Legislature(2021 - 2022)GRUENBERG 120
02/03/2022 11:00 AM House FISHERIES
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| Presentation: Yukon River Chum Salmon - Commissioner Vincent-lang | |
| Adjourn |
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ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
HOUSE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON FISHERIES
February 3, 2022
11:03 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Geran Tarr, Chair
Representative Louise Stutes, Vice Chair
Representative Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins
Representative Andi Story
Representative Dan Ortiz
Representative Sarah Vance
Representative Kevin McCabe
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
OTHER LEGISLATORS PRESENT
Representative Mike Cronk
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
PRESENTATION: YUKON RIVER CHUM SALMON - COMMISSIONER VINCENT-
LANG
- HEARD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
DOUG VINCENT-LANG, Commissioner
Alaska Department of Fish & Game
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented the Yukon River Chum Salmon
update.
ACTION NARRATIVE
11:03:37 AM
CHAIR GERAN TARR called the House Special Committee on Fisheries
meeting to order at 11:03 a.m. Representatives Tarr, Stutes,
Vance, Story, Ortiz, and McCabe were present at the call to
order. Representative Kreiss-Tomkins arrived as the meeting was
in progress. Also present was Representative Cronk.
^PRESENTATION: Yukon River Chum Salmon - Commissioner Vincent-
Lang
PRESENTATION: Yukon River Chum Salmon - Commissioner Vincent-
Lang
11:04:25 AM
CHAIR TARR announced that the only order of business would be a
presentation on the Yukon River Chum Salmon by Alaska Department
of Fish & Game (ADF&G) Commissioner Doug Vincent-Lang.
11:05:02 AM
DOUG VINCENT-LANG, Commissioner, Alaska Department of Fish &
Game, stated that the House Special Committee on Fisheries had
requested that ADF&G provide a report on the findings on the low
returns of chum salmon to the Yukon River drainage. He stated
that many reasons had been identified as a culprit for the low
returns, including bycatch. He stated that sustainable
management decisions were made by taking into consideration all
of the impacts on low returns and also taking into consideration
impacts of management to the fishing industry and communities.
He stated that the department had closed in-river and coastal
fisheries including subsistence, commercial, sport, and personal
use due to the poor returns of chum salmon to the area. He
reminded the committee that the Alaska State Constitution and
statutes mandate that salmon fisheries be managed to the maximum
sustained yield principle and, when returns are low enough that
future returns would be put at risk, the department is bound to
close fishing, including subsistence fishing. He stated that
salmon returns are cyclical, and that while the most recent
return was low, it was not the only instance of low returns, and
fisheries management had been employed to aid in the restoration
of salmon runs in the past. He noted that chum salmon in the
Yukon-Kuskokwim area had collapsed in the 1990s and had
rebounded in the early 2000s. He stated that the State of
Alaska is extremely concerned with the low returns of chum
salmon experienced the prior summer impacting food security,
culture, and economics. He stated that more than 50,000
residents throughout over 100 different communities are impacted
by the chum salmon return. He added that ADF&G understands that
commercial fishing activities are important to provide the
resources necessary to support a subsistence lifestyle. He
shared that he had visited affected communities and sought
feedback on the impacts [of closing the fisheries] experienced
by local residents. He stated that the [Dunleavy]
administration understood that there is no substitution for
subsistence living, and it had distributed salmon to affected
communities, and is considering additional distribution of
salmon to other affected communities in hopes to, at least
partially, offset the effects of the lost food. He added that,
where sustainably possible, the department was considering
extending moose and caribou hunting in the affected areas and
department staff continue to explore other opportunities [to
maintain food security in the area.]
11:08:48 AM
COMMISSIONER VINCENT-LANG stated that he would address the
reasons for the poor chum returns and measures that could be
adopted in a forensic-type of analysis to the committee. He
provided background on the fishery by explaining that there
exist two distinct runs of chum salmon to the Yukon River; the
summer chum run, which spawns entirely within Alaska, and the
fall return, which spawns both in Alaska and in Canada. He
explained that the fall chum run is subject to the Pacific
Salmon Treaty, which have required border passage objectives to
which the summer run is not subject. He stated that one-and-a-
half to two million fish are missing based on pre-season
projections on the fish run. He stated that many have
postulated that [a major reason] is due to bycatch, and he
addressed the Bering Sea trawl fishery. He stated that trawl
fisheries target pollock and cod, and some chum are captured as
bycatch in that fishery. He explained that most of the chum
caught as bycatch in that fishery are juvenile and would not
have been expected to return on the current year's Yukon River
run and that the fish caught two years prior would have been
expected in the past year's run. He stated that, two years
ago, an estimated 350,000 juvenile chum salmon and, while the
number of bycatch fish is large and efforts should be made to
reduce that number, the origins of the fish consist of
approximately half of Asian origin, and, of the remaining
175,000 fish, only slightly less than half are of western Alaska
origin, based on genetic testing. He estimated that
approximately only 35,000 fish would have returned to western
Alaska if none had been caught as bycatch. He concluded to the
committee that bycatch alone would not account for 1.5 2
million missing fish. He stated that it was possible that some
of the fish had been caught outside of U. S. fisheries,
including by Russian fishers, but the origins of those caught
fish remain unknown. He stated that Russian trawlers [unlike
Alaska trawlers] do not have neutral, independent observers on
board their vessels. He stated that Alaska, as a member of the
North Pacific Fishery Management Council, had written a letter
to the United States Secretary of State to request collaboration
on better catch accounting and genetic analysis of Russian
trawler bycatch of salmon. He stated that if the bycatch
numbers were comparable to the Alaska trawler bycatch fishery,
bycatch alone would not be the main factor in the poor return of
chum salmon. He stated that the department will continue to
seek data from the Russian fisheries. He added that western
Alaska chum salmon could also be caught in mixed stock fisheries
within state waters, such as those along the Alaska Peninsula,
in which an estimated 2.2 million chums were harvested in those
fisheries and through genetic testing it is known that
approximately 600,000 of those are of western Alaska origin, and
half of which are known to be of Bristol Bay origin. He
cautioned that limitations on genetic testing did not allow for
a complete distinction between Yukon River and Norton Sound
salmon, although the department was making progress in that area
of study.
11:12:42 AM
COMMISSIONER VINCENT-LANG stated that most of the harvest of
western Alaska chum salmon takes place during the June fishery,
and chums caught later in the year are of local stocks, and the
June fishery alone would not explain what happened [to cause the
poor return.] He added that fall chums, which are not harvested
in that fishery also collapsed, which indicates that the fishery
alone is not the cause of the poor returns. He added that the
estimates were based on genetic data from years in which there
existed high abundance of summer chum salmon in western Alaska
which, despite being the best available data, may overestimate
the projected harvest of western Alaska stocks. He stated that
ADF&G staff are preparing a study proposal to update the genetic
composition of Alaska Peninsula fisheries, to begin in June, and
will be funded by food security funds and a request for FY 2022
supplemental funds had been made to continue that work. He
characterized the study as critical, as the data used currently
is over a decade old, and chum salmon composition across the
drainages has changed. He stated that he had also directed
staff to identify opportunities for the exercise of his
emergency order authority to reduce intercept of western Alaska
chum salmon during the June season, should low returns occur.
He added that the Alaska Board of Fish will discuss the [chum
fishery] during its next annual meeting cycle. He stated that,
several years prior, a marine survival study involving multiple
agencies to determine impacts to salmon survival in the deep
blue ocean. He stated that the study was providing clues and
insights to forecast and manage the fisheries more effectively.
He stated that it had been discovered that the first few months
of life in the marine environment may be critical to projecting
the long-term survival of chum salmon. He expressed an interest
in the department expanding the study into the Bering Sea and
Gulf of Alaska, subject to supplemental capital project funding.
He added that the department is participating in various deep
blue ocean surveys to better understand marine survival in the
open ocean. He stated that there exist many challenges to
[studying marine life] in the open ocean because telemetry
studies do not work in saltwater, and the ocean is a much larger
environment in which to operate than in a river environment. He
added that funds from the Pacific Salmon Commission through the
North Pacific Research Board had been designated towards the
department staff's effort of researching in the north Gulf of
Alaska and the Bering Sea, including funding staff on board
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) research
vessels and two staff members who are scheduled to be on board a
Russian research vessel. He added that the department was
working with the U. S. congressional delegation to secure
additional resources at the federal level to continue the
research.
11:16:33 AM
COMMISSIONER VINCENT-LANG described a new research program that
had been federally funded. He explained that there exists a run
and harvest assessment with sonar tracking and genetic stock
analysis of a lower tributary of the Porcupine River in Alaska
to study the declines in the fall salmon run of Canadian origin
which return to the Yukon River. He stated the startup and in-
season study would aid in meeting the obligations of the Pacific
Salmon Treaty to report U. S. harvest data. He added that there
was underway a comprehensive subsistence survey to collect
summer and fall chum subsistence harvest and use and need data,
for all Yukon River salmon stocks. He further explained that
there had been calls for rehabilitation of runs using
enhancement [funds.] He noted that most of the use of
enhancement has been on chinook salmon, due to declines in
abundance of that species and suggested that the decline in chum
runs could be integrated into the work already being done on
chinook. He stated that ADF&G staff would draft a Yukon area
comprehensive salmon plan for his review and approval as a
necessary first step, along with discussion with the Yukon panel
of the Pacific Salmon Treaty. He suggested that there exists a
need for planning and preparation before it would be possible to
increase fish stocks. He expressed sympathy with those affected
by low salmon runs and assured the committee that the department
was taking steps to identify the causes and would use sound
management to address the issues.
11:19:29 AM
REPRESENTATIVE ORTIZ asked whether there exists no cap or limit
on bycatch of chum salmon within the pollock fleet.
COMMISSIONER VINCENT-LANG confirmed that no cap limits are in
place in bycatch of chum, but limits did exist for chinook
salmon and the chum were a part of that same fishery.
REPRESENTATIVE ORTIZ asked what the origin was of the estimated
bycatch previously described by the Commissioner.
COMMISSIONER VINCENT-LANG answered that NOAA monitors the entire
trawl fishery and provides data and fish for genetic sampling.
REPRESENTATIVE ORTIZ asked, without any limits on bycatch of
chum salmon, how the number of bycatch could be reduced.
COMMISSIONER VINCENT-LANG answered that the department would
need to review data collected on bycatch within the trawl
fishery to determine where more chum are being caught. He
stated that action had recently been taken to reduce the number
of halibut bycatch in the Bering Sea, in which nets were raised
off of the sea floor and could potentially have led to
additional salmon bycatch. He cautioned that the fishery is
very dynamic and the fishery is not rationalized. He stated
that rationalization has been the most effective step in
reducing bycatch of all species due to more time and space for
fishers to operate more cleanly.
11:23:29 AM
REPRESENTATIVE VANCE asked whether the projections of the
upcoming chum runs had improved.
COMMISSIONER VINCENT-LANG answered that the near-shore marine
survey contained the data used for projections and that was
currently under review by department staff. He hypothesized
that the next projection would likely remain low, but that hope
existed that future runs would improve. He added that the major
factor affecting chum salon returns is their life out in the
ocean. He added that salmon out in the ocean have higher energy
demands and less nutritious food sources leading to a decline in
survival and them returning sooner, at a smaller age, from the
ocean. He added that predation and competition for food sources
exist. He noted that the ocean conditions are changing and
could benefit salmon food sources.
11:26:05 AM
REPRESENTATIVE VANCE asked what the timeline of implementing the
data research findings into the fishery would be.
COMMISSIONER VINCENT-LANG stated that food security funds would
be required to undertake the research, and it would not likely
be completed in the upcoming season. He stated that other
research efforts that are underway would also not likely be
implemented to the next season's management decisions and those
research efforts were also based on funding. He estimated that
management programs would bear results of the research within
the next one to two years.
REPRESENTATIVE VANCE asked, within Area M, there appeared to be
a discrepancy between reported and observed bycatch and asked
how increased accountability may be brought.
COMMISSIONER VINCENT-LANG asked whether the area in question was
in the Bering Sea or in the Gulf of Alaska.
REPRESENTATIVE VANCE stated her concern was within Area M.
COMMISSIONER VINCENT-LANG answered that Area M is within the
Gulf of Alaska and are state managed salmon fisheries and are
not bycatch. He offered the clarification that fish are bycatch
when they are not targeted [by the fishery.] He added that the
chum salmon fishery was important to take into consideration
when investigating the reasons for low returns. He explained
that fish tickets and genetic studies exist for those fisheries.
He stated that trawl fisheries in the Gulf of Alaska are
federally managed fisheries and have an observer program and
offered to investigate whether there exists a discrepancy in
NOAA reported data and observer reported data.
11:30:38 AM
REPRESENTATIVE MCCABE stated that the observer program was
important and discrepancies in reporting should be investigated.
He added that the year 2022 is the International Year of the
Salmon, and research vessels would be deployed to conduct
research on developing a "likely suspects" framework. He asked
whether ADF&G has a "likely suspects" framework including some
of the previously discussed potential contributing factors [to
declining chum salmon runs.]
COMMISSIONER VINCENT-LANG answered that ADF&G was supporting the
work being done on the International Year of the Salmon by
directing funds from the North Pacific Research Board and the
Pacific Salmon Commission as well as several ADF&G staff on
board the research vessels as well as on board a Russian
research vessel. He stated that ADF&G does not have its own
"likely suspects" framework, but that it was participating in
the development of the framework with other agencies. He
suggested that one year of studies would not result in enough
data to implement management tools and cautioned that much
information [affecting salmon returns] is in the ocean. He
added that, over the last decade, chinook returns have declined
in conjunction with the enactment of the Marine Mammal
Protection Act, which has increased the number of natural salmon
predators in the ocean. He stated that research efforts
underway are the first attempt to understand what affects salmon
in the big ocean, in which salmon spend the majority of their
life stages. He stated that salmon are returning smaller,
younger, and with signs of predation and there are predictors
that show that the ocean is not as friendly as it used to be for
salmon.
11:36:19 AM
REPRESENTATIVE MCCABE asked whether ADF&G has suggestions for
the trawl fleet to voluntarily limit bycatch with best practices
while research is underway. He asked whether measures such as
LED lights to lead desired fish, or a smaller sample run to
determine whether the potential for bycatch exists so that a
trawler could relocate its net to a set that would involve less
bycatch. He stated that the U.S. Department of Commerce had
declared a fishery disaster going back to 2018. He asked
whether funds had been designated to ADF&G through the economic
disaster declaration.
COMMISSIONER VINCENT-LANG stated that the observer program was
expensive but necessary, and it was the intent of the department
to draft a report on findings of the independence and
verifiability of the program. He expressed his agreement with
Representative McCabe's suggestions of practices that would
mitigate bycatch. He added that for implementation of the
practices and methods described, fishers need additional time to
plan and implement those practices. He stated that the race for
as many fish in as short a period of time as possible prohibited
fishers from implementing LED lights or other measures. He
stated that rationalized fisheries would enable quota shares to
be caught over a longer period of time, which could enable
experimentation of practices to reduce bycatch. He noted that
pollock and cod was rationalized, and chinook was capped, and it
was under consideration to cap chum fisheries. He stated that
rationalization of the Gulf of Alaska trawl fishery would allow
for more time for fishers to experiment to reduce bycatch.
11:41:48 AM
COMMISSIONER VINCENT-LANG answered Representative McCabe's
inquiry on disaster declarations by explaining the process. He
explained that fishers can request a declaration of disaster
under the Magnusson Stevens Act or the Interjurisdictional
Fisheries Act, which ADF&G reviews to determine whether the
request meets the criteria set forth in the Acts. The
department coordinates communication with the U. S. Secretary of
Commerce through the governor's office for a determination of
whether a disaster has occurred. When a disaster is declared by
the U. S. Secretary of Commerce, it does not mean that there is
necessarily money made available and that funds would be made
available through congressional appropriation, which the
Secretary may award to anywhere in the country in which a
disaster has been declared. He further explained that the State
of Alaska engages in a public process to develop a spend plan,
which is then submitted to the U. S. Secretary of Commerce and
the U. S. Office of Management & Budget for review and approval
and, once the spend plan is approved, the funds are directed to
an organization located in the State of Oregon for distribution
[to areas affected in Alaska.] He expressed that while he was
happy that the federal government had agreed with the
declaration of disaster, he cautioned that the process for the
receipt of [disaster relief funds] is a long, drawn-out process.
He added that coordination with the U. S. Congressional
Delegation was taking place to streamline the process for
receiving disaster funds and, to date, no award had been made.
11:44:47 AM
CHAIR TARR offered that future committee hearings may be held so
that the committee could fully understand the disaster
declaration processes underway.
11:45:13 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS asked what the estimated total
bycatch was in Area M and in the Bering Sea trawl fisheries.
COMMISSIONER VINCENT-LANG answered that [projections]
demonstrated one-and-a-half to two million chums were missing
from the Yukon run, and bycatch would account for 30,000 to
40,000 of those fish. He added that Area M was an intercept
fishery and estimated to consist of another 300,000 fish. He
added that the projections had been based on studies during
which Yukon chum were at relatively high abundance. He added
that intercept fisheries [data] are more reflective of the
abundance of the fish.
REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS asked, since the Bering Sea trawl
fishery was 100 percent observed, whether the estimate of
300,000 to 400,000 chum bycatch was estimated with certainty.
COMMISSIONER VINCENT-LANG stated that all genetic testing has a
margin for error and other factors, and he answered that the
estimate was "in the ballpark" and that the department was
confident in the estimate of between 300,000 400,000 chum
caught as bycatch.
REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS asked what the total number of
chum bycatch including those which may not have come from the
Yukon River, Kuskokwim River, and Norton Sound watersheds.
COMMISSIONER VINCENT-LANG answered that, 2 years prior, the
total number was estimated to be 200,000 to 300,000 and may
fluctuate, especially during years of low chum returns.
REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS acknowledged the complexity of
ascertaining the reasons for low returns. He suggested that two
"levers" of management exist; the first, to impose limits on
bycatch and the second to impose catch limits through the Board
of Fish process in the Area M fishery. He asked the
Commissioner's opinion on the two apparent available management
"levers."
COMMISSIONER VINCENT-LANG answered that he was hesitant to
endorse a hard limit on chum bycatch in the absence of data
analysis and at the risk of increasing the number of chinook
caught as bycatch. He stated that, regarding the Board of Fish
management of the Alaska Peninsula fisheries, new information
would become available to inform the Board's decisions going
forward. He speculated that, should large numbers of chum
salmon be caught in [the Area M] fishery, the Board would likely
reconsider the allocation management of that fishery. He added
that, when subsistence fishing is closed in an area, the
migratory route of the salmon should be examined, and efforts
should be made to reduce the amount of chum salmon harvested in
other areas.
11:50:56 AM
REPRESENTATIVE STORY asked what requested studies are
anticipated to be funded through the State of Alaska and what
studies would be funded through the federal government so that
the legislature could best advocate for the collection of data
necessary to inform management decisions.
COMMISSIONER VINCENT-LANG answered that the FY 2022 state-funded
studies were the Alaska Marine Salmon Program and a capital
funding request for $1.5 million in unrestricted general funds
(UGF) for studies in the north Bering Sea. He added that
another study funded through the State is for stock
identification of salmon harvested in Southeast Alaska as shown
in a $2 million capital UGF funding request. He stated that
advocacy through the U. S. Congressional delegation for funding
for international vessel field work research by NOAA would be
most helpful.
11:53:35 AM
REPRESENTATIVE STUTES asked what the cap was for the Bering Sea
or Gulf of Alaska chum pot fisheries.
COMMISSIONER VINCENT-LANG offered to follow up to provide the
requested information to the committee.
11:54:04 AM
CHAIR TARR stated that, during a previous legislative session, a
resolution was passed in support of the International Year of
the Salmon and collaborated with legislators in the State of
Washington and the State of Oregon in support of deep blue ocean
studies. She noted that February to April of 2022 was the
period which the research vessels would be conducting their
multi-country studies. She encouraged the committee to embark
on additional learning opportunities of what research efforts
were taking place.
11:55:41 AM
REPRESENTATIVE MCCABE restated his interest in bycatch reduction
practices and acknowledged that differences exist among
fisheries and that technologies may be more effective in some
fisheries than in others. He suggested that, should additional
time be necessary for fishers to test experimental bycatch
reduction technologies, the department could consider allowing
extra time on the fishing grounds prior to rationalization of
the fisheries.
11:57:35 AM
CHAIR TARR stated that there would be a resolution presented to
the current legislature regarding the Alaska Ocean Cluster which
would involve the University of Alaska and private companies to
develop new technologies to reduce bycatch. She invited the
commissioner to participate in ongoing conversations regarding
the reduction of bycatch and other efforts underway. She asked
the commissioner whether he could provide a ten-year outlook on
research projects and noted that, in her first term as a
lawmaker, a law had been passed funding a salmon research
project, but that work had discontinued due to lack of funding.
COMMISSIONER VINCENT-LANG agreed to provide additional
information to the committee and allowed that near-shore and
freshwater areas could be adequately researched at the state
level. He stated that partnerships are required to conduct
deep-water ocean studies. He offered to provide additional
information at the committee's pleasure regarding disaster
programs in the next few weeks.
12:01:02 PM
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
Special Committee on Fisheries meeting was adjourned at 12:01
p.m.
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