Sen. Murkowski On Alaska Fisheries And Salmon

From the Alaska Journal of Commerce: Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski held a teleconference with Alaska media and discussed a variety of subjects, including the future of Alaska salmon and the state’s fisheries. Here’s more from the interview:

Under the water, Murkowski said it’s past time for more resources to go toward learning more about the North Pacific and what changes in the ocean environment are doing specifically to salmon runs in Alaska, many of which are in concerning, downward trends across the sate.

“We’ve seen incredible abundance in Bristol Bay with our salmon and then absolute crashes on the Yukon and the Kuskokwim,” she said. …

… She noted that while more marine research funding alone is not likely to provide a total solution, it could help fill in data gaps from harvest surveys and other research work not done over the past two years because of the pandemic.

“We need to know that when we’re operating, we’re working with sound science and ensuring that we are funding (fisheries) research appropriately, and in my view, we haven’t placed the priority that we need on that,” Murkowski said.