To American Policy Makers:
Download a copy of the below form here or copy and paste the below text here to write to the Office of Governor Mike Dunleavy.
Subject: 2028 will be too late: The unsustainable Alaskan Fishery needs to be controlled NOW to save steelhead and salmon in BC, Washington and Oregon
Dear Governor Dunleavy,
The Canada-US Pacific Salmon Treaty was meant to prevent overfishing. Instead, Alaska is allowing aggressive fishing on the outer coast migration route of south bound fish. Too many Pacific Northwest steelhead and salmon end up as bycatch before they can spawn in coastal rivers — and are thrown back dead to hide the disgrace.
All the while, Alaskan fish is marketed as ‘certified sustainable wild caught Alaskan Chinook’. It’s not remotely sustainable. And most of it isn’t even Alaskan— it’s BC, Washington and Oregon fish.
Canada stuck by the spirit and letter of the Treaty, which expires in 2028. They closed fisheries and factory fish farms to conserve BC salmon, and used tax dollars to make historic investments in wild steelhead and salmon restoration. They even closed the Skeena steelhead runs, causing hardship in the tourism economy.
But in 2021, Alaskan fishermen took an estimated 2.1 million wild Pacific Northwest fish including 1 in 3 of all Skeena-bound steelhead. Why estimates? Because the Alaskan fishery is deliberately keeping no records of its bycatch. 2023 could be much, much worse.
In 2021 alone, 160,000 Chinook were intercepted before they could return to southern waters — many of the impacted populations that are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. It’s time to act on Magistrate Peterson’s recommendation to shut down the Southeast Alaskan troll fishery. The Alaskan troll fishery is starving the Southern Resident killer whale population and destroying future generations of Chinook in BC, Washington and Oregon rivers.
What are we going to do about this threat? Here are just four action items I’d urge you to discuss with your colleagues:
Push the District 104 net fishery back to inside waters where only Alaska-origin stocks are targeted.
Reduce the catch in other Southeast Alaska salmon fisheries to levels that do not contribute to overfishing of Canadian-origin steelhead and salmon.
Insist on catch reporting for all species, with independent verification — the same as Canada.
Require fishers to release bycatch species back to the water immediately, with the “least potential harm,” and implement sorting practices that enable live release, consistent with BC fisheries.
It’s shocking to me that Alaskan fishers are throwing thousands of dead BC, Washington and Oregon-bound fish overboard every year. The long-term health of fishing in the Pacific Northwest is in danger.
We’ve come so far together to protect wild steelhead and salmon. And now it’s going to waste. First Nations are running low on their essential food. Endangered Southern Resident killer whales, bears and other wildlife rely on coastal fish to survive.
Now is the time for all levels of government to reconsider the terms of the Treaty so that it is fair — and regulated. 2028 may be too late. Please don’t wait until 2028 to take action — I’m afraid we may see the destruction of the wild fish ecosystem in BC, Washington and Oregon in our generation. We should be ashamed.
Sincerely,
A Concerned Angler