Alaska Salmon 



Unit 



13 



WILLIAM R HEARD 

 AVEN M ANDERSEN 



NMFS Alaska Fisheries 



Science Center, Auke 



Bay Laboratory 



Auke Bay 

 Alaska 



INTRODUCTION 



Pacific salmon occLipv a special place in the 

 lives of all Alaskans. Its role in the history and 

 modern contemporary lite of the 49th State have 

 made the species a keystone resource that contin- 

 ues to shape Alaska today. Native peoples and their 

 heritage have a long, rich tradition ot relying on 

 salmon tor economic, cultural, and subsistence 

 purposes. Coolev (1961) described the historical 

 focus on salmon by Native Americans along the 

 southeastern and southwestern Alaska coast as rep- 

 resenting the most highly developed aboriginal 

 fishing society in North America. Today, residents 

 and nonresidents depend heavily on this resource 

 for recreation, food, and industry. The commer- 

 cial fisheries, along with a rapidly growing salmon 

 and groundfish sport fishery, provides the state 

 with its largest private-sector employment. 



Alaska salmon harvests have increased over the 

 last 3 decades but may have peaked in 19'^.)S 



(Figure 13-1). After dropping to record low catches 

 in the 1970's, most populations have rebounded, 

 and the fisheries are now at or near all-time peak 

 levels in many regions ot the state (Burger and 

 Wertheimer, 1995; Wertheimer, 1997). The 

 record-high commercial catch of 217,000,000 

 salmon in 1995 was 17% higher than the previ- 

 ous record of 196,000,000 recorded in 1994. 

 However, the commercial landings declined sig- 

 nificantly in both 1996 and 1997. Recreational 

 fishermen caught over 1,800,000 salmon in 199S 

 (Howe et al., 1996), and salmon subsistence fish- 

 eries in 1994, the most recent year available, har- 

 vested over 1,000,000 fish (North Pacific Anadro- 

 mous Fish Commission, 1998). 



A number of factors have contributed to the 

 current high abundance ot Pacific salmon in 

 Alaska. These include: 1) pristine habitats with 

 minimal impacts from extensive development, 2) 

 favorable ocean conditions that allow high survival 

 of juveniles, 3) improved management ot the fish- 



Sockeye salmon in spawn- 

 ing coloration, near Lake 

 lliamna, Alaska, 



1 57 



