Maggie Westlock, in Emmonak, says the chum salmon collapse has forced her family to rely more on store-bought food. Her grocery bill has gone way up, and inflation is making things far worse.
Maggie Westlock picked up a few things for dinner at the AC store in Emmonak, near the mouth of the Yukon River. In her cart she had grapes, coleslaw, sandwiches and some canned ham.
Officials say they’ve had to close subsistence fishing for both chum and chinook to try to protect the dwindling numbers. Beans usually keeps three chest freezers full of salmon, but now only one has salmon in it. It’s only about a third full. That fish is from two years ago, when fishing was still allowed. She and her husband are now rationing, taking fish out for special occasions only.Scientists have been scrambling to figure out why Western Alaska chum and chinook stocks are crashing.
Many residents also point to another driver behind the low returns of both species: commercial fisheries in the Bering Sea. State and federal managers have allowed these commercial fisheries to continue to operate, even as they have placed more stringent measures on Yukon River subsistence users. “If, over the course of more than five years, you’re not getting enough fish to the spawning grounds to replenish the population, you really start to become very concerned,” Howard said.Across town in St. Mary’s, in a small house with a view of the Andreafsky and Yukon rivers, Jolene Long and Troy Thompson live with their six young children.
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