Alaska’s congressional delegation claims that the the decline in fish stocks in Alaska is at or nearing the point of reaching crisis. Senator. Lisa Murkowski and Rep. Mary Peltola discussed the massive challenges facing the fishermen of Alaska and coastal communities in the legislative updates on Thursday that marked the opening of Kodiak’s annual trade show for commercial fishermen, ComFish.
Murkowsi and Peltola began ComFish’s national legislative update by providing an unintentional acknowledgment that The Willow Project’s recently approved approval and announcing that the project’s $8 billion value a victory on behalf of the entire state of Alaska. Senator. Dan Sullivan was not in attendance at the Thursday forum because of a scheduling conflict. He’ll be speaking on Saturday.
However, a lot the time they spent discussing the uncertainty caused by the decline of species in Alaska’s waters. coast. Murkowski stated that the declines in the salmon as well as crab and halibut fishing across the state are reaching high levels.
“I do not like using the word “crisis” lightly but I think that it is the right word to use here. I would like to identify the root reasons, I’d like to find a simple explanation for every single thing,” she said.
A decline in the population which was previously “acts by God are now becoming trends of natural occurrence,” Murkowski said, noting that the current management of fisheries isn’t always reflective of what’s happening in the ocean.
“Our management systems aren’t naturally agile. This is a problem to us,”” Murkowski said.
The Alaskan Congress delegation have been pushing increased money to study the impact of the ocean’s variability that is caused by the climate shift.
Murkowski stated that the money is for further bottom trawl studies and other programs through the Pacific Salmon Treaty. Murkowski stated that nearly $3 million was allotted for study of the Bering Sea by the Bering Sea Fisheries Research Foundation. Additionally, funds taken from Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will assist coastal communities who are facing lower revenues from the crashing of fishing stocks.
Peltola made the effort to highlight bycatch that is the accidental catch of non-target species and said not enough can be done in order to comprehend and tackle the issue.
“I would like to say that I personally believe we could be doing better. The progress has been made however we cannot accept the status quo and we must make adjustments at a faster pace than we do today,” Peltola said.
In a subsequent forum later that same day participants from the department’s Bycatch Review Task Force detailed the potential changes that could mean.
The group released a set of recommendations at the end of last year which included the development of a state-wide bycatch policy — currently, bycatch is controlled federally under various federal laws, such as the Magnuson-Stevens Act – and updating the kinds of gear used and the amount of bycatch allowed on certain vessels.
However, according the taskforce the shifting distribution patterns of marine species as temperatures rise can be a challenge to identifying efficient solutions.
Murkowski stated that there must be a concerted approach to tackle the entire issue.
“We have to work in tandem to find solutions since the challenges are too big for anyone to tackle on their own,” Murkowski said.
The process is likely to take time, though Peltola acknowledged that it was probably not satisfying for everyone in the room.
“Even even if we take every step right from today it could take us 30 years to see our fisheries fully recover. We should be crystal aware of the timeframe we’re taking a look at. We shouldn’t let perfect get in the way of the good. We should not be hesitant about making every little improvement we are able to,” she said.
Peltola and Murkowski were on the stage for nearly an hour and included an open-ended discussion. They also discussed the lawsuit against the Southeast Alaska King Salmon fishery, brought by a group based in Washington they said that it was a plot to intimidate the fleet and they’d stand together in defending it.
