s six member Scientific Technical Committee. The centerpiece of the Action Plan is a set of six strategic research and monitoring priorities aimed at advancing our understanding of the causes for the decline and, in turn, to promote the rebuilding and sustainable management of AYK chum salmon stocks.
Because the AYK region is data limited, additional research and expanded monitoring is critical to increasing our understanding of which factors have contributed most to the chum salmon decline.
AYK SSI will use the priorities as a roadmap to guide and inform the choosing of projects to fund. Other salmon and marine research programs are encouraged to review and consider inclusion in their research programs the priorities identified in the AYK SSI’s new plan.
