[Senate Hearing 115-805]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
S. Hrg. 115-805
THE STATE OF OUR SALMON
=======================================================================
HEARING
before the
SUBCOMMITTEE ON OCEANS, ATMOSPHERE,
FISHERIES, AND COAST GUARD
of the
COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE,
SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
__________
OCTOBER 20, 2018
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Available online: http://www.govinfo.gov
______
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
55-981 PDF WASHINGTON : 2024
SENATE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION
ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
JOHN THUNE, South Dakota, Chairman
ROGER F. WICKER, Mississippi BILL NELSON, Florida, Ranking
ROY BLUNT, Missouri MARIA CANTWELL, Washington
TED CRUZ, Texas AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota
DEB FISCHER, Nebraska RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut
JERRY MORAN, Kansas BRIAN SCHATZ, Hawaii
DAN SULLIVAN, Alaska EDWARD MARKEY, Massachusetts
DEAN HELLER, Nevada TOM UDALL, New Mexico
JAMES INHOFE, Oklahoma GARY PETERS, Michigan
MIKE LEE, Utah TAMMY BALDWIN, Wisconsin
RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin TAMMY DUCKWORTH, Illinois
SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO, West Virginia MAGGIE HASSAN, New Hampshire
CORY GARDNER, Colorado CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO, Nevada
TODD YOUNG, Indiana JON TESTER, Montana
Nick Rossi, Staff Director
Adrian Arnakis, Deputy Staff Director
Jason Van Beek, General Counsel
Kim Lipsky, Democratic Staff Director
Chris Day, Democratic Deputy Staff Director
Renae Black, Senior Counsel
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SUBCOMMITTEE ON OCEANS, ATMOSPHERE, FISHERIES,
AND COAST GUARD
DAN SULLIVAN, Alaska, Chairman TAMMY BALDWIN, Wisconsin, Ranking
ROGER F. WICKER, Mississippi MARIA CANTWELL, Washington
DEB FISCHER, Nebraska RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut
JAMES INHOFE, Oklahoma BRIAN SCHATZ, Hawaii
MIKE LEE, Utah EDWARD MARKEY, Massachusetts
RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin GARY PETERS, Michigan
CORY GARDNER, Colorado
TODD YOUNG, Indiana
C O N T E N T S
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Page
Hearing held on October 20, 2018................................. 1
Statement of Senator Sullivan.................................... 1
Witnesses
Chris Oliver, Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National
Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce.................... 4
Prepared statement........................................... 5
Sam Cotten, Commissioner, Alaska Department of Fish and Game..... 8
Prepared statement........................................... 10
Bill Templin, M.S., Chief Fisheries Scientist, Division of
Commercial Fisheries, Alaska Department of Fish and Game....... 14
James Hasbrouck, Ph.D., Chief Fisheries Scientist, Division of
Sportfish, Alaska Department of Fish and Game.................. 17
Dr. Milo Adkison, Ph.D., Professor and Chair Department of
Fisheries, College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, University
of Alaska Fairbanks............................................ 26
Prepared statement........................................... 28
Dr. Matthew Baker, Ph.D., Science Director, North Pacific
Research Board................................................. 32
Prepared statement........................................... 33
Karen Gillis, Executive Director, Bering Sea Fishermen's
Association.................................................... 44
Prepared statement........................................... 46
Katrina Hoffman, M.S., President and CEO, Prince William Sound
Science Center................................................. 64
Prepared statement........................................... 66
Mary Sattler Peltola, Executive Director, Kuskokwim River Inter-
Tribal Fish Commission......................................... 71
Prepared statement........................................... 73
Danielle Dickson, Senior Program Manager, Chief Officer for
Collaboration and Synthesis, North Pacific Research Board...... 83
Appendix
Additional Testimony of Sam Cotten, Commissioner, Alaska
Department of Fish and Game.................................... 89
THE STATE OF OUR SALMON
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SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2018
U.S. Senate,
Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and
Coast Guard,
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation,
Anchorage, AK.
The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:30 a.m. at the
Tyonek Room, Dena'ina Civic and Convention Center, 600 West 7th
Avenue, Anchorage, Alaska, Hon. Dan Sullivan, Chairman of the
Subcommittee, presiding.
Present: Senator Sullivan [presiding].
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. DAN SULLIVAN,
U.S. SENATOR FROM ALASKA
Senator Sullivan. The Committee on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation will now come to order. I want to begin by
apologizing. I was just up giving my remarks for the keynote
address, and it went a little long, which is something that we
as senators do all the time, so I apologize about that.
But what I do want to do is first thank everybody. I want
to thank everybody for being here. I really want to thank our
witnesses, which I think everybody is going to see, we have a
world class, world class set of witnesses.
And I do want to just begin by giving you an opening of
what we are trying to achieve here today with this hearing.
First of all, this is an official U.S. Senate Subcommittee
hearing, the Subcommittee on Fisheries, NOAA and the Coast
Guard. I chair that subcommittee back in Washington. And in
addition to my staff here, we have staff from the Commerce
Committee in Washington. So all of this will be transcribed, as
you are seeing, and this is an official hearing here.
I want to start by thanking our hosts today, the Alaska
Federation of Natives. With a robust schedule of events and
various other activities adjacent to the annual AFN convention,
both time and space is very, very precious. So I want to thank
AFN today for providing this meeting room and for all of you
for taking the time to be here, particularly our witnesses,
which we have a really, really all-star two panels here.
I had no doubt that this hearing would provoke interest.
Alaska's fisheries are important to our state's heart and soul.
Our fisheries are iconic. We all love salmon. And we are the
most important fishery in the country, by far. And one of the
most important fisheries in the world, by far.
Every summer when I'm at my family's fish camp on the
Yukon, I'm reminded of the important cultural and spiritual
sustenance provided by our salmon for all Alaskans. For me
there is no more special place in the world, and I know that
tens of thousands of Alaskans, whether using their fish wheels,
nets or rods or reels, feel the same way when they are catching
salmon.
As I constantly remind my colleagues back in D.C., Alaska's
fisheries are by far the largest in the nation, accounting for
over 50 percent of total domestic landings for the country and
tens of thousands of jobs. In many communities, our fisheries
are the backbone of their economy. Our fisheries are the heart
and soul of many of our Native cultures. And as I constantly
remind my colleagues in D.C., we, Alaska, are the super power
of seafood for America.
At the same time, we are not without challenges. From
Ketchikan to Cordova to Kodiak, from Grayling to Emmonak and
everywhere else I've had the privilege of traveling across in
our great state, the health of the salmon fishery is always on
the forefront of the minds of Alaskans.
In response to their experience and many varying theories
of what is occurring, whether ocean acidification, the so-
called warm water blob or something entirely different, I
called this hearing to review the science behind Alaska's
salmon fisheries.
And as I mentioned, I am pleased to have an impressive
panel of experts here today to discuss these issues, including
our Federal and state managers. Using the best science
available is an essential tenet for fisheries management and is
necessary for maintaining healthy and sustainable stocks for
generations to come.
This hearing is intended to examine current data available
and identify information and scientific gaps. Both the state
and Federal Government have a role in providing that science.
In conjunction with the assistance of our academic and other
research institutions, I would argue the knowledge of the
fishermen themselves who are closest to the resource and most
reliant on its bounty for their livelihoods and subsistence
needs are also critical.
Over the course of our state's history, our fisheries have
come a long way. Concern over collapsing fisheries and Federal
mismanagement motivated many of Alaska's founding fathers to
fight for statehood. Salmon, in particular, is a large part of
the reason Alaska became a state.
In 1959, the year Alaska became a state, the statewide
harvest of salmon was only 25 million fish. Think about that.
For a period of that year, Bristol Bay was shut down entirely.
Think about that for a second. Shut down entirely with no
openings on the horizon.
At the time of statehood, there were many issues: Boundless
overfishing from foreign fleets right off our shores,
inadequate or nonexistent science, lack of management controls,
fish traps that were devastating the sustainability of our
fisheries, and others.
But over the last six decades, working together, Alaska's
fisheries have grown to become world class. On the Federal
level, laws like the Magnuson-Stevens Act led by Don Young and
the late great Senator Ted Stevens, kicked out the foreign
fleets and increased scientific investment by integrating
vigorous science-based standards into the management process.
And on the state level, managers have abided by the
sustained yield principles and enshrined in Alaska's
Constitution, not without some controversy and pain along the
way. The result, last year, the 2017 statewide salmon harvest
topped 225 million fish. Twenty-five million at statehood in
1959, 225 million in 2017. In the early 1970s, Bristol Bay saw
harvests of around 1 million sockeye. This year over 40 million
sockeye, the second highest year on record and the largest run
ever. And we are routinely now seeing over 35 million fish
harvested annually in Bristol Bay.
Over the past 60 years there have been ups and downs, booms
and busts, but the numbers speak for themselves. But lately--
and this is an important reason for this hearing--things have
not been normal. They have been unusual. While the three
largest Alaskan salmon harvests occurred between 2013 and 2017,
Congress had to step in with 56 million dollars in relief funds
for a pink salmon fishery disaster in 2016. This builds on the
disaster declared for the Yukon River, for the Kuskokwim River,
for Cook Inlet Chinook in 2012, and Yukon River salmon in 2009.
This year salmon harvests are unlikely to hit preseason
forecasts of 147 million fish. Even in some areas that met
preseason forecasts, run timing was abnormal, negatively
affecting fishermen, coastal communities and fishery-dependent
businesses. However, in other areas of Alaska, most notably
around Nome and Kotzebue, salmon harvests have never been
better.
I am committed to supporting scientific investment to
better understand and manage our fisheries so that our wild
salmon can continue to sustain us for thousands of years into
the future. I will continue to work with all our fishermen
across the state: commercial, recreational, charter, and
subsistence--to ensure that we have a stable food supply,
recreational and subsistence opportunities, and plentiful
fishing and processing jobs that provide for vibrant coastal
communities.
You may have also seen that we are working on sustainable
oceans with a bill that I authored recently and was signed into
law just two weeks ago called the ``Save Our Seas Act'' that
deals with the issue of ocean debris and plastics, which is a
huge problem, but we are making progress. And we are working on
the reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Act.
But I do want to emphasize, the point of this hearing is to
be able to ask questions of the experts. Everywhere I go in
Alaska, people ask what is happening. And I'm not sure
everybody knows, particularly as it relates to the king salmon.
So I'm honored to have our witnesses here, and I want to
welcome our witnesses: Chris Oliver, who is the Assistant
Administrator for Fisheries for the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, NOAA. Some of you might know that
Chris was the top Executive Director for our Pacific fisheries,
North Pacific Fisheries Council, for many years. He's an
Alaskan who is now the top Federal official in charge of
fisheries in America. He is here.
And of course, we have Sam Cotten, who is the Commissioner
of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Each of you
gentlemen will have 5 minutes to deliver an oral statement, and
a longer written statement will be included in the record.
Mr. Oliver, the floor is yours.
STATEMENT OF CHRIS OLIVER, ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR
FOR FISHERIES, NATIONAL MARINE FISHERIES SERVICE,
NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION,
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Mr. Oliver. Thank you, Senator. And good morning. And it's
great to be back home here in the great State of Alaska.
On the science front, our Alaska Fisheries Science Center
collaborates closely with the Alaska Department of Fish and
Game in a number of ways, including several integrated
ecosystem surveys where data is used to forecast adult salmon
returns and to meet our obligations under the Pacific Salmon
Treaty.
One example is the collaborative research that we do on
Southeast coastal monitoring survey, which is used to produce
an annual forecast of pink salmon returns, and we also conduct
surveys in the Bering Sea, including a preseason forecast of
Yukon River returns.
What are we seeing? Gulf of Alaska pink salmon returns were
expectedly low during 2015, 2016, and 2017, and sockeye salmon
returns were unexpectedly low during 2018 in most areas of the
state. Chinook salmon returns in Southeast reached record lows
in 2018.
As you mentioned, in Bristol Bay we set a new record or the
second record in 2018, but Chinook salmon returns in Western
Alaska are at or below average. We also collect a variety of
ecosystem information during these surveys, including sea
surface temperature, phytoplankton, zooplankton, forage
fisheries and juvenile fish condition. We study that because
it's a good indication of how many fish are going to survive to
contribute to the future spawning population.
Because we have these long-term data sets, we are better
able to understand ecosystem impacts, phenomenonalist events
like the blob, which was a large mass of unusually warm water
that formed in the eastern Pacific in 2013 and persisted for
several years. Our ecosystem surveys during spring and late
summer found big changes to the ecosystem as a result of the
blob, including less food available for fish along the Gulf
shelf than in previous years.
Obviously, salmon returns to the Gulf one to three years
after the blob were much lower than predicted. In the context
of Federal fisheries management, they are managed in the
exclusive economic zone under a fishery management plan
developed through the North Pacific Council and approved by
Secretary of Commerce, which largely prohibits harvest of
salmon in Federal waters.
In 2012 we comprehensively revised the FMP with Amendment
12 to comply with new Magnuson-Stevens Act requirements to more
clearly reflect the Council's policy with regard to state of
Alaska management authority. In 2013, Cook Inlet commercial
fishermen and seafood processors filed a lawsuit in Federal
district court challenging Amendment 12.
The Ninth Circuit determined that the Magnuson-Stevens Act
does require councils to prepare and submit and FMPs that
require conservation and management and that no other provision
creates an exception to that statutory requirement, and
therefore the Cook Inlet portion of the salmon fishery that we
had excluded under our fishery management plan and deferred to
the state must be included in the FMP.
In response to that, the Council is considering how to
revise that FMP, including an option for continued deferral to
the state. Salmon are also, incidentally, caught in federally
managed groundfish fisheries, primarily pollock.
And I would note that the Council and NOAA fisheries have
taken a number of actions over the past 10 years to greatly
reduce that salmon bycatch in both the Bering Sea and the Gulf
of Alaska. While bycatch represents a very small fraction
overall of the total adult runs that are likely to occur in any
one system, we know how important salmon are to the subsistence
culture and economy of Alaska, and the Council and our agency
take this issue very seriously.
On the international front, there is a component of salmon
management signed by Canada and the U.S. in 1985. The Pacific
Salmon Treaty provides a management framework for this species.
The Treaty resolved longstanding interception disputes between
the U.S. and Canada, as well as between Alaska, the northwest
states and treaty Indian tribes. Chinook salmon is of coast-
wide significance and is negotiated directly by U.S. and
Canadian commissioners.
With the current harvest sharing agreement set to expire at
the end of this year, U.S. and Canadian representatives met
regularly over the past 2 years to negotiate proposed
amendments to the five fishing regimes contained in the treaty.
That recently achieved agreement, which includes reductions in
Chinook harvest levels by all parties and is currently
undergoing formal review by the two governments with
implementation expected in 2019.
And last I'll speak briefly to the recent pink salmon
disaster declaration. In response to a request from Governor
Walker in the fall of 2016, the Secretary made a determination
of the commercial fishery failure in seven management areas of
the state. Congress subsequently appropriated funds to address
that. We are currently reviewing the spending plans, or are
about to review the spending plans submitted to NOAA to
distribute funds that will support individuals, businesses, and
fishery-independent communities throughout a range of actions
that will improve the long-term sustainability of the fishery.
I will conclude at this point, Mr. Chairman. I see my time
is up. Thank you again, and I'd be happy to answer any
questions.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Oliver follows:]
Prepared Statement of Chris Oliver, Assistant Administrator for
Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and
Atmospheric
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce
Good afternoon, Chairman Sullivan. My name is Chris Oliver and I am
the Assistant Administrator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration's (NOAA) National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). Thank
you for inviting me to testify today on the state of Alaska salmon. As
you know, NMFS is responsible for the stewardship of the Nation's ocean
resources and their habitat. We provide vital services for the nation:
productive and sustainable fisheries, safe sources of seafood, the
recovery and conservation of protected resources, and healthy
ecosystems--all backed by sound science and an ecosystem-based approach
to management.
Alaska Salmon Science and Stock Status
Salmon have a complex life cycle that involves a freshwater rearing
period, followed by a period of ocean feeding prior to their spawning
migration back to freshwater. Salmon migrate and feed over great
distances during their marine life stage. While there is great
diversity in the range and migratory habits among different species of
salmon, there also is a remarkable consistency in the migratory habit
within stock groups, which greatly facilitates stock-specific fishery
planning. Most salmon stocks are vulnerable to harvest by numerous
commercial and sport fisheries in marine areas. Salmon are also taken
in rivers and streams during their spawning migration by subsistence,
sport, commercial, and personal use fishermen.
The Alaska Fisheries Science Center collaborates with the Alaska
Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) on several integrated ecosystem
surveys used to forecast adult salmon returns. One example is our
collaborative research efforts with ADF&G on the Southeast Coastal
Monitoring survey, which has been conducted for the past 21 years. The
results are used to produce an annual forecast of pink salmon returns
to Southeast Alaska. We also conduct a survey in the Northern Bering
Sea (the Bering Arctic/Subarctic Integrated Survey). One of the
products of this survey, produced annually, is a pre-season forecast of
Yukon River Chinook salmon returns. In the Southern Bering Sea
extension of this survey, we are also able to monitor juvenile Pacific
salmon and provide data to resource managers biennially.
So what we are seeing during such surveys? In the Gulf of Alaska,
pink salmon returns were unexpectedly low during 2015, 2016, and 2017,
and sockeye salmon returns were unexpectedly low during 2018. Chinook
salmon returns from the Southeast reached record lows in 2018. In the
Eastern Bering Sea, sockeye salmon returns to Bristol Bay during 2018
set a new record high and Chinook salmon returns to Western Alaska
appear at or below average.
During the surveys, we also collect a variety of ecosystem
information on sea surface temperature, phytoplankton, zooplankton,
forage fishes and juvenile fish. The condition of juvenile fish is a
good indication of how many fish are going to survive to contribute to
the future spawning population. If young fish have been able to find
food and are in a good condition, they are more likely to make it
through their first winter and become adults.
Because we have long term data sets from these surveys, we are able
to better understand the ecosystem impacts from events such as the
``blob.'' The blob was a large mass of unusually warm water that formed
in the eastern Pacific Ocean in 2013 and persisted for several years.
It formed as the result of a highly unusual atmospheric condition that
produced a very strong high-pressure ridge in the Gulf of Alaska during
winter, reducing the intensity and frequency of storms. This lack of
storm events allowed the surface waters of the Gulf to remain warm. The
anomalously warm sea temperatures were not only found at the surface,
but as deep as 200m in some places. Surveys during spring and late
summer found big changes to the ecosystem as a result the blob,
including less food available for fishes than in previous years.
Consequently, salmon returns to the Gulf of Alaska 1 to 3 years
after the ``blob'' event were much lower than predicted. In the Eastern
Bering Sea, surface temperatures remain warmer than average and the
ecosystem productivity is similar to previous warm water years (e.g.,
producing less nutritious zooplankton). Our long-term data sets from
ecosystem surveys in this region enable us to anticipate how salmon
will respond to current warm conditions. For example, juvenile Bristol
Bay sockeye salmon are likely to do relatively well because they have
sufficient food resources, while the outlook for juvenile western
Alaska Chinook salmon is not as good because some of their preferred
prey is less abundant in warm conditions.
Overview of Federal Salmon Management
Salmon fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) off Alaska
are managed under the Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for the salmon
fisheries in the EEZ off Alaska. In 2012, the North Pacific Fishery
Management Council (Council) comprehensively revised the FMP with
Amendment 12 to comply with Magnuson-Stevens Act requirements, such as
annual catch limits and accountability measures, and to more clearly
reflect the Council's policy with regard to State of Alaska management
authority for commercial and sport salmon fisheries in the EEZ. Part of
that action was to defer management of three traditional net fishing
areas--Cook Inlet, the Alaska Peninsula, and Prince William Sound--to
State management. As a result, the State of Alaska manages the
fisheries in those three areas in Federal waters.
In 2013, Cook Inlet commercial salmon fishermen and seafood
processors filed a lawsuit in Federal district court challenging
Amendment 12 and its implementing regulations. The lawsuit focused on
Amendment 12's deferral to State management of the Cook Inlet Area. The
Ninth Circuit determined that Magnuson-Stevens Act section 302(h)(1)
requires a Council to prepare and submit FMPs for each fishery under
its authority that requires conservation and management and that no
other provision in the Magnuson-Stevens Act creates an exception to
this statutory requirement. Because the Council and NMFS concluded that
the Cook Inlet salmon fishery requires conservation and management by
some entity, the Ninth Circuit found that the Cook Inlet portion of the
salmon fishery must be included in the FMP given the statutory language
of the Magnuson-Stevens Act.
In response to the Ninth Circuit ruling, the Council is considering
how to revise the FMP to manage the salmon fishery that occurs in the
Federal waters of Cook Inlet. The Council is considering new management
measures that comply with Magnuson-Stevens Act requirements for the
salmon fisheries that occur within these three areas, such as status
determination criteria, annual catch limits, and accountability
measures and is considering an option that would defer to state
management. In addition, the Council formed a stakeholder committee,
called the Cook Inlet Salmon Committee, to assist in developing the
measures to manage the commercial fishery in Cook Inlet. Finally, the
Council is scheduled to review a discussion paper and the committee's
recommendations at their December 2018 Council meeting.
Salmon are also incidentally caught as bycatch in the federally-
managed groundfish fisheries off Alaska, primarily by the pollock
fisheries. The Council and NMFS have taken a number of actions to both
monitor and reduce salmon bycatch in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska
in recent years. Chinook salmon bycatch in the Bering Sea pollock
fishery is limited by regulation and pollock fishermen participate in
contracts that provide incentives for each vessel to avoid Chinook and
chum salmon bycatch at all times. The goal is to allow the pollock
fisheries to catch the full total allowable catch while staying within
specified salmon bycatch limits. For 2019, Chinook salmon abundance,
measured by a State of Alaska index, is below a threshold by the
Council, requiring NMFS to further reduce the Chinook salmon bycatch
limits for each pollock fishing sector.
Pacific Salmon Treaty
There is an international component of salmon management as well.
Signed by Canada and the U.S. in 1985, the Pacific Salmon Treaty
provides a framework for the two countries to cooperate on the
management of Pacific salmon. A high degree of cooperation is required
to prevent overfishing, provide optimum production, and ensure that
each country receives benefits that are equivalent to the production of
salmon in its waters.
The treaty resolved long-standing salmon interception disputes
between the U.S. and Canada as well as between Alaska and Northwest
states and treaty Indian tribes. The treaty implementing legislation
stipulates that decision-making within the U.S. Section is established
by consensus of the U.S. Commissioners from affected states and treaty
Indian tribes. Fishing regimes under the treaty (contained in Annex IV)
are generally re-negotiated every ten years. Most chapters expire at
the end of 2018 and were the subject of re-negotiation recently
completed by the Canadian and U.S. Sections to the Commission.
With the current harvest sharing agreement set to expire on
December 31, 2018, Canadian and U.S. representatives on the Pacific
Salmon Commission met regularly over the course of two years to
negotiate proposed amendments to five fishing regimes contained in
Annex IV of the treaty. The chapter addressing Chinook salmon was the
primary, but not sole, focus of the re-negotiation. While coho, chum,
sockeye and pink salmon regimes are largely negotiated by regional
representatives, Chinook salmon is of coast-wide significance and
negotiated directly by U.S. and Canadian Commissioners. The agreement
is currently undergoing formal review by the two governments in an
effort to bring the amendments into force by January 2019, and to
provisionally apply the proposed amendments, in the event that the
final exchange of diplomatic notes is delayed. In addition, NMFS will
complete an Endangered Species Act consultation on any new
discretionary domestic actions taken as a result of the amendments.
2016 Pink Salmon Failure
In 2016, Alaska experienced abnormally low returns of pink salmon
throughout the Gulf of Alaska. In response to a request from Alaska's
Governor in the fall of that year, the Secretary of Commerce made the
determination, in January 2017, of a commercial fishery failure for
pink salmon in seven management areas in State waters. In reaction to
multiple fisheries disasters declared on the west coast and Alaska, as
well as those related to Hurricanes Maria, Irma, and Harvey, Congress
appropriated Federal funds to address these commercial fishery failures
in the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018. Of the $200M of dedicated funds,
$56.3M was subsequently directed for disaster relief to address the
2016 Gulf of Alaska pink salmon failure. Eligible recipients must
submit spending plans to NOAA for approval. These funds will support
individuals, businesses, and fishery dependent communities through a
range of actions that will improve the long term sustainability of the
fishery.
This concludes my testimony. Thank you again for the opportunity to
testify before you today. I would be happy to answer any questions you
may have.
Senator Sullivan. Thank you, Mr. Oliver. Commissioner
Cotten.
STATEMENT OF SAM COTTEN, COMMISSIONER,
ALASKA DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND GAME
Commissioner Cotten. Thank you, Senator.
Senator Sullivan. And I guess our audio system is out
throughout the whole building, so everybody will have to
project a little so everybody can hear.
Commissioner Cotten. I can try to do that, Senator. And
before I begin, I wanted to say thank you for allowing me to
include my leadership staff as part of this exercise today. To
my side here is Dr. Jim Hasbrouck, who is a Chief Fisheries
Scientist for the Division of Sportfish; Mr. Bill Templin,
Chief Fisheries Scientist for the Division of Commercial Fish.
Senator Sullivan. Welcome, gentlemen. Thank you for being
here.
Commissioner Cotten. And behind me are other members of the
leadership team. Hazel Nelson is the Director of the Division
of Subsistence; Tom Brookover, Director of the Division of
Sportfish; and Forrest Bowers, Director of the Division of Comm
Fish.
Senator Sullivan. Thank you.
Commissioner Cotten. Between this group here, not counting
me, there is about 115 years of experience with the Alaska
Department of Fish and Game intensely involved with salmon
management.
Senator Sullivan. We thank you for your service. Thank you.
Commissioner Cotten. So thank you, Mr. Chairman, for
holding this hearing.
My name is Sam Cotten. I am the Commissioner of the State
of Alaska Department of Fish and Game. We understand and
appreciate the role of the United States in salmon management
in Alaska. The Bureau of Indian Affairs oversees fisheries
management for the Annette Island Reserve. The U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service has actively managed the Kuskokwim River
Chinook salmon subsistence fishery for the past 5 years.
And it's important to note that there is no secret that
people that live on the river systems in Alaska have an intense
dependence and, as a result, an intense interest in the
management. So we make a strong effort to work with the folks
that live in these systems and try to gain as much as we can
from their local and traditional knowledge.
The Department of Commerce through the North Pacific
Fisheries Management Council sets salmon bycatch limits in
Federal fisheries. The Department of Commerce and the
Department of State are responsible for the approval and
ratification of the Pacific Salmon Treaty. And as was pointed
out by Mr. Oliver, the Department of Commerce determines and
then the U.S. Congress considers whether to fund fishery
disasters.
In addition, Alaska participation on the North Pacific
Fisheries Management Council is very important, and we are
thankful we have been able to maintain our voting majority. And
as the MSA is being reconsidered, we know--we've heard from
residents of other states that perhaps we shouldn't have that
majority, so we appreciate very much maintaining that.
Senator Sullivan. That is going to happen, I can guarantee
you, or it won't pass.
Commissioner Cotten. The Council is currently addressing a
recent Ninth Circuit Court decision that has taken away state
management in three areas that Alaska has managed since
statehood. We believe the court got it wrong and have suggested
changes in Federal law that would return that authority to
Alaska.
We work with the National Marine Fisheries Service on
several fronts, including ocean survey work that is important
to both governments. Stable funding of these projects is
important. I believe we have a very good, actually outstanding
working relationship with the National Marine Fisheries Service
at both the regional and national levels. One area of
particular concern is with the observer program and its
limitations due to funding constraints. The observer program
has been improved, but does not enjoy the level of Federal
support seen in other regions of the United States. Observer
coverage is important for several reasons, and in Alaska we are
especially concerned with salmon bycatch in Federal fisheries.
Alaska salmon fisheries have experienced wile variations in
recent years. This year Bristol Bay sockeye salmon set records,
the largest run in history with the greatest value. Bering Sea
systems generally were outstanding, with the exception of
Chinook salmon. The Gulf of Alaska saw very poor and in some
cases, Chignik in particular, there was no commercial harvest.
Pink salmon returns typically vary on odd/even-year cycles. In
the past decades, those variations have set records for highs
and lows. We are all painfully aware of the extremely poor
returns of Chinook salmon throughout the state and many parts
of the west coast of the U.S.
Salmon are extremely important to Alaska's people. In the
past 4 years, I've traveled throughout the state meeting with
people in all regions to hear concerns, occasional complaints
and ideas about our salmon and how to best manage it.
Alaska's constitution requires managing fisheries under the
sustained yield principle. For salmon we do that using
scientifically-based escapement goals to ensure a sufficient
number of spawning fish produce future generations. We use our
regulatory and permitting framework to protect freshwater
salmon habitat.
Alaska prioritizes subsistence use and supports all uses of
salmon: Commercial, personal use, sport and guided sport. In
upper Cook Inlet, managing fisheries for all users is a major
challenge. At least half the state's population lives nearby.
Traditional sport and commercial fishermen have been
participants for many decades. The sportfish industry, guides,
lodges, charters and other businesses that benefit from this
important economic sector have grown. The personal use dipnet
fisheries are relatively new and very popular--I think last
year we issued 30,000 permits--and an important source of fish
for people from all parts of Alaska.
Many people enjoy fishing opportunities in the Mat-Su
Valley, as well, and pay close attention to the management
practices of the department and the allocation decisions made
by the Board of Fisheries.
Governor Walker has created the Cook Inlet Salmon Task
Force in an effort to get all users to, in his words, talk to
each other rather than talk about each other. We are hopeful
the participants who represent all these groups can find some
common ground and make recommendations to the Governor and the
Boards of Fisheries.
Historically Alaska has seen challenges that we have
overcome. Federal management of salmon when Alaska was a
territory was a failure by all accounts. With statehood, Alaska
took over management and rebuilt our runs. Foreign fleets were
able to intercept salmon before they reached our river systems.
Thanks to the Magnuson-Stevens Fisheries Act, also known as the
200-mile limit, we have stopped that assault. Those were
political solutions that were appropriate and successful.
Today's problems are not political. They require science,
more information, more data and more collaboration. We are
working with the Federal Government, University of Alaska,
other universities, partners from all sectors of Alaska's
fishing participants, the North Pacific Research Board, the
North Pacific Fisheries Management Council, the North Pacific
Anadromous Fish Commission, as well as many other international
organizations with an interest in salmon.
2019 is being designated as the year of the salmon. We hope
to capitalize on this occasion. We expect there will be many
new opportunities to pursue answers and solutions to the
questions that surround the state of salmon.
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game is the largest
science organization in Alaska. We look forward to advancing
the best science available to ensure the long-term health and
sustainability of our most important natural resource.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
[The prepared statement of Commissioner Cotten follows:]
Prepared Statement of Sam Cotten, Commissioner,
Alaska Department of Fish and Game
Good morning Senator Sullivan. Thanks for holding this hearing. My
name is Sam Cotten and I am the Commissioner of the State of Alaska
Department of Fish and Game. We understand and appreciate the role of
the United States in salmon management in Alaska. The Bureau of Indian
Affairs (BIA) oversees fishery management for the Annette Island
Reserve. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife (USFWS) service has actively
managed the Kuskokwim River Chinook salmon subsistence fishery for the
past five years. The Department of Commerce, through the North Pacific
Fishery Management Council (NPFMC), sets salmon bycatch limits in
Federal fisheries. The Department of Commerce and State of Alaska are
responsible for approval and ratification of the Pacific Salmon Treaty.
The Department of Commerce determines, and the United States Congress
considers, funding for fishery disasters in our state.
In addition, Alaska's participation on the NPFMC is very important
and we are thankful we have been able to maintain our voting majority.
The Council is currently addressing a recent Ninth Circuit decision
that has taken away state salmon management in three areas that Alaska
has managed since statehood. We believe the court got it wrong and have
suggested changes in Federal law that would return the authority to
Alaska.
We work with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) on
several fronts including ocean survey work that is important to both
governments. Stable funding of these projects is important. I believe
we have a very good working relationship with NMFS at both the regional
and national levels. One area of particular concern is with the
observer program and its limitations due to funding constraints. The
observer program has been improved but does not enjoy the level of
Federal support seen in other regions of the United States. Observer
coverage is important for several reasons. In Alaska we are especially
concerned with salmon bycatch in Federal fisheries.
Alaska salmon fisheries have experienced wild variations in recent
years. This year, Bristol Bay sockeye salmon set records as the largest
run in history with the greatest value. Bering Sea systems generally
were outstanding, with the exception of Chinook salmon. The Gulf of
Alaska saw very poor runs and, in some cases--Chignik in particular,
there was no commercial harvest.
Pink salmon returns typically vary on odd/even-year cycles. In the
past decade those variations have set records for highs and lows. We
are all painfully aware of the extremely poor returns of Chinook salmon
throughout the state.
Salmon are extremely important to Alaska's people. In the past four
years I have traveled throughout the state, meeting with people in all
regions to hear concerns, complaints and ideas about our salmon and its
management.
Alaska's constitution requires managing fisheries under the
sustained yield principle. For salmon, we do that using scientifically
based escapement goals to insure a sufficient number of spawning fish
are available to produce future generations. We use our regulatory and
permitting framework to protect freshwater salmon habitat.
Alaska prioritizes subsistence use and supports all uses of salmon:
commercial, personal use, sport and guided sport. In upper Cook Inlet,
managing fisheries for all users is a major challenge. At least half of
the state's population lives nearby. Traditional sport and commercial
fishermen have been participants for many decades. The sport fish
industry; guides, lodges, charter and other businesses that benefit
from this important economic sector have grown. The personal use dipnet
fisheries are relatively new, very popular (30,000 permits) and an
important source of fish for people from all parts of Alaska. Many
people enjoy fishing opportunities in the Mat-Su and pay close
attention to the management practices of the department and the
allocation decisions of the Board of Fisheries (BOF). Gov. Walker has
created the Cook Inlet Salmon Task Force in an effort to get all users
to talk to each other rather than about each other. We are hopeful the
participants who represent all groups can find some common ground and
make recommendations to the governor and the Board of Fisheries.
Historically, Alaska has seen challenges that we have overcome.
Federal management of salmon when Alaska was a territory was a failure
by all accounts. With statehood Alaska took over management and rebuilt
our runs. Foreign fleets were able to intercept salmon before they
reached our river systems; thanks to the Magnuson-Stevens Fisheries
Act, also known as the 200-mile limit, we have stopped that assault.
Those were political solutions that were appropriate and
successful. Today's problems are not political. They require better
science, more information, more data and more collaborative approaches.
Alaska occupies the center of the Pacific salmon range and Alaskans
feel the effect when changes happen within that environment. For this
reason, we are working with a wide range of local, national and
international partners with an interest in salmon including the Federal
government, the University of Alaska and other universities, partners
from all sectors of Alaska's fishing participants, the North Pacific
Research Board (NPRB), the NPFMC, and the North Pacific Anadromous Fish
Commission. 2019 is being designated as the Year of the Salmon. We hope
to capitalize on this occasion. We expect there to be many new
opportunities to pursue answers and solutions to the questions that
surround the state of the salmon.
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game is the largest science
organization in Alaska. We look forward to advancing the best science
available to insure the long-term health and sustainability of our most
important natural resource.
Senator Sullivan. Thank you, Commissioner. And I do want to
emphasize again for everybody here that literally at the
witness table right now we have the top Federal official on
these issues in the country and the top state official. And
they are both very well respected, and I'm very honored that
both of them could make the time today to help us. Help us.
And let me begin, because you both touched on it and I
touched on it in my opening statement, but obviously,
particularly salmon, the cooperation between the feds and the
state is really important. And I know that you two are the top
people, so maybe this is a difficult question, but how is that
cooperation going, particularly as it relates to salmon? And
are there ways that we can improve it, particularly as it
relates to Alaska's runs?
Mr. Oliver you kind of have a unique perspective because
you were in the Alaska seat not too long ago.
Mr. Oliver. Yes, sir. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I'll
provide an initial answer briefly. I did spend 27 years working
here in Alaska with the North Pacific Fisheries Management
Council, and through that got to observe firsthand how that
cooperative relationship works. And now on the Federal side, I
can say that I believe it's a very good working relationship.
We have for many years largely deferred to the scientific
expertise that exists within the state of Alaska, and I'm
heartened today that we have those experts here at the table
because, while I may be the top Federal official, I'm probably
not the greatest person to ask the really nitty-gritty science
questions, but----
Senator Sullivan. Those are coming in a minute, so don't
worry. We will make sure the bench gets some exercise.
Mr. Oliver. Yes, sir. And I think, through our management
process, that we interact with the Board of Fish, that the
interaction with Fish and Game and our North Pacific Council,
through our interactions with the Pacific Salmon Treaty, I
think it was a difficult year during those negotiations, and
some hard decisions to be made, but in the end we reached an
agreement, and I think that is a reflection of the great
working relationship that we have.
Senator Sullivan. Good. Commissioner Cotten.
Commissioner Cotten. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Ever since
Chris Oliver became the Director, Alaska has gained a lot of
confidence in our ability to work with the United States
Government, and it's already--there has been some fruit borne
already. As soon as he got into office, there was additional
money advanced to Alaska for additional observer coverage,
which is really important to us.
We work with the United States Government on a lot of
different research projects that are important to both
governments. The United States has treaty obligations, and a
lot of the research supports that. And it also helps us
forecasting and predicting runs of fish. So there is a large
amount of research that takes place that benefits both the
United States and the state of Alaska and benefits the salmon.
Senator Sullivan. So let me ask a related question. And it
goes to data. And again, this could be for all the members
here, particularly the scientists, but what we are trying to do
on the Federal side is make sure that Chris Oliver and NOAA and
his team are fully, fully, fully funded, best science, best
data available.
What do you see, either of you or anyone else who wants to
answer this, in terms of lack of data that we need to address,
whether it's at the state or particularly at the Federal level,
and is there anything that stands out right now that our
scientists, whether in Alaska or at the state level. I think
that we need to put a lot more money in to figure out what some
of the challenges are and what some of the mysteries are? But
is there any area where lack of data on a particular topic
stands out that we need to really focus on? And it can be in
state waters or, you know, the focus of this hearing is more
Federal, but since we have state and Federal officials, I think
it's a really important question and would welcome your frank
response.
Commissioner Cotten. I could begin by saying that, again,
we do enjoy a--a good working relationship and support the
efforts that the United States is putting forth as far as some
research projects.
One of the concerns has been the stability of the funding
level. For example, the salmon research in Southeast that the
United States conducts has some variances as far as funding,
and the state has been paying for some of that. It has been at
times difficult to do that. A few years back the state of
Alaska embarked on a major project on Chinook research. Due to
budget constraints, we have had to cut back on some of that. We
would appreciate, I think, some extra support on that.
Senator Sullivan. Where are we, Mr. Oliver, on specific
Chinook research dollars at NOAA or within NMFS? I know the
Chinook issue is not just Alaska, but I want to focus on
Alaska.
Mr. Oliver. Yes. Mr. Chairman, with regard to--I can't
speak specifically to the various research. Sam mentioned the
Southeast Alaska Pink Salmon Coastal Monitoring Program. I
mentioned the disaster funding that's recently been allocated.
And certainly with our overall budget limitations that we are
operating under, I'm hopeful that the spin plan for that will
cover some of that important research. It's a great opportunity
to put a little long-term stability in that.
Pacific Salmon Treaty implementation is a big, open-ended
question. The funding for that has ranged--and that's largely
related to the Chinook salmon agreement. Funding for that has
ranged from 10 million to 14 million dollars over the past 5
years. Our 2019 budget includes roughly $11 million, I think
$11.5 million for that. And I know that based on the recent
renegotiation of the treaty, that funding level is likely
inadequate, certainly inadequate to support the state's
contributions to those efforts. And so that's an area that we
are going to be challenged on.
I think that had those--had those negotiations been
completed earlier but they got protracted and it's taken almost
a year longer than expected, we may have been able to get some
additional funding requests into the 2020 budget, but it is
clear right now there are a number of aspects to the agreement
that are currently unfunded that are going to be a challenge
for all of us to get support for.
Senator Sullivan. I know you are looking at it, but I'm
wondering where. As you mentioned on the implementation of the
Treaty, there are a number of us who believe that that's going
to cost a fair amount of money, both on the implementation and
the science and data to monitor it. Are you looking at putting
a robust budget request as part of the implementation of the
Pacific Salmon Treaty? You have numbers that you can hand to
us?
Mr. Oliver. The original numbers that I've seen that were
compiled by the non-U.S. commissioners which we recently
received are on the order of initially 57 million dollars, I
believe, and a similar amount in the out years. And that--that
I believe, of course, includes support for the various state
programs that, as I understand, heretofore have only been
covered roughly 15 percent by that funding, and I believe this
agreement is looking at something closer to 80 percent. Again
those are unfunded, and those kind of numbers were not included
in the 2020 budget request.
Whether and to what extent--you know how the budget process
works, Senator. Whether in the current budget climate that we
are operating within, whether and to what extent we as an
agency can forward that budget request remains uncertain at
this point.
Senator Sullivan. Well, as the Chairman of the Committee
that oversees that, we will be very interested. And the more
robust the request that you think fits the need. Obviously you
will need to coordinate closely with the state and the other
parties to the treaty. So we will be looking forward to working
with you on that.
Commissioner, do you have a view on that?
Commissioner Cotten. One other quick point. Again, I
appreciate Congress' swift action on the disaster funds, and we
included in the spending plan for those disaster funds some
research that we thought was very important. But at this point,
if you don't mind, I would like to ask our chief fisheries
scientists to weigh in on the question of research needs,
additional help from the United States.
STATEMENT OF BILL TEMPLIN, M.S., CHIEF FISHERIES
SCIENTIST, DIVISION OF COMMERCIAL FISHERIES,
ALASKA DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND GAME
Mr. Templin. So Senator, thank you for the opportunity to
address you today. For the record, my name is Bill Templin. I'm
the Chief Fisheries Scientist for the commercial fisheries side
of the department.
Alaska's Department of Fish and Game has a long history of
collaboration with the National Marine Fisheries Service,
especially through the Ted Stevens Marine Institute. We work
together on many, many different--a wide range of different
types of projects, including Chinook salmon research that began
in the 1970s in Southeast Alaska through the Little Port Walter
Research Station, which has been an excellent place to work and
provide the infrastructure for the research that was needed for
a young state to develop many of its program around Chinook
salmon and other hatcheries.
In the marine waters of the state and near to the state, we
collaborate on the surveys that have already been mentioned,
the one in Southeast Alaska, the coastal monitoring survey. In
fact, over recent years, the state has taken on more and more
of the responsibilities of that and, in fact, for the next
several years, we will, through the disaster funds, will be
putting some of that money toward supporting that program.
And then further north in the north Bering Sea, there is a
survey that began looking at the loss of sea ice, northern sea
ice which was, during the process of working together with our
Federal counterparts there, we realized that we could develop a
really good forecasting tool for Chinook salmon to the Yukon
River, which is important for the people of the state, as well
as for meeting treaty needs, which is a Federal/state
responsibility on that river.
Those programs all have gone together in a very highly
cooperative way, which is really kind of interesting to me.
I've seen a lot of other collaborations not go so well.
We are--the concern that we have, though, is that as
funding--base funding for those types of activities has
receded, we have had to work more and more annually trying to
find some sort of funding to keep it going one more year, one
more year, one more year, which takes, of course, a lot of
time, both Federal and state scientists to write proposals to
seek funding opportunities and a lot of uncertainty about
whether or not we are going to be able to charter a boat or
purchase new nets year to year.
So all the fundamentals are there in terms of
collaboration, data sharing, a combined purpose of why we are
out there. What really holds us back at this point in time is
just being able to find some sort of stable funding to keep
things going.
Senator Sullivan. Let me ask just kind of a topic that I've
been trying to focus on a lot. And I know it might put Mr.
Oliver a little bit on the spot, but one of the things that I
have been concerned about and I've raised it with Secretary of
Commerce Ross and Admiral Gallaudet.
You mentioned the Ted Stevens Research Center. And as you
know, there is kind of a split where a lot of that research is
done. Some of it is in Juneau and other places throughout the
state. A lot of it is in Seattle. And I've had concerns that
there has been a migration of NOAA jobs and scientists from our
state to Seattle and other states in the Pacific Northwest,
despite the fact that their job is to focus on our fisheries.
I have been pressing this fairly hard, and NOAA kind of tap
dances a little bit, have you seen that, or is that a problem?
Would it be better to have more scientists in the state as
opposed to studying Alaska fisheries from Seattle? You can be
very honest with me because I'd like you to answer yes.
Mr. Templin. Yes, sir.
Senator Sullivan. I know Mr. Oliver might have a harder
time, but it's a really serious question.
Mr. Templin. It's always good to have more science and more
information. When we are data limited, we have to be very
conservative in the way that we manage our resources. So as far
as your question goes, yes, it's very useful to have more--
valuable, even, to have more scientists and more resources in
Alaska. As to how----
Senator Sullivan. Have you seen in your experience a
migration from, for example, Juneau down to Seattle on the
scientists anecdotally?
Commissioner Cotten. Mr. Chairman, can I jump into it?
Senator Sullivan. Yes, please.
Commissioner Cotten. I don't know that I've seen a major
migration there. I think we have a good science center in
Alaska.
Senator Sullivan. We do.
Commissioner Cotten. In fact, I remember speaking with Ted
Stevens years ago about the whole premise that the Alaska
Fisheries Science Center is not in Alaska, and I know that
troubled him. And as a result of that concern, he----
Senator Sullivan. It troubled me, as well.
Commissioner Cotten. I think we got some established
science activity in Alaska.
Senator Sullivan. Yes.
Commissioner Cotten. But it's still the Alaska Fisheries
Science Center in Seattle.
Senator Sullivan. Yes.
Commissioner Cotten. And that contributes to a lot of
people's feeling that Alaska remains in colonial status in
regard to fisheries.
Senator Sullivan. The Alaska Marine Debris Office Program
of NOAA also resides outside of Alaska, because I've said to
some of my Senate colleagues, you would never put the study for
the center on the Grand Canyon in Illinois. You would put it in
Arizona. So it's an issue. It's actually a serious issue that I
think some of the Federal agencies need to take more seriously.
Commissioner Cotten. Thank you for recognizing that.
Senator Sullivan. After that wind-up, Mr. Oliver, would you
care to comment?
Mr. Oliver. Thank you, Senator. I know this is an issue we
have talked about before. And I know we did some research over
the past several months on that. And we responded, you know, in
terms of staffing. NOAA employs about 535 employees in the
state of Alaska to carry out missions and work of all of NOAA's
line and staff offices. And we did some number crunching and,
notwithstanding the fundamental disconnect to the point that
the Alaska Fisheries Science Center is in Seattle, that
analysis shows that NOAA staff focused on Alaska issues have
not relocated or moved outside of Alaska at an accelerated rate
relative to the opposite of----
Senator Sullivan. But you do have a lot of openings in
Alaska, is that correct?
Mr. Oliver. We are working hard to fill more than 100
vacancies in the state of Alaska, many of those within
fisheries. Currently we have about 230 employees that are
located in Seattle that work primarily on Alaska issues, but we
also have over 200 in Alaska that work on Alaska issues. And
some of our key leadership positions are and will continue to
be in Alaska.
Senator Sullivan. Well, we want to help you certainly fill
the vacancies, right, because I think that's really critical,
and that's where Admiral Gallaudet and I did come to some
agreement that the vacancies are really important. I think the
state would agree with that, wouldn't you, Commissioner,
filling those NOAA vacancies that currently exist for positions
in Alaska?
Commissioner Cotten. I'm not sure.
Mr. Oliver. We are working toward that, Senator.
Senator Sullivan. You know, we have been talking about
data, but I also want to talk about broader management tools
that are available both on the Federal and state side. We have
been talking about data gaps, but are there tools that you
think are also lacking that make your ability on either side,
state or Federal, to more sustainably and actively manage our
fisheries in a way that, you know, we all want in terms of, you
know, abundance in terms of harvest, but also sustainability in
terms of future generations?
Commissioner Cotten. Mr. Chairman, again, I'll probably ask
our expert panel here to help me on this, but generally we have
sound fundamental tools within the Department of Fish and Game
right now. The Board of Fisheries examines each fishery in
Alaska on a three-year cycle. So every three years if there is
new information, that gets considered. Opportunities to change
management structures are regularly available.
In addition, the board delegates and statutes allow the
department to make in-season management decisions based on
unexpected events or new information. So we begin with a pretty
solid fundamental flexible and well-designed system that allows
us to manage, especially under changing and unexpected
circumstances.
I think we can step back to the whole question of
collaboration with the U.S. and additional data management that
will help us on that. And I'd ask if either Bill or any of the
directors might want to contribute to the question of
additional management tools that we should have.
STATEMENT OF JAMES HASBROUCK, Ph.D., CHIEF FISHERIES SCIENTIST,
DIVISION OF SPORT FISH, ALASKA DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND GAME
Dr. Hasbrouck. Yes. For the record, I'm Jim Hasbrouck. I'm
the Chief Fisheries Scientist for the Division of Sport Fish.
And like my counterparts here, I thank you, Senator Sullivan,
for your invitation and spending this time with us today.
There is a lot of variation in salmon runs that we are
seeing. We--as the Commissioner has mentioned, we do have the
flexibility within the state to manage those fisheries, but
there is a lot of uncertainty that's going on, and even more so
with the variation in salmon runs that we are seeing.
And I think one thing that is very helpful in the
collaboration that goes on between the State and the Federal
Government is the kinds of data and research that we tend to
collect in the state are looking at harvesting fish. So we
primarily focus our research and stock assessment efforts on
adults: What's being harvested, what's the escapement?
What the Federal Government can largely bring and has been
bringing to the table, you have heard some of that already in
that they have expertise and capacity for looking at juveniles
and what's going on in the marine environment. And with those
two things combined together, we can start to get a much better
idea on factors that are affecting salmon production in the
state of Alaska.
It is a very collaborative effort. It is a very positive
effort between the Federal and the state government, not only
with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game and NOAA, but also
with the Council itself. And my understanding is that the North
Pacific Fisheries Management Council is one of the top councils
in the state. I think that's largely a function of the members
of the Council itself, but it's also a function of Mr. Oliver's
leadership while he was the Executive Director. And the people
that are on the Council, people that are on the Board of Fish,
people that are in the agencies are very much interested in
salmon resources, fisheries resources in general, but today we
are talking specifically about salmon resources, concerns for
those resources, and wanting to put the best available science
toward managing those fisheries.
Senator Sullivan. So tools, right now you think you have
adequate management tools? Again, and this is state and
Federal.
Dr. Hasbrouck. I think that the tools that we have are very
good. I think that the more information we can bring to the
table in managing fisheries for things like better
understanding productivity, better understanding run timing of
adults, are there factors in the ocean environment that may be
impacting production and affecting things like run timing,
which with those kinds of information, reduces the uncertainty
which then improves management.
Mr. Oliver. Just a comment. Senator Sullivan, from the
Federal side I can't really comment on the tools relative to
the direct management of salmon fisheries as they have since
about 1959 been outstandingly managed by the state, and we
don't have a real Federal role, except in that areas, for
example, that deal with the bycatch of salmon in the groundfish
fisheries. We do manage the groundfish fisheries. And I
mentioned earlier programs that we have put in place since, I
believe, 2010.
We have a system of management in our--for example, our
Bering Sea pollock fisheries that provides that fleet a
tremendous amount of flexibility in how they operate, when they
fish, where, ability to avoid salmon hotspots, but also that
system allows us to put a tremendous amount of onus on the
industry to do just that, to avoid that. We put caps on them.
We put a staggered cap that provides a performance standard
that incentivizes their ability to avoid salmon. And those kind
of management tools are very important for managing that side
of the equation.
Senator Sullivan. Let me ask Mr. Oliver kind of a question
that integrates the data challenges and the management
challenges. Particularly given your background where you are
now and what job you had previously, can you walk us through an
example of how data or research collected at the Federal level
so, say, one of the Alaska fisheries science centers, the
Seattle or Juneau base, the Pacific Marine Environmental Lab,
or even something from outside the government, say, from a
university is synthesized and applied through the Council
process to affect the fisheries management decision? How does
that work so people understand that, and maybe on the state
side, as well?
And that's the kind of key. You take the data, you analyze
the data, you get the data. Hopefully, there are no gaps in the
data. Then you use that to actually use the tools available
that you have to make decisions that impact all of us. So how
does that work? Can you walk us through an example of that?
Mr. Oliver. I may not be able to walk you through a
specific example, Senator. Actually, one of the people at this
table to my left with Fish and Game may be in actually a better
position because they are the ones that are actually using
whatever information it is that we glean that then crosswalks
into the management system at the state level.
I can tell you--this gets a little bit to one of your data
gap questions. A lot of the information that's relevant to
management comes through our comprehensive groundfish observer
program. We collect a lot of genetic information now throughout
the year on a wide range of fisheries that tell us where the
salmon that are being caught come from in terms of their rivers
of origin. And that provides information that not only informs
the Council on its bycatch management decisions, but I believe
it also is greatly informative to the scientists and the
managers at the Alaska Department of Fish and Game level in
terms of how that information feeds into their NCs and their
in-river management decisions.
And again, I don't have my team of experts that could
probably answer that question better for you, but I suspect
some of the folks to my left might be able to give you a better
idea of specific information that is collected at the Federal
level and how that's used in state management.
I'm using the microphone by habit. I don't know if it's
actually working.
Senator Sullivan. I don't think they are working.
Commissioner Cotten. I think Mr. Oliver hit on one of the
key elements of data that's collected through the United States
that the state really depends on, and that's the genetic
samples taken from the Chinook salmon, typically in the pollock
fisheries, but other groundfish fisheries. For example, in the
Bering Sea, the vast majority of the Chinook salmon taken as
bycatch are Alaska-bound fish. Western Alaska rivers are the
home of most of those fish, at least the majority. As a result,
we pay very close attention to those numbers. We are strong
advocates for reduced--in fact, just this year we have reduced
the bycatch levels that are allowed in the Bering Sea based on
low abundance.
Contrast that with the Gulf of Alaska where we see the
genetic work that displays the fact that probably 80 percent
plus of the Chinook salmon that are taken as bycatch in the
Gulf of Alaska are not Alaska origin. They are important to
somebody, but they aren't necessarily affecting productivity in
Alaska.
Senator Sullivan. Do you know that when you see the genetic
makeup of the salmon?
Commissioner Cotten. Yes. We are able to identify Pacific
Northwest. There are some from Southeast Alaska hatcheries, a
small percentage from Alaska streams and the Gulf of Alaska,
but the bulk of it, the Pacific Northwest, British Columbia and
Southeast Alaska hatcheries.
Senator Sullivan. Any thoughts from the scientists on that
question? Commissioner, not that you are a scientist or
anything.
Commissioner Cotten. You got it right, though.
Mr. Templin. So Senator Sullivan, this is Bill Templin
again. You had asked for a specific example of how information
that's collected can be used to--can flow through the pipeline
and make it to actually making management good decisions. I'd
invite people to consider what we did this last summer in
Southeast Alaska with unprecedented restrictions on Chinook
salmon fishing in Southeast Alaska because we knew that the
runs to Southeast Alaska streams would be lower than--in some
cases historically low, lower than--especially lower than our
escapement goals, especially if we allowed fishing as usual.
And that information actually came from a variety of
sources, but one of the sources was the Southeast Alaska
Coastal Monitoring Program where we noted a couple years ago
that there was a curious lack of Chinook salmon juveniles in
the harvest in our sampling. And that gave us a signal that we
could then use to both manage Alaska's fisheries, but also
collaborate with our Canadian counterparts in order to meet
treaty needs along the northern border of Canada with Alaska.
So that was an excellent example of how information flowed
from a lot of different places, including a very valuable
survey in Southeast Alaska to a couple years later, actually,
making management decisions.
Senator Sullivan. So you mentioned on the state side the
genetic material data from the feds is one of the key data
points. Does the state see that you are getting enough of that,
an adequate amount and timely?
Mr. Templin. Senator Sullivan, again, before I had this
job, I was our department's principle geneticist, and actually
worked as we began to develop many of these programs, including
the one that's currently used for looking at bycatch in the
Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea. That was--that capability was
developed through a lot of collaborations across the state of
Alaska. A lot of different funding sources came together to
produce the genetic baseline that could then be used to look at
the genetic stock composition of the bycatch. And it's, again,
a good example of collaboration.
Senator Sullivan. But do you think you are getting a full
amount? Do you need more of that? If it's key, which you have
all said it is, does the Federal Government's cooperation and
availability of that information come to the state in
quantities and quality that you think is adequate, or could it
be improved?
Mr. Templin. So there could be more--more funding to
develop the underlying information that's necessary for
managing the five main North American species of Pacific
salmon.
Alaska sits square in the middle of--it's in the heart of
the salmon world. You know, we have got salmon to the west of
us and salmon to the east of us, but we are smack dab in the
middle right at the top of the north Pacific and occupying the
east coast of the Bering Sea where most salmon go to grow. We
are encountering fish from everywhere from Korea to--to
potentially sometimes California.
There are five species. We have--we have--in order to
answer questions like what's in the bycatch or what's in our
coastal fisheries, we have had to put together information
through the North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission
collaborating with other countries. We have been able to do
that for chum salmon, for Chinook salmon, and mostly for
sockeye salmon. What's missing is coho salmon and pink salmon,
which are becoming a fairly important species also
economically.
So yes, there could be more resources put together to fund
that underlying information from which applications could then
be built.
Senator Sullivan. OK. Let me ask kind of the question that
I think most people are interested in and why I would imagine a
lot of people are attending this hearing and, to be frank, one
of the reasons that I wanted to hold this here in Alaska and
have heard from so many of our fellow Alaskans on this topic.
But, you know, it's kind of a broad-based question, but I
appreciate you guys looking to dive into it.
I mentioned in my opening statement some of the historical
kind of ups and downs in terms of returns on the salmon really
since statehood, but even if you look way back even 100 years,
you talk to the people, the Alaska Native people who we are
celebrating and honoring and really thankful that we're here at
AFN. But you talk to some of them, and there are stories, even
lore of 100 years, 150 years ago massive crashes on some of the
major rivers that caused starvation.
So right now we have had these ups and downs historically.
We are seeing really historically strong sockeye runs in parts
of the state, you know, Bristol Bay being a really important
area. And then we are seeing weak Chinook runs pretty much
everywhere, although my understanding is there are a few rivers
that have had strong runs. Why do you think that's happening?
And I'll just open that up. I know it's a hard question. Pretty
simple question, but really hard. But I think it's the question
that's on literally thousands of Alaskans' minds.
And I think you guys are the best scientists and observers
of this. You know, is there something we can do to start to
address that, try to address that?
Yes, sir.
Commissioner Cotten. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'll start,
but I will quickly defer to the science crew here. But I think
most people are aware that the two systems, the Gulf of Alaska
and the Bering Sea, have performed quite differently in the
past few years, as we have already discussed. Bristol Bay and
Norton Sound this year was a tremendous run that hadn't been
seen at those levels before. So it--and then the Gulf of Alaska
quite the opposite, poor runs.
And so we feel that the freshwater environment and Alaska's
habitat, salmon rearing areas are in good shape, so we don't
believe it's--that's the root of the problem. When you ask
scientists to explain why that happens, it usually ends up with
a phrase ``ocean conditions.''
So that's where I'm going to start to defer here, but we
have certainly seen that with, as everybody is aware, some of
the climatic changes, warm water, which produces a lot of other
problems for not only the salmon, but the food that they need.
So ocean conditions is the phrase that's often used. And so I
would again ask for some supplemental contributions.
Senator Sullivan. Putting it in historical perspective, was
it ocean conditions in the 1960s and 1970s where the runs were
weak? Was it ocean conditions in 1959, as we talked about,
where the, you know, total runs for all salmon in Alaska was
very paltry? I mean, is that something that kind of just, like,
ebbs and flows? Is it ocean conditions that caused the Yukon to
crash 150 years ago? I'm not 100 percent accurate, but there
has been horrible runs in the history, if you research it, in
our state where they have not always been strong. I know I'm
asking a really hard question.
Commissioner Cotten. I'll take one more stab at it. I think
Chris wants to jump in, too. But it's clear that back in the
1960s when the United States was managing it, there were a lot
of complaints about how it was managed, how careful, how
precautionary the approach was. So that's changed.
That doesn't mean to suggest that there couldn't have been
ocean conditions as a contributor back then, as well. But I
know that the Japanese and other fleets got very good at
figuring out where our salmon were once they got out beyond 12
miles. So that was a contributor that's no longer there, but
that doesn't, again, preclude the potential that ocean
conditions played a role there. So if you get back 150 years
when there wasn't escapement goal management, that's possibly--
I mean, the reason you manage that way is to try to assure the
greatest level of productivity. So that's changed, as well.
But I would at this point ask the science crew to weigh in
on other elements of ocean conditions.
Mr. Oliver. I hesitate to make this general comment, but I
will, recognizing that this is just sort of a personal
observation, not any position of the U.S. Government. But when
you look at all the science advances we have had over 100 years
in our science, in our technologies and the amount of
information that we have on ocean conditions, salmon biology
and other things, notwithstanding all of that information, you
know, there are some things, particularly if you go back far
enough in time, I firmly believe there are some aspects of
Mother Nature that we will never fully understand.
And having said that, I'm hopeful that the scientists to my
left can give a better answer than that.
Senator Sullivan. Mr. Oliver teed you up really nicely.
Dr. Hasbrouck. Well, this is Jim Hasbrouck again. I don't
know that we have any definitive answers. I guess natural
variation is something that we deal with with salmon. That's--
that's just life. And sometimes there are catastrophic failures
in salmon runs. I don't know that what we saw in the 1950s that
caused the creation of Alaska as a state or in the 1960s and
mid 1970s where ocean conditions could have played a part.
I think that there is--the underlying idea is that there
was probably too much harvest that was going on. That doesn't
seem to be the case now, but what's going on in the ocean that
is causing these changes we don't really know for sure. We have
a world class Chinook salmon assessment program in Southeast
Alaska that fairly clearly shows that what went on at least
with those four indicator stocks in Southeast Alaska was marine
environment. We didn't see a change in freshwater production
for those four Chinook salmon stocks, but we saw a dramatic
decline in marine survival. We've also seen some----
Senator Sullivan. Can you unpack that? What does that mean,
``dramatic decline in marine survival''? Is that predation?
What is that?
Dr. Hasbrouck. That's ocean conditions that we don't fully
understand what is really going on. When these juveniles go out
to the ocean, are they not finding enough food? Is there
predation that's going on that hasn't happened in the past, at
least to the degree--we have heard in meetings about increased
abundance of killer whales and other marine mammals that feed
and prefer to feed on salmon, especially Chinook salmon.
So there are a variety of things that are going on out
there, and trying to tease them apart--and it's probably some
kind of combination of factors. So to try to say, oh, it must
be the blob, oh, it must be this, it must be that, that's
extremely difficult to do because all of these things are
interacting with each other. And trying to separate out those
cause and effect is an extremely difficult thing to do.
Senator Sullivan. So what about the flip side? Why do we
think the sockeye salmon runs in certain parts of the state
have been so historically strong?
Mr. Templin. What we can, Senator--again, this is Bill
Templin, for the record. We can start by looking at what it
probably isn't. Right? So it's probably not habitat. Alaska's
habitat is largely intact. It's probably not fishing pressure
because we fish in a very conservative manner with the intent
to have sustained yield.
It probably is--it could be associated with their
freshwater life history, especially for those with longer
period of time in freshwater, but those don't seem to be
driving it as much as the common factor of ocean conditions.
Why does the Gulf--why did the Gulf have some poor, really poor
runs this year while the Bristol Bay had really good runs?
We would point to ocean conditions, but also which ocean
that they were in. They were--the ones in the bay and the ones
in Norton Sound and on the Yukon were probably in the Bering
Sea, whereas the fish in the Gulf probably spent most of their
time in the Gulf of Alaska. So one was a good place to be a
young fish, and one was a bad place to be a young fish.
That's the--again trying to tease out why within that very
complex system is very difficult.
Senator Sullivan. I know we are going to get to the next
panel, and you guys have been very patient, and I really
appreciate everybody coming on a Saturday. And I think most
people can see this is a very, very, very smart group of state
and Federal officials who care a lot about this topic.
So strong runs somewhere, but weak king runs pretty much
all over the state, which concerns everybody. And then all
these theories on ocean conditions: Bycatch, the blob, ocean
acidification, offshore production. It wasn't kings, but I
think the Coast Guard caught the Chinese vessel here recently
with 80 million tons of illegally harvested salmon. But I mean,
that's not good for any fishery. Predation.
Are there theories from the scientists that you think are
more likely than others? And I think the key question for me is
we don't really know and everybody is trying to figure it out.
What more can we be doing, and this really goes to Mr. Oliver
because it's in the Federal waters, what more can we be doing
to actually figure this out, recognizing, as you said, Mr.
Oliver, that, you know, Mother Nature and the oceans are
complex systems?
But for the scientists, do you have a theory that you and
your decades of experience believe is more probable than other
theories, or do you really think it's kind of a combo, or we
just don't know? And then if we don't know, what can we do to
know more?
Mr. Oliver. If I might just give a general answer. I
mentioned earlier in my testimony that during the offshore
surveys that we do, they collect a variety of ecosystem
information, not just sea surface temperature, but temperature
throughout the water column, phytoplankton production,
zooplankton production, forage fish and basically juvenile fish
conditions. Some of these species feed primarily on zooplankton
when they are at sea while others feed on forage fish.
And those presence or magnitude of those vary across--
whether it's different in the Gulf or different in the Bering
Sea. And that may explain--and now--so that's when I say
different ocean conditions. And clearly ocean conditions are
not ideal for some of these species that we are not seeing
return in the numbers that they used to. And that doesn't--that
may explain why you had a good Bristol Bay run for sockeye and
a poor Western Alaska run for Chinook, but it doesn't
necessarily explain the overall Chinook reduction everywhere.
I do know that we, working with Fish and Game through our
Alaska Fisheries Science Center, are trying to model these
ecosystem indicators specifically testing the inclusion of
those indicators with different forecast models for two
specific fisheries--Southeast Alaska pink and Yukon River
Chinook--to determine if we can make correlations between
those--at least those kind of ocean conditions and the
magnitude of the runs over time.
So there are--these are relatively new modeling efforts.
And so those are the kind of things that we need to do more of
to see if we can get a better answer to what's up with Mother
Nature.
Senator Sullivan. We will work with you if you need more
resources or authorities to get to the bottom of the question.
Can I ask just the state of Alaska officials on--again, I know
it's not necessarily in your realm given that it's out in the
ocean, but you are all scientists and have been looking at it.
Is there a theory or, you know, one of these concerns that you
think is more likely than not to be playing a role,
particularly as it relates to the negative king returns?
Commissioner Cotten. Let me just say that the--it's not
salmon, but two years ago we discovered that there was an 80
percent decline in Pacific cod in the Gulf of Alaska, and we
learned that as a result of survey work by the United States
Government that we appreciate and cooperate with. And that was,
I think, a consensus--maybe not a proven fact, but a
consensus--that there was a warm water event that affected
those codfish. Warm water has less oxygen. It creates a very
difficult environment.
A lot of the red salmon that were leaving freshwater, the
ones that were supposed to have returned in 2018, faced that
warm water event, as well. So that may not be what the
scientists would say is the conclusion, but it's a leading
candidate for the reason why.
Senator Sullivan. OK. Good. Other views on that? I know
it's a hard question, but I think it's why a lot of people are
here.
Mr. Templin. Again, Senator Sullivan, this is Bill Templin
again. We have--again, in collaboration with our Federal
counterparts, have been able to conduct some research which is
zeroing in, not necessarily why particularly, but when some of
the mortality happens, some of the factors which lead to either
a strong or a weak run. And for most species, it appears to be
in their early life history in the ocean.
Senator Sullivan. Is that new?
Mr. Templin. That's not necessarily new. The idea has been
around for a while, but we're now gaining the information that
allows us to say more definitively that, yes, it is in the
early life. In their early experience in the ocean, that's when
they--it's kind of a make or break for that--for that run for
that brood year of fish when they arrive in the ocean.
So we are gaining the information that's allowing us to
focus in on certain periods of time in the life history of a
salmon. Tying that, then, mortality event to a specific factor
is much, much more difficult, but I believe that we are--if we
can continue to do the research both in the Gulf and in the
Bering Sea, that we will be able to kind of figure out what
factors are affecting it.
There is a very strong relationship between this warm water
event and negative effects on runs. So it's potentially the--
could be the explanation for the 2016 collapse of pink salmon.
Those pink salmon would have been juveniles entering the Gulf
at the same time.
I also want to point out that there is a whole 'nother
ocean that's opening up right now that we really don't have a
lot of experience on, but the salmon are beginning to occupy
that environment. And for us to be precautionary, thinking
ahead and properly thinking about sustainability, we should be
looking at gaining more information about the Arctic Ocean, as
well.
Dr. Hasbrouck. Jim Hasbrouck. Kind of a final thought on
this question, at least for me, is that we collect the data and
do some modeling, as Mr. Oliver talked about, especially
looking at more of an ecosystem approach so we can collect the
data and we can develop models. He's right. You can look at
correlation, but correlation doesn't explain cause and effect.
So one of the beauties is that by collecting this data and
developing models, we get more informed. That allows us to
develop some hypotheses. We can then go out and test those
hypotheses. I know this sounds pretty geeky, but I'm a
scientist, so bear with me. It's that collecting of that data
to do some modeling to develop some kind of hypotheses that you
can then go out and test which helps us improve our ability to
look at cause and effect.
Senator Sullivan. Well, listen. I want to thank the
witnesses. I do think that this panel demonstrates that we
don't have all the answers, but I do think it's reassuring to
see we have some of the smartest people in the state and in the
country working on this. We are all concerned about it, and we
need to know what more we can do at the Federal level, in
particular, to help you, but I really appreciate, Commissioner,
you and your team and Mr. Oliver traveling several thousand
miles to come up for this hearing. It means a lot.
So we are going to switch out to our next panel and fix our
audio system, but I think everybody should give a round of
applause.
[Applause.]
[A break was taken.]
Senator Sullivan. OK. We are going to get started with our
second panel. And one thing I do want to mention, should have
mentioned at the top, so if we have lost some participants in
the audience, what we are going to do in my office, we will set
up a website that will be up and running by Monday. The way
these Senate hearings work is that the record stays open for
two weeks that you can provide additional questions to the
record for the witnesses, including the last witnesses. I
forgot to mention to them, but their work might not be over.
And so what we would like to be able to do, we will put on
my web page, my Senate web page, website, we will put a page
there that if any of you have questions that you wanted to be
asked, submit them to us on the web page, and then we will
submit them for the record for the hearing. So that way people
who came and, you know, might be a little disappointed that
they couldn't ask questions from the audience, the way these
Senate hearings work is you do it through the Committee
members. So we will make that happen.
So I know a couple of individuals came up, actually had
some really good questions that I might even ask this panel.
Really good ones. But if you want, we will be able to get more
questions to these panelists and the previous panel that we had
before.
So we will begin the second panel. And the whole goal here
was not only to get the government officials, but some of our
top scientists and others who have been focused on these issues
for, again, years and years and years.
So I'd like to welcome our second panel of witnesses. Milo
Adkison, who is a Ph.D. and Professor and Chair of the
Department of Fisheries, the College of Fisheries and Ocean
Sciences at the University of Fairbanks; Matt Baker, who is
also a Ph.D. and Science Director of the North Pacific Research
Board; Karen Gillis, who is the Executive Director of the
Bering Sea Fishermen's Association; Katrina Hoffman, who is the
President and CEO of the Prince William Sound Science Officer;
and Mary Sattler Peltola, the Executive Director of the
Kuskokwim River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission.
Each of you have will have 5 minutes to deliver an open
oral statement, and a longer written statement will be included
in the record for each of you. And if you saw the first panel,
I'm likely to ask you very similar questions. So why don't we
begin with Mr. Adkison.
STATEMENT OF DR. MILO ADKISON, Ph.D.,
PROFESSOR AND CHAIR DEPARTMENT OF FISHERIES,
COLLEGE OF FISHERIES AND OCEAN SCIENCES,
UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA FAIRBANKS
Dr. Adkison. All right. My name is Milo Adkison. Good
morning, Senator Sullivan. Thanks for the opportunity to
testify on behalf of my colleagues at the University. As you
noted, I'm Professor and Chair of the Department of Fisheries
at UAF. And I would also note, since we are at AFN, I'm a
member of the Curyung Tribe of Dillingham.
I want to start off by talking about the state of salmon.
Actually, I think you have covered a lot of it in the
beginning. Large fluctuations in salmon abundance are normal.
They have been going on for thousands of years. We are
currently on a 40-year run of really strong returns to Alaska,
but there are some exceptions. In Western Alaska we have had a
couple of decades of poor runs. The statewide decline of
Chinook is more recent, and then the blob seems to have been
responsible for some even more recent problems.
The University is always very involved in looking at the
causes of these salmon declines. I just saw a paper by some
university colleagues and some other researchers that concluded
that the blob probably wouldn't have happened if there hadn't
been some contribution from human-caused global warming.
With Chinook salmon--the earlier panel talked about this a
bit--we have identified growth in freshwater and the first year
at sea is critical periods for determining survival. Second-
year growth in the ocean seems to be influential in whether
Chinook salmon come back early, and if they come back early,
they're going to be small. And one of our researchers found
evidence of significant oceanic predation by salmon sharks.
We are looking at the vulnerability of different salmon
populations to the spread of invasive species like Elodea and
pike in Southcentral Alaska. Hatchery interactions with wild
stocks are a big concern. I was just at a meeting Tuesday.
Board of Fish was dealing with it. Our faculty have been pretty
involved with looking at the potential loss of fitness when you
have got different disparate stocks interbreeding and the
amount of implications of hatchery straying. I think further
research on hatchery straying is something that would be very
valuable.
I'm going to assert that habitat is the key to maintaining
salmon stocks in Alaska. In the other parts of the world,
salmon populations have been lost or drastically reduced. It's
mainly been because of degradation of habitat. This is big
things like dams, but it's also the nickel and dime stuff, like
water diversions and urbanization and things like that. And I
think our salmon stocks will be resilient, too, if Fish and
Game messes up and overfishes for we have these environmental
phenomenon like the blob. If our habitat is intact, our salmon
will bounce back.
So I think further research is needed to identify critical
habitats and to prioritize conservation and restoration
efforts.
I'll also point out that warming and ocean acidification
also cause habitat degradation and disrupt prey resources for
our salmon. So additional studies on these phenomenon would be
really useful. And arresting warming and acidification is a
high priority for maintaining viable salmon populations in
Alaska.
Finally, the other thing I want to talk about is our
communities. Rural residents and our indigenous people are
losing access to our salmon resources. Fishing permits are
migrating away from our rural communities. And the remaining
permit holders are getting older because younger people are
having trouble getting access to capital that they need to get
permits and fishing gear and boats.
And so studies of financial mechanisms to support new
entrants or changes to management that make it less expensive
to enter into fisheries would be very useful.
The University supports salmon and salmon-dependent
communities in a whole bunch of ways. We have got undergraduate
and technical programs. We train the managers and scientists.
Your first panel had several of our alumni, I noticed. And it's
not just our fisheries department. It's everybody from the
oceanographers to the social scientists. I'd like to highlight
our Marine Advisory Program agents. They are out in the
communities. They provide technical expertise directly to the
processors and the fishermen. And then we partner with
organizations throughout the state, including, I think, every
organization that's been on these two panels.
I'll just conclude by saying that large fluctuations in
salmon abundance are natural. They do cause a lot of pain.
These disaster mitigation funds are very helpful and necessary,
but I'm less worried about that these ups and downs than I am
long-term trends.
What's going to kill our salmon stocks are erosion of
habitat. What's going to kill our communities is erosion of
access to our salmon resources. So I would like to see some
resources put into addressing these longer-term issues.
And I think I'll conclude there. And thank you for the
opportunity to testify.
[The prepared statement of Dr. Adkison follows:]
Prepared Statement of Dr. Milo Adkison, Professor and Chair, Department
of Fisheries, College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, University of
Alaska Fairbanks
Introduction
Good morning Mr. Chairman and distinguished members of the
Committee. I am honored to testify today. My name is Milo Adkison. I am
Professor and Chair of the Department of Fisheries in the College of
Fisheries and Ocean Sciences at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. As
we are at the AFN convention, I will also note that I am a member of
the Curyung Tribe of Dillingham.
The state of salmon and some relevant research
Lake sediment cores show us that large fluctuations in salmon
abundance have occurred for thousands of years. Alaska is currently on
a 40-year run of very strong salmon production, with some exceptions.
These include poor production of several salmon species in Western
Alaska for the last two decades, a recent state-wide decline in Chinook
stocks, and some recent poor production possibly associated with an
oceanic phenomenon known as ``the Blob'' which disrupted food webs in
the North Pacific. A team of scientists from the University of Alaska
and other institutions has recently shown that the ``Blob'' cannot be
explained without human-caused global warming.
The University is heavily involved in studying the causes of salmon
fluctuations and poor production in some areas. On Chinook declines, we
have identified growth in freshwater and the first year at sea as
critical periods for determining survival, found that second-year ocean
growth affects whether they choose to spawn early and thus at a smaller
size, and discovered evidence of significant oceanic predation by
salmon sharks. Invasive species such as Elodea and pike in southcentral
Alaska are also affecting salmon, and we're assessing the vulnerability
of different populations to their spread. Hatchery interactions with
wild stocks are a current concern; our faculty have been leaders in
addressing the potential loss of fitness when disparate stocks
interbreed, in showing that hatchery strays can sometimes be a large
component of the wild population, but that they may not always be
effective in spawning. Further research on hatchery straying would be
useful in advancing the state of knowledge.
Habitat is the key to maintaining Alaska's salmon
In the Pacific Northwest, and prior to that on the East Coast and
in Europe, salmon populations have been lost or drastically reduced.
The main driver of decline and the lack of recovery has been man-made
habitat degradation. These alterations include big changes like dams,
but also cumulative small impacts like road runoff, water diversion,
stream channelization, urbanization, etc.
Alaska's salmon will be resistant to accidental overfishing and
unusual environmental phenomena like ``the Blob'' if we maintain our
watersheds. Further research is needed to identify critical habitat and
prioritize conservation and restoration efforts.
Warming and ocean acidification also contribute to habitat
degradation. Warming degrades habitat and facilitates the spread of
noxious invasive species. Acidification affects the vitality of
important salmon prey resources, and can disrupt the marine ecosystem.
Additional studies are needed to improve understanding and to mitigate
these impacts. Arresting the warming and acidification is a high
priority for maintaining healthy salmon stocks.
Access to the fisheries is the key to maintaining salmon-dependent
communities
Rural residents and indigenous people are losing access to our
salmon resources. Fishing permits are migrating away from rural
communities. The remaining permit holders are getting older, as the
younger generation finds it increasingly difficult to gain entry to
fisheries. Research has shown that rural residents have less access to
the capital necessary to buy the permits, vessels, and gear they need
to go fishing. Studies of financial mechanisms to support new entrants
or of changes in management that would reduce the amount of capital
necessary for entry are warranted. A high school student in rural
Alaska should have a realistic path to entering the fisheries that
supported their parents and grandparents.
Rural residents also have more difficulty participating in the
fisheries management processes such as the Board of Fish or the North
Pacific Fishery Management Council. Our studies show this is due both
to the logistics and expense of participation, and to bureaucratic
barriers to meaningful participation. The university and other groups
have undertaken efforts to reduce these barriers.
The University of Alaska supports salmon and salmon-dependent
communities
At the University, we have robust undergraduate and technical
programs in Fisheries. Our graduate program produces our managers and
scientists; I recently counted over 100 graduates that have gone to the
Alaska Department of Fish and Game and over 80 to Federal agencies.
These students undertake much of our research as an integral part of
their education.
Our salmon and salmon community research involves much more than
our fisheries program. Our oceanographers and marine biologists are
studying changes in the salmon's ecosystems as the ocean warms and
acidifies, and our economists and social scientists are studying
markets and community well-being.
Our Marine Advisory Program agents in the College of Fisheries and
Ocean Sciences who live in the fishing communities provide training and
technical expertise for processors, fishermen, and young aspiring
fishermen. The annual Young Fishermen's Summit is one good example. The
University of Alaska is a resource to and collaborator with salmon
stakeholders throughout the state, which I think includes all of the
organizations on today's panels.
Summary statement
Large fluctuations in salmon abundance are natural, inevitable, and
painful to salmon-dependent communities. We can help the stakeholders
when this happens, and maybe change our management so that they are
more resilient. Hopefully we'll get better at predicting these ups and
downs.
But, it's not the ups and downs that I worry about--it's the long-
term trends. The slow erosion of habitat is what has caused salmon loss
in other parts of the world. Other worrisome trends are the spread of
invasive species, global warming, and ocean acidification. There are
troubling social trends as well. The erosion of our fishing
communities' access to the salmon resources has profound effects on the
viability of these communities.
I would like to see resources dedicated to tackling long-term
concerns, to maintaining the viability and resiliency of our salmon and
salmon-dependent communities. The University of Alaska already serves
as the institution that brings together different stakeholder groups
around science-based approaches for the best stewardship of Alaska
salmon. We look forward to continuing in this role to ensure that
salmon remain a central part of Alaskan life for generations to come.
Further Information:
History of the loss of salmon populations:
Montgomery, D.R. 2009. ``King of Fish: The Thousand-Year Run of
Salmon'' Basic Books
Lichatowich, J. 1999. Salmon without rivers: a history of the Pacific
salmon crisis. Island Press
Pre-historic fluctuations:
Finney, B. P., I. Gregory-Eaves, J. Sweetman, M. S. V. Douglas, and J.
P. Smol. 2000. Impacts of climate change and fishing on Pacific salmon
abundance over the past 300 years. Science 290:795-799.
Finney, B. P., I. Gregory-Eaves, M. S. V. Douglas, and J. P. Smol.
2002. Fisheries productivity in the northeastern Pacific Ocean over the
past 2,200 years. Nature 416:729-733.
Ocean Acidification:
https://www.uaf.edu/cfos/research/major-research-programs/oarc/
The ``Blob'':
http://science.sciencemag.org/content/348/6230/17
https://alaskapacificblob.wordpress.com/
https://www.iflscience.com/environment/what-warm-blob-pacific-and-what-
can-it-tell-us-about-our-future-climate/
Walsh, J.E., R.L. Thoman, U.S. Bhatt, P.A. Bieniek, B. Brettschneider,
M. Brubaker, S. Danielson, R. Lader, F. Fetterer, K. Holderied, K.
Iken, A. Mahoney, M. McCammon, and J. Partain, 2018: The High Latitude
Marine Heat Wave of 2016 and Its Impacts on Alaska. Bull. Amer. Meteor.
Soc., 99, S39-S43, https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-17-0105.1
Batten, S.D., Raitsos, D.E., Danielson, S., Hopcroft, R., Coyle, K.,
McQuatters-Gollop, A. 2018.Interannual variability in lower trophic
levels on the Alaskan Shelf. Deep-Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies
in Oceanography, 147, pp. 79-86. DOI: 10.1016/j.dsr2.2017.04.023
Effects of warming:
Erik R. Schoen, Mark S. Wipfli, E. Jamie Trammell, Daniel J. Rinella,
Angelica L. Floyd, Jess Grunblatt, Molly D. McCarthy, Benjamin E.
Meyer, John M. Morton, James E. Powell, Anupma Prakash, Matthew N.
Reimer, Svetlana L. Stuefer, Horacio Toniolo, Brett M. Wells & Frank D.
W. Witmer (2017) Future of Pacific Salmon in the Face of Environmental
Change: Lessons from One of the World's Remaining Productive Salmon
Regions, Fisheries, 42:10, 538-553
Sparks, M.M., Westley, P.A.H., Falke, J.A., and T.P. Quinn. 2017.
Thermal adaptation and phenotypic plasticity in a warming world:
insights from common garden experiments on Alaskan sockeye salmon.
Global Change Biology 23:5203-5227.
Vega, S.L., Sutton, T.M., Murphy, J.M. 2017. Marine-entry timing and
growth rates of juvenile Chum Salmon in Alaskan waters of the Chukchi
and northern Bering seas. Deep-Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in
Oceanography, 135, pp. 137-144. DOI: 10.1016/j.dsr2.2016.02.002
Abernethy, R. and numerous others. 2018. State of the climate in 2017.
Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 99 (8), pp. Si-S310.
Karen M. Dunmall, James D. Reist, Eddy C. Carmack, John A. Babaluk,
Mads Peter Heide-Jørgensen, and Margaret F. Docker. 2013.
Pacific Salmon in the Arctic: Harbingers of Change available at:
https://seagrant.uaf.edu/bookstore/pubs/item.php?id=12185
Introduced species:
Sepulveda, A.J., Rutz, D.S., Dupuis, A.W., Shields, P.A., Dunker, K.J.
2015. Introduced northern pike consumption of salmonids in Southcentral
Alaska. Ecology of Freshwater Fish, 24 (4), pp. 519-531. DOI: 10.1111/
eff.12164
Roon, D.A., Wipfli, M.S., Wurtz, T.L., Blanchard, A.L. 2016. Invasive
European bird cherry (Prunus padus) reduces terrestrial prey subsidies
to urban Alaskan salmon streams. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and
Aquatic Sciences, 73 (11), pp. 1679-1690. DOI: 10.1139/cjfas-2015-0548
Luizza, M.W., Evangelista, P.H., Jarnevich, C.S., West, A., Stewart, H.
2016. Integrating subsistence practice and species distribution
modeling: assessing invasive elodea's potential impact on Native
Alaskan subsistence of Chinook salmon and whitefish. Environmental
Management, 58 (1), pp. 144-163. DOI: 10.1007/s00267-016-0692-4
Chinook salmon decline:
http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=chinookinitiative.main
Cunningham, C.J.**, Westley, P.H., Adkison, M.D. 2018. Signals of large
scale climate drivers, hatchery enhancement, and marine factors in
Yukon River Chinook salmon survival revealed with a Bayesian life
history model. Global Change Biology 2018:1-18. DOI: 10.1111/gcb.14315
Seigel, J.E., M.D. Adkison, and M.V. McPhee. 2018. Changing maturation
reaction norms and the effects of growth history in Alaskan Chinook
salmon. Marine Ecology Progress Series 595: 187-202. https://doi.org/
10.3354/meps12564
https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/science/2016/07/17/salmon-sharks-might-
play-a-role-in-king-salmon-declines/
Jason R. Neuswanger, Mark S. Wipfli, Matthew J. Evenson, Nicholas F.
Hughes, and Amanda E. Rosenberger. 2015. Low productivity of Chinook
salmon strongly correlates with high summer stream discharge in two
Alaskan rivers in the Yukon drainage. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 72:
1125-1137 (2015) dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjfas-2014-0498
Ohlberger, J., Ward, E.J., Schindler, D.E., Lewis, B. 2018. Demographic
changes in Chinook salmon across the Northeast Pacific Ocean. Fish and
Fisheries, 19 (3), pp. 533-546. DOI: 10.1111/faf.12272
Dorner, B., Catalano, M.J., Peterman, R.M. 2018. Spatial and temporal
patterns of covariation in productivity of Chinook salmon populations
of the northeastern pacific ocean. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and
Aquatic Sciences, 75 (7), pp. 1082-1095. DOI: 10.1139/cjfas-2017-0197
Straying and outbreeding:
McConnell, C.J., Westley, P.A.H., McPhee, M.V. 2018. Differences in
fitness-associated traits between hatchery and wild chum salmon despite
long-term immigration by strays. Aquaculture Environment Interactions
10:99-113. DOI: 10.3354/AEI00261
Echave, J.D., Manhard, C.V., Smoker, W.W., Adkison, M.D., Gharrett,
A.J. 2017. Out crosses between seasonally different segments of a
Pacific salmon population reveal local adaptation. Environmental
Biology of Fishes, 100 (11), pp. 1469-1481. DOI: 10.1007/s10641-017-
0657-3
Gharrett, A.J., Joyce, J., Smoker, W.W. 2013. Fine-scale temporal
adaptation within a salmonid population: Mechanism and consequences.
Molecular Ecology, 22 (17), pp. 4457-4469. DOI: 10.1111/mec.12400
Gilk, S.E., Wang, I.A., Hoover, C.L., Smoker, W.W., Taylor, S.G., Gray,
A.K., Gharrett, A.J. 2004. Outbreeding depression in hybrids between
spatially separated pink salmon, Oncorhynchus gorbuscha, populations:
Marine survival, homing ability, and variability in family size.
Environmental Biology of Fishes, 69 (1-4), pp. 287-297. DOI: 10.1023/
B:EBFI.0000022888.28218.c1
Schindler, Daniel E., Hilborn, Ray, Chasco, Brandon, Boatright,
Christopher P., Quinn, Thomas P., Rogers, Lauren A.,Webster, Michael S.
2010. Population diversity and the portfolio effect in an exploited
species. Nature volume 465, pages 609-612.
Salmon economics:
https://iseralaska.org/research-areas/natural-resources/
Sugihara, G., Criddle, K.R., Ye, H., Lee, A., Pao, G., James, C.,
Saberski, E., Giron-Nava, A. 2018. Comprehensive incentives for
reducing Chinook salmon bycatch in the Bering Sea walleye Pollock
fishery: Individual tradable encounter credits. Regional Studies in
Marine Science 22:70-81. DOI: 10.1016/j.rsma.2018.06.002
Ward, E.J., Anderson, S.C., Shelton, A.O., Brenner, R.E., Adkison,
M.D., Beaudreau, A.H., Watson, J.T., Shriver, J.C., Haynie, A.C.,
Williams, B.C. 2018. Effects of increased specialization on revenue of
Alaskan salmon fishers over four decades. Journal of Applied Ecology
55:1082-1091. DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.13058
Salmon-dependent communities:
Powell, J.E., Wipfli, M.S., Criddle, K.R., Schoen, E.R. 2018. Will
Alaska's fisheries regime prove resilient? Kenai River fishery
management as a model for adaptive governance. Fisheries 43(1):26-30.
DOI: 10.1002/fsh.10022
Donkersloot, R. and C. Carothers. 2016. The graying of the Alaskan
fishing fleet. Environment: Science and Policy for Sustainable
Development. 58(3): 30-42. https://doi.org/10.1080/
00139157.2016.1162011
Donkersloot, R. and C. Carothers. 2017. Beyond privatization:
rethinking fisheries stewardship and conservation in the North Pacific.
Chapter 12 in Levin, P. S. and M. R. Poe (eds), Conservation for the
Anthropocene Ocean: Interdisciplinary science in support of nature and
people. Elsevier Academic Press.
Ringer D., Carothers C., Donkersloot R., Coleman J., Cullenberg P.
2018. For generations to come? The privatization paradigm and shifting
social baselines in Kodiak, Alaska's commercial fisheries. Marine
Policy, 98, pp. 97-103.
Helping Stakeholders Participate in Management:
https://scholarworks.alaska.edu/bitstream/handle/11122/4394/asg-59.pdf
Krupa, M.B., Cunfer, M.M., Clark, S.J., O'Dean, E. 2018. Resurrecting
the public record: Assessing stakeholder participation in Alaska's
fisheries. Marine Policy, 96, pp. 36-43. DOI: 10.1016/
j.marpol.2018.07.010
Senator Sullivan. Great. Thank you, Dr. Adkison. Dr. Baker.
STATEMENT OF DR. MATTHEW BAKER, Ph.D., SCIENCE
DIRECTOR, NORTH PACIFIC RESEARCH BOARD
Dr. Baker. Thank you, Senator, for the opportunity to
testify today. So my name is Matthew Baker. I'm the Science
Director of the North Pacific Research Board, a Congressionally
created marine science funding organization that's based here
in Anchorage, Alaska.
My training is in quantitative fisheries science in part
under Milo and looking at optimal management of salmon
resources in Alaska, and I also have experience working in the
red and king salmon fisheries in Bristol Bay.
My primary role at NPRB is to direct the development of our
scientific program to inform March ecosystem understanding and
sustainable fisheries management, and to reflect the interest
and the priorities of the institutions that are represented on
our Board, as well as stakeholders more broadly in Alaska. And
I'm joined today by Betsy Baker, who is our Executive Director,
as well as Danielle Dickson, who is our Senior Program Manager.
So just for some context, the North Pacific Research Board
was created in 1997 through Congress to recommend marine
research in Alaska to the U.S. Secretary of Congress. Those
projects that are approved by the Secretary then go through a
competitive process, in part funded by interest earned on the
Environmental Improvement and Restoration Fund. Those funds are
then used to conduct research activities on fisheries and
marine ecosystems more broadly in the North Pacific Ocean.
So NPRB prioritizes collaborative research that enhances
both effective fishery management and broader marine
understanding. Our Board is comprised of 20 different members
representing Federal, state, Native Alaska, commercial fishing,
oil and gas, academic and conservation interests. We also have
a science panel, an advisory panel and staff.
So we have three main research programs. One, our core
program is oriented toward discipline-specific information; a
second is integrated ecosystem research programs, which looks
at more broad-scale integrated understanding of mechanisms
within the marine environment; and then we also have a long-
term monitoring program that looks at changes in environmental
conditions and variability. All three of those programs have
had some focus on informing management of Alaska's salmon
fisheries. And we also developed a large data repository as a
function of the research done in that area.
Since 2002 NPRB has provided $114 million in research.
Salmon-specific studies have included--have been funded in 20
of 22 years. And actually, the proposal or the request for
proposals that we put out just this year is looking at research
on anomalous changes in the abundance of sockeye salmon across
a broad geographic range. In addition to the research that's
salmon specific, we fund a variety of oceanographic and other
studies that have some direct relevance to understanding
salmon, particularly critical habitat, as Milo had mentioned,
oceanographic conditions, marine competition and carrying
capacity, environmental metrics that might be informative to
forecasting recruitment, run size, run timing, run strength,
stock assessment tools and models, data support, and social and
economic considerations that are relevant to fisheries
management.
So since 2002, 51, or about 11 percent, of our awards have
included salmon and their project descriptions, and 32 of those
have been primarily salmon focused.
We are a marine oriented organization, so I thought I would
just sort of hit on the areas within the marine environment
that are potentially relevant as research needs or data gaps.
Those might include: Marine carrying capacity, thresholds and
density-dependent constraints; modeling life history and stage-
specific mortality; genetic sampling and categorization of
various stocks and substocks; species interactions, both
between salmon species and other species, and spatial and diet
overlap; improved methods for run timing and stock size
forecasts; regional oceanographic models on understanding the
physical influences on stock distribution and growth and
survival; oceanographic processes, particularly related to the
first year of ocean survival, as others have hit on already;
and then forage species and their relative availability to
salmon.
So I think as an institution we are well positioned to
coordinate between a variety of different institutions. As an
example, Danielle Dickson is working with state and Federal
scientists to pull together some ecological forecasting to
better understand how to predict salmon run timing.
We are also working with the National Center for Analysis
and Synthesis on a few different initiatives: Coupling Climate
and Salmon, and the State of Alaska Salmon and People projects,
which are occurring--which occurred in the summer and in the
fall, and then we've also put monies toward a 2019 workshop on
salmon status and trends.
So I think we work quite closely with all the institutions
represented here and on the previous panel, and I think we do
better work as we work together on that. And I think that's a
role that we can help to facilitate. So we look forward to
hearing more about how we might contribute to those efforts.
And thanks for the opportunity to testify today.
[The prepared statement of Dr. Baker follows:]
Prepared Statement of Dr. Matthew Baker, Ph.D., Science Director,
North Pacific Research Board
Mr. Chairman, and Members of the Subcommittee joining the hearing
remotely, thank you for the opportunity to testify before you today.
My name is Matthew Baker. I am the Science Director of the North
Pacific Research Board (NPRB), a Congressionally created marine science
funding organization based in Anchorage, Alaska. My formal education is
in marine ecology, statistics, and quantitative fisheries science
through training at Columbia University and the University of
Washington, where I contributed to the research developed in the
Fisheries Research Institute and Alaska Salmon Program, programs active
in Alaska since the 1940s. My graduate research focused on stock
assessment and optimal management of salmon resources in Alaska. I also
have experience working as crew in the Red and King salmon fisheries in
Bristol Bay. Subsequent and current areas of research include
groundfish distribution, survey design, multiplies fishery management,
forage fish demographics and forage fish-salmon interactions. My
primary role at NPRB is to direct the development of our scientific
program to inform marine ecosystem understanding and sustainable
fishery management and to reflect the interests and priorities of the
institutions represented on our Board and to serve the needs of
stakeholders in Alaska.
I am joined today by Dr. Betsy Baker, NPRB Executive Director and
Danielle Dickson, NPRB Senior Program Manager and Chief Officer for
Collaboration and Synthesis.
I. NPRB: Funding Alaska Fishery and Ecosystem Science since 2002
In 1997 Congress established the North Pacific Research Board
(NPRB) to recommend marine research to the U.S. Secretary of Commerce
(Secretary) relating to the waters off of Alaska.\1\ Research projects
approved by the Secretary are funded through a competitive grant
program using a portion of the interest earned on the Environmental
Improvement and Restoration Fund (HEIR), which Congress created in the
same enabling legislation. These funds must be used to conduct research
activities on, or relating to, fisheries and marine ecosystems in the
North Pacific Ocean, Gulf of Alaska, Bering Sea, Aleutian Islands, and
Arctic. NPRB prioritizes collaborative research that improves
understanding of marine ecosystems and enhances effective fishery
management and sustainable use of marine resources. The enabling
legislation directs the Board to address pressing fishery management
and marine ecosystem information needs. The Board is composed of twenty
members, representing federal, state, Alaska Native, commercial
fishing, oil and gas, academic, and conservation interests (Appendix
A). The Board is supported by a Science Panel, an Advisory Panel, and
NPRB staff.
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\1\ Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations
Act, 1998, PL 105-83, Title IV, Sec. 401, codified at 43 USC 1474d.
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Figure 1: NPRB supports research in the marine systems of the North
Pacific, including the Gulf of Alaska (Strait of Juan de Fuca to Unimak
Pass), Bering Sea (Alaska Peninsula to the Kamchatka Peninsula and
north to the Bering Strait), Aleutian Islands (Unimak Pass to the
Commander Islands), Chukchi Sea (Point Barrow to Cape Billings),
Beaufort Sea (Point Barrow to Victoria Island), and processes in the
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
North Pacific and Arctic Ocean basins relevant to these regions.
NPRB supports three marine science research programs, as well as
graduate student research awards:
IERP--Integrated ecosystem research programs in which dozens
of scientists integrate their disciplinary expertise over five
to seven years and multiple research cruises in specific
geographic regions (to date the Gulf of Alaska, Bering Sea, and
Arctic Ocean);
CORE--Discipline-specific research by individual or small
groups of scientists. The Core program was formerly known as
the Annual program; and
LTM--Long-term monitoring of oceanographic conditions in
three locations, two in the Gulf of Alaska and one on the
Northeast Chukchi shelf off the state's northwest coast.
Integrated Ecosystem Research Programs provide information about
mechanistic processes that structure marine ecosystems and drive
change. The Core Program provides funds for research projects focused
by discipline, including socioeconomic studies as well as natural
science research. NPRB's Long-Term Monitoring Program is designed to
provide stable funding in five-year increments, potentially over
decades, for collecting data that provide useful indices of ecosystem
conditions and variability. All three research programs, detailed
below, have yielded results relevant to informing the management of
Alaska's salmon fisheries.
In addition to research results, NPRB funding has also created a
substantial data repository for data generated by NPRB research. It is
intended as a public repository for completed projects that includes
data and metadata published through the NPRB Research Workspace,
accessible through a public data portal http://projects.nprb.org/ and
via our data partner Axiom Data Systems and DataOne, an international
data platform.
Since NPRB began funding research in 2002 it has provided over $114
million in research sub-awards to 492 projects, based at 162 academic,
community, and other research institutions:
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
II. Salmon relevant research funded by the North Pacific Research Board
2002-2018
Salmon-specific studies have been funded in 20 of the 22 years that
NPRB has awarded Annual (now Core) Program research funds. The call for
proposals published in October 2018 for projects that will be reviewed
in 2019 requests research proposals to address ``anomalous changes in
abundance of sockeye salmon within a system or across a broad
geographic range.'' In addition to research specifically targeting
salmon, much of the research NPRB funds is relevant to understanding
issues related to critical habitat, oceanographic conditions, species
interactions relevant to marine competition and carrying capacity,
environmental metrics informative to forecasting recruitment, run
strength and timing, tools and approaches to improve stock assessment
modeling, and social and economic considerations that can help inform
management of Alaska's salmon fisheries.
Three salmon-specific projects were among the funded by NPRB in our
first year of operation alone, which was 2002:
Application of new sonar technology to reducing salmon
bycatch in pollock fisheries--Alaska Fisheries Science Center
(AFSC) ($121,918).
North Pacific anadromous fish commission salmon tagging--
North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission ($190,800).
Genetic stock identification of western Alaska sockeye
salmon--NMFS, ADF&G, Auke Bay Laboratory, AFSC ($216,515).
A non-salmon specific study that first year that was also relevant
to salmon fisheries was Detecting change in the Bering Sea, a joint
project of the Alaska Fisheries Science Center and NOAA Pacific Marine
Environmental Laboratory ($124,084).
Of the 453 Core projects NPRB funded between 2002 and 2018, 51--or
11 percent--include salmon in their project descriptions have some
implications for salmon management. Thirty-two of those projects
targeted salmon as the primary species studied in the Gulf of Alaska
(GOA) and the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands (BSAI) Large Marine
Ecosystems (LMEs). Those studies were evenly split between Bristol Bay,
the Copper River, and the Yukon River. All three NPRB Integrated
Ecosystem Research Programs--in the Bering, the Gulf and the Arctic--
have included salmon either as a species studied, or as one affected by
other factors examined by these programs.
A. NPRB Integrated Ecosystem Research relevant to Alaska Salmon
Fisheries
NPRB's Integrated Ecosystem Research Programs (IERPs) use a multi-
disciplinary approach to examine ecological processes in detail and
provide a wealth of information that is relevant to addressing a wide
variety of resource management questions. Here we highlight some
examples of how these programs provide data and products that inform
the management of Alaska's salmon fisheries.
Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea IERPs
The Gulf of Alaska IERP (2010-2018), although focused on drivers of
groundfish recruitment, provided data on salmon distribution and diet
that were relevant to examining the role of salmon as competitors and
predators of groundfish. The year 2011 was an anomalously low
production year in the Gulf of Alaska and in 2011 salmon were in
relatively poor body condition and stomach content analysis indicated
lower feeding rates. The Gulf of Alaska IERP did not collect data
during 2014-16 when anomalously warm conditions persisted in the Gulf
of Alaska, however, data collected by NOAA scientists and others who
participated in our GOA synthesis project provide evidence that poor
prey quality in those years likely affected all salmon species in Gulf
of Alaska waters. Scientists suggest that the Gulf of Alaska has
demonstrated resilience to anomalous conditions that occur in any given
year, but the persistence of anomalous conditions may have lasting
effects on fish production and ecosystem dynamics.
The Bering Sea IERP (2007-2016) reached similar conclusions with
respect to pollock. When warm water conditions persisted over several
years 2001-2005, pollock recruitment was negatively affected because
zooplankton prey were limited (Hunt et al., 2011). The persistence of
warm or cold conditions over consecutive years, termed a ``stanza'',
can affect ecosystem dynamics more profoundly than interannual
variability that oscillates year to year.
The Gulf of Alaska IERP did not collect data 2014-2016 during
persistent anomalous warm water conditions because the program was
designed several years in advance to conduct research cruises mid-way
through the funding period. However, the program developed
oceanographic models that incorporate biological processes and those
models could be used to examine questions specific to salmon ecology
and the production of their prey. The current models run from 2000 to
2013 and could be run into subsequent years to examine the conditions
that salmon experience when they are in the offshore marine
environment.
The Gulf of Alaska IERP also provided insights into ecosystem
dynamics in the Gulf of Alaska and contributed to identifying indices
for the Ecosystem Considerations chapter of the North Pacific Fishery
Management Council Stock Assessment and Fishery Evaluation report. As a
result of this research and recognition of distinct dynamics in eastern
and western sections of this ecosystem, the indices used to hindcast
conditions in this ecosystem are now separated into eastern and western
sections. This development is relevant to the management of all fish
species in the Gulf of Alaska. The program also developed oceanographic
models that incorporate biological processes, which might be used to
examine questions specific to salmon ecology and production of prey
resources. The current models run from 2000 to 2013 and could be run
into subsequent years to examine conditions salmon experience in the
offshore marine environment.
The Gulf of Alaska IERP synthesis included genetic analyses of
salmon captured in southeast Alaska in July 2011-2015 and found that
juvenile salmon in the Gulf of Alaska in mid-summer are predominantly
from the Columbia River, comprising nearly 80 percent of the samples.
The study provides valuable information about the timing and speed of
Chinook migrations. The results indicate that collaboration to combine
data from surveys along the North American coastal migration pathway
can provide information relevant to understanding stock-specific and
inter-annual variation in the survival of juvenile salmon. Furthermore,
sampling in the Gulf of Alaska may allow assessment of the marine
survival of juvenile Columbia River Chinook salmon two years prior to
their return to the river as adults (Van Doornik et al., in prep.).
Research associated with the Bering Sea IERP on ``calorie-sheds''
supports the notion that collection of data across vast geographic
regions is warranted to understand the factors influencing the health
and survival of species throughout their range. Subsistence communities
are especially concerned about cumulative impacts on migratory species.
Arctic IERP
The Arctic IERP currently underway (2016-2021) will provide
information relevant to addressing concerns about food security for
Arctic residents and will collect data related to salmon, specifically.
The focus of the program is on how reductions in Arctic sea ice and
associated changes in the physical environment will influence the flow
of energy through the ecosystem in the Chukchi Sea. The program
includes examining the environmental factors that influence the
distribution and abundance of fish in the U.S. Arctic, including pink
and chum salmon. The program includes social science research that
examines the relative influences of environmental and socioeconomic
factors in determining food security for Arctic residents. The research
includes consideration of local and traditional knowledge and members
of Arctic communities participate in annual science meetings.
NPRB is providing $7 million in base funding for the Arctic Program
and leveraging partner funding from the Bureau of Ocean Energy
Management, the Collaborative Alaskan Arctic Studies Program (formerly
the North Slope Borough/Shell Baseline Studies Program), the Office of
Naval Research Marine Mammals and Biology Program and in-kind
contributions from NOAA (Alaska Fisheries Science Center and Pacific
Marine Environmental Laboratory), the University of Alaska Fairbanks,
the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and the National Science Foundation.
The combined support for the program totals >$18 million.
B. NPRB discipline-specific research relevant to Alaska Salmon
Fisheries
Of the 65 Core (formerly Annual) projects that named salmon in
their abstracts, we identify 32 as having management application to
salmon. Those 32 projects are highlighted in Appendix C, which includes
all 65 projects naming salmon. In addition, we summarize below six Core
projects of particular relevance to salmon management:
NPRB project 0202--Application of new sonar technology to
reducing salmon bycatch in pollock fisheries--applied advanced
sonar technology to a cooperative industry/government effort to
modify pelagic trawls to reduce salmon bycatch in Alaska
pollock fisheries. Dual-frequency Identification SONar (DIDSON)
provided detailed observations of the behavior of these two
species within pelagic trawls and observations informed the
development and testing of salmon excluder designs. Excluder
development has progressed through repeating this sequence of
behavior observations, expert feedback, concept development,
design, model testing, full-scale observations and performance
experiments. Performance experiments indicate that more than 12
percent of the salmon escape, with a pollock loss less than 3
percent.
NPRB project 0327--Early marine ecology of juvenile chum
salmon in Kuskokwim Bay, Alaska--investigated estuarine
residence of juvenile chum salmon, a stage of high mortality
that may ultimately determine year class strength. Results
included spatial and temporal patterns of estuarine
distribution, diet, and condition of chum salmon juveniles in
Kuskokwim Bay and a spatially-explicit foraging/bioenergetic
modeling that assessed growth potential of Kuskokwim Bay
habitats for outmigrating juvenile chum salmon. Results
indicated that timing of outmigration is highly important to
condition, growth, and subsequent survival probability.
NPRB project 1111--Over-winter Survival of Bristol Bay
Sockeye Salmon at Sea--addressed variability in adult sockeye
salmon returns and related uncertainty in harvest forecasts and
economic returns. This project used historical measures of
scale growth (1960s-2010) and juvenile sockeye salmon in the
Bering Sea (2000-2010) to investigate whether productivity
shifts of sockeye salmon since the 1960s are related to shifts
in ocean productivity that affect early marine salmon growth
and overwinter survival and whether salmon growth and survival
are lower during ``cold'' water years when prey availability
and growth are reduced.
NPRB project 1423--Defining critical periods for Yukon and
Kuskokwim river Chinook salmon--found that Chinook in the
Yukon-Kuskokwim region grow more slowly under warm water
conditions, likely because their prey are less available. This
annual project finding was complemented by the Bering Sea
Integrated Ecosystem Research Program (2007-2016), which
described mechanisms that limited pollock growth and survival
in the Bering Sea when warm water conditions persisted over
multiple years. A similar mechanism may affect Chinook.
NPRB project 1619--Relative rate of survival (RRS) of pink
salmon in PWS--Returns from hatchery releases of pink and chum
salmon provide 51-97 million adult salmon to harvests,
contributing up to 25 percent of the exvessel value of the
statewide harvest. The Alaska Hatchery Research Program (AHRP)
sought to reduce uncertainty about straying and genetic
interactions between hatchery and wild stocks and used genetic
parentage analysis to estimate the relative reproductive
success of hatchery-origin pink salmon in natural streams to
investigate the potential for a reduction in fitness due to
hatchery straying and to inform resource management decisions
regarding hatchery production.
NPRB project 1702--Data and information in salmon stock-
recruitment analysis--is an ongoing review that emphasizes the
diverse types of primary data (e.g., counts, indices, model-
derived reconstructions), auxiliary data (habitat quantity and
characteristics, environmental covariates), and considerations
of model structure, to determine their effects on the quality
of estimates of the stock-recruitment relationship. Best
practices will be emphasized to provide guidance to stock-
recruitment analysts.
C. NPRB Long-Term Monitoring work relevant to Alaska Salmon Fisheries
NPRB currently funds three Long-Term Monitoring projects:\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ The Gulf of Alaska Seward Line https://www.gulfwatchalaska.org/
monitoring/environmental-drivers/the-seward-line-marine-ecosystem-
monitoring-in-the-northern-gulf-of-alaska/; The North Pacific
Continuous Plankton Recorder Survey https://www.pices.int/projects/
tcprsotnp/default.aspx/; and The Chukchi Ecosystem Observatory https://
www.uaf.edu/cfos/research/projects/ne-chukchi-sea-moored-eco/.
The North Pacific Continuous Plankton Recorder Project is a
ship of opportunity monitoring program that has operated since
2000 using commercial ships to collect samples of phytoplankton
and zooplankton, and selected aspects of the physical
environment, along their regular routes of passage on a
seasonal basis. Project scientists recently found that pink
salmon predation induces a trophic cascade in plankton
populations in the southern Bering Sea and around the Aleutian
Islands (Batten et al., 2018). The results support the idea
that abundant pink salmon may affect the growth and survival of
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
the other four species of salmon that occur in this region.
The Seward Line Project has operated in the Gulf of Alaska
for over 20 years and provides oceanographic data and other
indices of ecosystem health and variability. The project has
expanded over the years as new funding partners are added to
the consortium and was recently established as a National
Science Foundation Long-Term Ecological Research Site. NPRB
recently committed to providing funding for another five years
(FY20-24).
The Chukchi Ecosystem Observatory consists of an array of
moored instruments that collect data on the Chukchi Sea shelf
near Hanna Shoal year-round. A wide range of data are collected
to address physical, chemical, and biological oceanography,
sediment flux, timing and magnitude of plankton blooms, and
fish and marine mammal migratory patterns. A similar moored
array will be added in the Gulf of Alaska soon that is
associated with the Seward Line project. Such instrumentation
provides valuable information about the ecosystem that should
prove useful to addressing questions relevant to salmon.
D. NPRB data relevant to informing Alaska's Salmon Fisheries
All projects funded by NPRB are required to submit the data they
generate to NPRB, which works with Axiom Data Science locally and with
DataOne, an international data platform, to make it available to the
NPRB science community and, after the required two-year embargo period
passes, to the public. NPRB implemented comprehensive data publication
processes in 2016 to improve overall access to the data. NPRB has
started with the most recent projects (2014-2018) and is working to
fully vet, process and release data from past projects. Archived data
from legacy projects (pre-2014 awards) will be available through the
NPRB web portal in the future.
III. Future research: Promising directions, and Research needs
A. Promising directions--Research and data coordination
NPRB is interested in maximizing the use of NPRB-funded products
and is actively working to create synergies with other organizations.
NPRB's Chief Officer for Collaboration and Synthesis, Danielle Dickson,
is working to foster collaboration with other organizations and
demonstrating that NPRB can serve to coordinate Alaska marine research
whether that research is funded directly by NPRB or not.
Salmon run timing--supporting coordination between state and
Federal salmon managers. One relevant example is an ecological
forecasting project coordinated by NPRB staff and supported by
NOAA that involves collaboration among NOAA and ADF&G staff to
develop a salmon run timing model for Cook Inlet. The run
timing model will examine the relative influence of offshore
and nearshore marine environmental conditions and will make use
of data derived from various NPRB-funded projects, including
indices of zooplankton prey derived from the Gulf of Alaska
IERP model, zooplankton measurements collected by the Seward
Line Long-Term Monitoring project over the past two decades,
and runoff modeled by NPRB Core Program project 904. The model
will use decades worth of salmon time series data collected by
ADF&G and environmental data provided by NOAA Fisheries,
National Weather Service, National Ocean Service, U.S.
Geological Survey, and the Alaska Ocean Observing System. A
separate salmon run timing model for Yukon River Chinook salmon
supported by AOOS, NOAA, and ADF&G typically uses sea ice as an
important predictor of run timing but the virtually ice-free
conditions experienced in 2018 complicated the forecast and
illustrated the importance of identifying other relevant
environmental indices (Postseason Analysis of the 2018 Yukon
River Chinook Run Timing Forecast). Projects such as these
illustrate the power of coordinating research across various
organizations to forecast biological and ecological events and
this approach could be applied to other species or geographic
areas.
NPRB is uniquely positioned to facilitate conversation about
opportunities to coordinate marine research across a variety of
organizations and sectors. The broad representation of the Board,
including federal, state, industry, conservation, and Alaska Native
interest seats, ensures that a wide variety of stakeholder voices are
included in these discussions. The Board presents an opportunity for
those stakeholder groups to leverage one another's resources,
expertise, and perspectives to advance marine science in Alaska. NPRB
staff have unique experience in developing research programs that
address stakeholder concerns, building partnerships to fund such
research, and implementing programs that achieve remarkable
coordination and collaboration across disciplines and institutions.
In some respects, despite Alaska's vast geographic area,
coordinating research in Alaska is tenable because the community is
tightly-knit. In both the scientific research community and the
stakeholder community, the same individuals are often engaged in
conversation in a variety of forums.
Just two examples of NPRB staff involved in research and data
coordination with other research organizations suggest promising
research coordination directions:
Salmon Data: coordination and data gaps. NPRB Science Director
Matthew Baker's participation in two activities sponsored by
the National Center for Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS):
Coupling Climate and Salmon (June 2018); and the State of
Alaska Salmon and People knowledge synthesis project (November
2018). These multi-institutional discussions are directly
relevant to identifying data streams useful to support salmon
research and have important insights relevant to informing
future directions in salmon management.
Cross-organizational collaboration. The Federal Interagency
Arctic Research Policy Committee (IARPC) Collaborations model
works well to coordinate Arctic research within and beyond
Federal agencies. The Collaborations model actively solicits
non-federal participants, bringing together scientists from
Federal, State, academic, NGO, industry, indigenous and
international organizations to share their work. The
Collaborations model could be applied more broadly to improve
coordination for other areas of Alaska and nationwide. NPRB
staff member Danielle Dickson serves as Co-Lead of the IARPC
Marine Ecosystems Collaboration Team. In that forum she works
to coordinate Arctic research with other organizations. The
success of such a model relies on strong participation; agency
staff from Alaska field offices and headquarters of each
Federal agency, and non-federal researchers from other public
and private entities should be encouraged to participate in
IARPC.
B. Research and funding needs
Research needs
NPRB focuses exclusively on the marine environment. Given that
perspective applied to a set of anadromous species, research needs
relevant to the management of Alaska's salmon fisheries might include:
Further analyses on marine carrying capacity, thresholds,
and density dependent constraints
Further understanding and modeling of life cycle and stage-
specific mortality
Further research on inter-species interactions among salmon
and spatial and diet overlap of salmon species and stocks in
the marine environment
Further genetic sampling and categorization of various
stocks and substocks
Improved methods for run timing and stock-size forecasts
Integrated regional oceanographic models that provide
insight into stock distribution, growth and survival
Understanding of oceanographic processes that determine
plankton production and first year ocean survival for smolts
Increased research on forage species and relative
availability to salmon stocks
Leveraging existing initiatives to share data and management practices
As part of the North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission
International Year of the Salmon 2019 (IYS--with projects from 2018-22)
and recent National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis salmon
projects, multiple research-oriented sessions have been convened to
address issues related to effective salmon use, management and
conservation. NPRB has provided conference support for a January 2019
IYS workshop on Salmon Status and Trends. There is an opportunity to
leverage these findings and conclusions to further inform state and
Federal salmon management.
Funding Needs
NPRB relies almost entirely on competitive annual grants from NOAA
to fund the research described in this testimony but, as described in
the next paragraph, those grant funds have diminished over time due to
market influences. NPRB is grateful for the additional funds available
through funding partnerships, which comprise a small percentage of our
overall funding: For the Core (formerly Annual) program, NPRB has
developed funding partnerships with the Oil Spill Recovery Institute
and is in discussion with other potential partners; for the Integrated
Ecosystem Research Programs (IERPs) with the National Science
Foundation, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the Collaborative
Alaskan Arctic Studies Program (formerly the North Slope Borough/Shell
Baseline Studies Program), the Office of Naval Research Marine Mammal
and Biology Program and in-kind contributions from NOAA from NOAA
(Alaska Fisheries Science Center and Pacific Marine Environmental
Laboratory), the University of Alaska Fairbanks, the U.S. Fish &
Wildlife Service, and the National Science Foundation. NPRB is actively
working to develop additional funding partnerships.
By law, NPRB receives 20 percent of interest earned on the
Environmental Improvement and Restoration Fund established in the same
law that created NPRB. However, EIRF investments are limited by law to
interest bearing obligations of the United States. NPRB is feeling very
acutely the negative Impact of sustained low yield on 10-year Treasury
Notes on monies made available to NPRB for science funding. In recent
years grants based on those yields have dropped from almost $9 million
in 2011 to $6.9 million in FY 2019, severely restricting our ability to
fund our research programs at levels that provide scientists with the
support they need. For example, in 2019 funding for the discipline-
specific Core Program will drop from $4.5 to $4 million; the program
used to be known as the ``Annual Program'' but was recently renamed the
Core program to reflect the fact that annual funding of the program
could not necessarily be guaranteed. Although the Board recently
committed $1 million for the synthesis phase of the Arctic IERP, set-
asides for future integrated ecosystem research programs are pending
clarity on NPRB's near-term funding.
Concluding Remarks
Thanks to the foresight of Senator Ted Stevens and his
congressional colleagues in establishing the North Pacific Research
Board in 1997, NPRB has been able to contribute valuable research
relevant to the management of Alaska's salmon fisheries in the sixteen
years we have awarded research funds. As each of the organizations and
witnesses testifying today at this hearing make clear, the value of our
research is multiplied when we work together. We appreciate the
opportunity to highlight NPRB research and to demonstrate and learn
from all of these witnesses new ways we can combine our collective
research and expertise to help improve management of Alaska's salmon
fisheries.
Thank you for your consideration of our testimony. We look forward
to answering your questions.
______
Sources cited:
Batten, S.D., Ruggerone, G.T. and Ortiz, I. 2018. Pink Salmon
induce a trophic cascade in plankton populations in the
southern Bering Sea and around the Aleutian Islands. Fisheries
Oceanography 27(6):548-559.
Hunt, G. L., Coyle, K. O., Eisner, L. B., Farley, E. V.,
Heintz, R. A., Mueter, F., Napp, J. M., Overland, J. E.,
Ressler, P. H., Salo, S., and Stabeno, P. J. 2011. Climate
impacts on eastern Bering Sea foodwebs: a synthesis of new data
and an assessment of the Oscillating Control Hypothesis.--ICES
Journal of Marine Science, 68: 1230-1243.
Mecum, B., P. Mundy, and J. Watson. Postseason Analysis of the
2018 Yukon River Chinook Run Timing Forecast. https://
www.aoos.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/
2018_yukon_chinook_post_season_analysis.pdf
Van Doornik, D.M., B.R. Beckman, J.H. Moss, W.W. Strasburger,
and D.J. Teel. In Prep. Stock specific abundance of Columbia
River juvenile Chinook salmon in the Gulf of Alaska. Draft in
the final report for the Gulf of Alaska Integrated Ecosystem
Research Program Synthesis NPRB project number 1533.
______
Appendix A
NPRB Board Composition
As codified in 43 U.S.C. Sec. 1474d, the Board is composed of 20
members:
Ten seats are ex-officio representatives or their designees,
with no official term length:
Secretary of Commerce,
Secretary of State, Secretary of the Interior,
Commandant of the Coast Guard,
Director of the Office of Naval Research,
the Alaska Commissioner of Fish and Game,
Chairman of the North Pacific Fishery Management
Council,
Chairman of the Arctic Research Commission,
Director of the Oil Spill Recovery Institute, and
Director of the Alaska SeaLife Center.
Nine seats are held by members appointed by the Secretary of
Commerce from nominations provided by the governors of
Alaska (five seats),
Washington (three seats), and
Oregon (one seat).
These board members serve for three-year terms and may be
reappointed. The five Alaska seats must represent fishing interests,
Alaska Natives, conservation interests, academia, and oil and gas
interests.
One seat is appointed by the Secretary of Commerce from a
Board nomination to represent fishing interests. This is also a
three-year term appointment but is not renewable.
______
Appendix B
Abbreviations
ADF&G Alaska Department of Fish and Game
AFSC Alaska Fisheries Science Center
BOEM Bureau of Ocean and Energy Management
BSAI Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands
DIDSON Dual-frequency Identification SONar
DFO Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada
EIRF Environmental Improvement and Restoration Fund
GOA Gulf of Alaska
IARPC Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee
(Federal)
IERP Integrated Ecosystem Research Program
IYS International Year of the Salmon (NPAFC)
LME Large Marine Ecosystems
LTER Long-Term Ecological Research Site (NSF)
LTM Long-term Monitoring
NCEAS National Center for Ecological Analysis and
Synthesis
NMFS National Marine Fisheries Service
NOAA National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
NPAFC North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission
NPRB North Pacific Research Board
NSF National Science Foundation
PMEL Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory
PWSSC Prince William Sounds Science Center
UA University of Alaska
UAF University of Alaska Fairbanks
UAS University of Alaska Southeast
USFS U.S. Forest Service
Appendix C
NPRB Core/Annual Projects including salmon in the described research
Project Year NPRB Project Title Awarded Status Theme LME Lead Institution
80202 2002 Application of new sonar technology to $121,918 closed Fishes & GOA AFSC
reducing salmon bycatch in pollock fisheries Invertebrates
0204 2002 North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission $190,800 closed Fishes & BSAI North Pacific Anadromous Fish
Salmon Tagging Invertebrates Commission
0205 2002 Genetic stock identification of western Alaska $216,515 closed Fishes & GOA ADF&G, AFSC
sockeye salmon Invertebrates
0303 2003 North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission $499,080 closed Fishes & BSAI ADF&G, AFSC
Cooperative Research: genetic stock Invertebrates
identification
0310 2003 Estuaries as essential fish habitat for $400,022 closed Fishes & GOA PWSSC, USFS, Pacific Northwest
salmonids: assessing residence time and Invertebrates Research Station
habitat use
0311 2003 Establishing a statewide data warehouse of $43,066 closed Fishes & GOA ADF&G
salmon size, age and growth records Invertebrates
0317 2003 Pre-season forecast of Bristol Bay sockeye $24,930 closed Fishes & BSAI Natural Resource Consultants
salmon migration timing based on Invertebrates Inc.
oceanographic and biological variable
0321 2003 Alternative hypotheses for the collapse of the $192,850 closed Fishes & BSAI Bristol Bay Science & Research
Kvichak sockeye salmon Invertebrates Institute, Natural Resource
Consultants
0327 2003 Early marine ecology of juvenile chum salmon $624,025 closed Fishes & BSAI UAF, USGS Alaska Science
in Kuskokwim Bay, Alaska Invertebrates Center
0504 2005 Analysis of ongoing salmon programs $99,850 closed Fishes & GOA Consulting Fisheries
Invertebrates Scientist0
0520 2005 Gulf of Alaska Long-Term Observations $420,000 closed Lower Trophic GOA UAF
Level
Productivity
0521 2005 A profiling echosounder for North Pacific $100,000 closed Fishes & GOA Institute of Ocean Sciences,
monitoring Invertebrates DFO
0535 2005 Dietary specialization of Killer Whales $183,140 closed Marine Mammals GOA AFSC, Northwest Fisheries
Science Center, UAF
0536 2005 A continuous plankton recorder survey of the $100,000 closed Lower Trophic GOA DFO, Kintama Research, Sir
North Pacific and southern Bering Sea Level Alister Hardy Foundation for
Productivity Ocean Science
0603 2006 Gulf of Alaska Long-Term Observations $415,925 closed Lower Trophic GOA UAF
Level
Productivity
0630 2006 Food web linkages: Forage Fish in the Aleutian $163,845 closed Fishes & GOA USF&WS, USGS Alaska Science
Archipelago Invertebrates Center
0642 2006 Forage Fish Prince William Sound Nearshore $150,000 closed Fish Habitat GOA AFSC
0708 2007 Gulf of Alaska Longterm Observation Program $249,996 closed Lower Trophic GOA UAF
(LTOP) Level
Productivity
80731 2007 Temperature data collections on BS groundfish $147,816 closed Fishes & BSAI AFSC, Marine Conservation
vessels Invertebrates Alliance Foundation, PMEL0
0805 2008 On-shelf transport of mesozooplankton in $169,050 closed Lower Trophic GOA UAF
subarctic seas Level
Productivity
80823 2008 Cultural Models of Copper River Salmon Biology $99,535 closed Human Dimensions GOA Ahtna Inc., ADF&G, Ecotrust,
North Cape Fisheries
Consulting, UA
0915 2009 Disease severity in Chinook salmon during $99,998 closed Fishes & BSAI Purdue University, UAF
marine migration Invertebrates
0922 2009 Eyak Lake community monitoring project $98,949 closed Lower Trophic GOA Prince William Soundkeeper,
Level PWSSC
Productivity
1008 2010 Salmon bycatch in the BSAI pollock fisheries $393,449 closed Fishes & BSAI UAF
Invertebrates
1009 2010 Chinook Survival $302,262 closed Fishes & BSAI University of Washington
Invertebrates
1019 2010 Assessment of Health Conditions of Subsistence $49,947 closed Other Prominent GOA Chugach Regional Resources
Fish and Shellfish Issues Commission, NOAA
1110 2011 Pink salmon response to climate change $157,350 closed Fishes & GOA UAS
Invertebrates
1111 2011 Over-winter Survival of Bristol Bay Sockeye $219,006 closed Fishes & GOA ADF&G, Natural Resources
Salmon at Sea Invertebrates Consultants, Inc., AFSC0
1114 2011 Steller sea lion diet and population trend in $392,500 closed Marine Mammals BSAI AFSC, SMRU Ltd.
the Aleutians
1122 2011 Development of a fish health and composition $39,816 closed Fishes & GOA AFSC
analyzer Invertebrates
81308 2013 Early Marine Ecology of Juvenile Chinook $172,903 closed Fishes & BSAI AFSC0
Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) on the Invertebrates
Yukon Delta, Alaska
1315 2013 Bioeffects Assessment in Bristol Bay $91,164 closed Other Prominent BSAI NOAA
Issues
1319 2013 Benthic impacts of raised groundgear for the $286,068 closed Fish Habitat BSAI Alaska Pacific University,
Bering Sea pollock fishery AFSC
81412 2014 Yukon River Patterns and Trends $199,949 ended Human Dimensions BSAI ADF&G, Alaska Pacific
University
1413 2014 Value of Salmon $92,695 closed Human Dimensions BSAI Yukon River Drainage Fisheries
Association
1414 2014 Copper River Salmon Blitz $152,753 closed Fish Habitat GOA Copper River Watershed Project
1422 2014 Arctic-Yukon-Kuskokwim (AYK) Chinook salmon $70,006 closed Fishes & BSAI ADF&G, NOAA, Spearfish
egg thiamine exploration Invertebrates Research
1423 2014 Defining critical periods for YK Chinook $244,350 closed Fishes & BSAI ADF&G, AFSC, University of
Invertebrates Washington
1424 2014 Fitness-based habitat models for Chinook $495,282 closed Fishes & BSAI University of Georgia0
salmon Invertebrates
1519 2015 Social and ecological resilience in a Gulf of $153,453 closed Human Dimensions GOA ADF&G
Alaska community
81524 2015 Investigating causes of decline of the Klawock $98,622 closed Community GOA The Nature Conservancy of
Lake sockeye salmon population Involvement Alaska0
1529 2015 Tracking marine fish with a payload-controlled $194,556 active Technology GOA AFSC
autonomous underwater vehicle Development
1531 2015 Construction of a fish health and body $49,566 closed Technology BSAI Seafood Analytics
composition analyzer Development
1613 2016 Local and traditional knowledge of Alaska $105,713 active Human Dimensions GOA UAF
coastal ecosystems
81619 2016 Relative reproductive success of pink salmon $289,435 active Cooperative GOA ADF&G0
in Prince William Sound Research with
Industry
1622 2016 ADF&G Data Rescue and Dissemination $299,128 active Data Rescue BSAI ADF&G
81702 2017 Data and information in salmon stock- $96,041 active Fishes & GOA UAF
recruitment analysis Invertebrates
1710 2017 State-space model of factors affecting coho $82,195 active Fishes & GOA UAS0
survival and abundance Invertebrates
1712 2017 Oil spills and Pacific herring population $208,346 active Fishes & GOA NOAA Northwest Fisheries
recruitment Invertebrates Science Center
81719 2017 Policy Choices and Permit Migration in a $99,355 active Human Dimensions GOA UAF
Limited Entry Permit (LEP) Fishery
1724 2017 A sex identification assay for Chinook salmon $167,335 active Technology GOA University of Washington0
Development
See Appendix B for abbreviations
Senator Sullivan. Good. Thank you, Dr. Baker. Ms. Gillis.
STATEMENT OF KAREN GILLIS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR,
BERING SEA FISHERMEN'S ASSOCIATION
Ms. Gillis. Thank you. Good morning, Senator Sullivan. I
wanted to thank you for organizing the hearing here in
Anchorage and especially during AFN.
The Senator is correct. My name is Karen Gillis. I'm the
Executive Director at Bering Sea Fishermen's Association, an
organization formed in 1979 with 150 fishermen from across the
reaches of Bristol Bay up through Kotzebue Sound.
I will recognize I have staff in the audience: Joe Spaeder,
who is my Research Coordinator and has been since the early
2000s; Katie Williams, who is my Sustainable Salmon Initiative
Program Director; Chris Stark, who is an offsite Fairbanks
Biologist for us. And I see a Board Member of mine, John
Lamont. So thank you, John, for being here.
For 40 years we have proven ourselves by relentlessly
working to serve the needs of Western Alaska, and indirectly
the entire state by creating economic opportunities, such as
the Community Development Quota Program; empowering residents
and communities through our responsible stewardship policies;
and advocating for the application of the best available salmon
science and management practices in Alaska.
Our work is proactive, synergistic, complementary to public
services, and rooted in collaborative efforts. There are
fisheries, such as those in Western Alaska, facing persistent
and severe declines. We cannot conserve the abundance and
diversity of nature without knowing how natural systems work
and how they respond to the many factors that influence them.
Putting fish in the hands of the harvesters relies on
innovative, cooperative and interdisciplinary research, which
cuts across cultural, academic, national and institutional
boundaries.
In the Arctic, Yukon and Kuskokwim regions, or AYK,
residents depend on the sustainable harvest of wild salmon. In
my written testimony submitted to the Committee, we detail the
status and threats to sustainability of Western Alaska Chinook
salmon stocks.
As a result of the recent declines, harvesters are not able
to meet subsistence needs. In fact, the established amounts
necessary for subsistence have not been met for the last seven
years on both the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers. Further evidence
of this decline is that total estimated returns evaluated by
the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council's 3-System Index
has fallen below the 250,000-fish threshold, potentially
triggering future bycatch reduction measures.
The steep decline in the total number of Chinook salmon is
made worse by two additional factors: There is a documented
decline in escapement quality, especially in the decreasing
size of female spawning salmon, resulting in fewer eggs in the
gravel. The other is smaller, currently less productive stocks
in this period are more vulnerable to overharvest and
extirpation. Regarding data gaps, there is an urgent need for
proactive and coordinated research, monitoring and recovery
efforts for salmon stocks.
My written testimony identifies a full set of salmon
research and monitoring gaps for the AYK. Some of these include
understanding the drivers and consequences of shrinking size of
Chinook salmon, assessing risks to the most vulnerable Chinook
salmon stocks, as well as researching the impact of climate
change on salmon and their habitat.
We face two additional hurdles regarding information gaps.
First, the defunding--recent defunding and declining funds for
long-term state and Federal salmon monitoring projects, as well
as private organizations around the state. Second, awards to
Alaska under NOAA's Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund have
steeply declined since 2000--lots of things have declined
apparently--despite the program's highest priority to address
factors limiting the productivity of Pacific salmon either
listed under ESA or necessary for Native subsistence fishing.
In response to salmon declines, BSFA, the Association of
Village Council Presidents, Tanana Chiefs Conference and
Kawerak organized and invited state and Federal agencies to
create the AYK Sustainable Salmon Initiative. Established in
2002, our science-based program works collaboratively to
identify and address the critical salmon research needs facing
the AYK region.
This is a unique and innovative approach. We are a well-
established program, allowing us to build on and leverage the
research and monitoring activities of our state and Federal
partners. We work on a consensus-based decisionmaking process,
so every decision that is made under the AYK SSI is approved by
the state agents, Federal agents and regional organizations and
BSFA. We are working to implement our AYK Chinook Salmon
Research Action Plan, which I brought several copies, but can
provide more, and hoping it will be uploaded to the website. It
was developed by a panel of----
Senator Sullivan. We will submit that for the record for
the Committee.
Ms. Gillis. Thank you, Senator.
The plan was developed by a panel of prominent scientists,
and our program works to understand the drivers of declines and
returns throughout the state of the entire salmon life cycle.
Until we better understand the trends and causes of
variation of salmon abundance, we don't know how management
strategies might be helping or hurting. We don't know if
declines are driven by human impacts or shifts in ocean
productivity. We don't know if escapement goals are adequate.
And we cannot forecast major shifts in salmon abundance.
Drawing on our extensive experience, we recommend
establishing more funding mechanisms, particularly for the
Sustainable Salmon Initiative and collaborative efforts like
that, also fully funding state and Federal agencies to do their
part of this job. We recommend reinvesting in monitoring
programs, as BSFA's worked with the Department of Interior
since 1994 to fund.
I'm grateful for today's opportunity. I really look forward
to working with you to rebuild and maintain the health of
Alaska's salmon fisheries. And I'm excited for the questions.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Gillis follows:]
Prepared Statement of Karen Gillis, Executive Director,
Bering Sea Fishermen's Association
Thank you, Chairman Thune, Senator Sullivan, and Members of the
Committee, for organizing today's field hearing. My name is Karen
Gillis. I am the Executive Director of Bering Sea Fishermen's
Association (BSFA). I am honored to be here today to extend your
awareness of the health of Alaska's salmon fisheries and share our
opinions on the capability, or lack thereof, as it pertains to the
current data and information necessary for maintaining healthy and
sustainable salmon stocks in Alaska.
Ultimately, I recommend establishing a funding mechanism for the
Arctic-Yukon-Kuskokwim Sustainable Salmon Initiative which provides a
Native, state and Federal science-based partnership undertaking
collaborative salmon research informing the rebuilding and management
of declined western Alaskan salmon stocks. Our collaborative
partnership has an extensive track record of applied research and
restoration activities as presented herein.
Not A Traditional Fishermen's Association
Bering Sea Fishermen's Association was formed in 1979 with 150
fishermen from over 30 villages in western Alaska ranging from Bristol
Bay to Kotzebue Sound. These fishermen united to become more involved
in new fisheries that were developing directly off their coastline, and
to build an organization that was concerned with helping local
fishermen gain full economic benefits from Alaska's fisheries.
Commercial companies often fished in Alaska waters with short-
sighted aggressiveness. As early as 1899, Alaska Natives appealed to
the government to protect the salmon for those who relied on it for
food.
For decades, foreign fleets scooped up fish and sailed away, while
Alaska's own fishermen had no way to access these fisheries due to the
lack of adequate venture capital, infrastructure, and local expertise.
BSFA initially set about assessing the viability of developing herring
fisheries compatible with the rural Alaskan lifestyle.
We've grown and adapted as necessary in response to the fishery
issues of most pressing need, focused on healthy and vibrant fishing
communities, we foster greater capacity to access and develop fisheries
in the Arctic, Yukon, Kuskokwim, and Bristol Bay (BBAYK) regions of
Alaska. Within this area there are 128 communities and just over
120,000 residents.
We are committed to the sustainable management of Alaska's
resources and serve as stewards of the extraordinary lifestyle and
culture of Alaskans. We serve to strengthen local communities, improve
equitable access to fishery resources, support long-term ecological
integrity, and stimulate robust economies.
BSFA enjoys a long list of successes. We've played a significant
role in the development of western Alaskan herring and halibut
fisheries, succeeded to establish the Chinook salmon savings areas and
other salmon bycatch reduction measures in the Bering Sea, constructed
community fish plants and cold storage facilities, worked to eliminate
high-seas driftnet interception, and foreign high-seas piracy activity
in cooperation with the U.S. Coast Guard. We were the force behind the
design and implementation of the Community Development Quota (CDQ)
Program with Harold Sparck that launched the six CDQ corporations.
We've guided and funded salmon research and monitoring efforts in the
BBAYK as well as being an incubator for various fisheries research and
coordinating programs and nonprofits some of which include:
Yukon River Drainage Fisheries Association
An association of subsistence and commercial fishers
with a mission of protecting and promoting all wild
fisheries and traditional cultures within the Yukon
River drainage.
Norton Sound Salmon Research and Restoration Program
A forum to engage in a collaborative, regional and
interagency-based approach to developing and
implementing a comprehensive and strategic Norton Sound
Salmon Research and Restoration Plan.
Bristol Bay Buy-back Coalition
A coalition of tribes, regional Alaska organizations
and fishing companies formed and succeeded to influence
the Federal government to buy back $95M in oil and gas
leases sold in October 1988 to offshore oil and gas
companies interested in exploring in the North Aleutian
Basin Planning Area encompassing Bristol Bay and the
southeast Bering Sea.
Arctic-Yukon-Kuskokwim Tribal Consortium
Based on a Memorandum of Understanding, the AYKTC
consists of the Association of Village Council
Presidents, Tanana Chiefs Conference, and Kawerak, Inc.
The Consortium utilizes BSFA to manage the Arctic-
Yukon-Kuskokwim Tribal Research & Restoration Program
to administer Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Funds to
address a set of critical uncertainties and key factors
limiting the productivity of Chinook salmon in the AYK
region.
Arctic-Yukon-Kuskokwim Sustainable Salmon Initiative
A science-based program working cooperatively to
identify and address the critical salmon research needs
facing the AYK region. The AYK SSI is the largest
example of co-management of research funding within the
Pacific Rim and one of the largest experiments in the
co-management of fisheries and wildlife research in
North America.
Most recently we've launched the Alaska Ocean Cluster Initiative to
grow Alaska's vibrant, diversified, and resilient blue economy by
encouraging and advancing innovators and entrepreneurs to create
sustainable products and services from our vast and renewable ocean
resources.
BSFA is a bridging organization, an entity which connects diverse
groups for collaboration and learning. Our success lies in our ability
to be nimble and willing to take on difficult issues quickly with
efficient outcomes; both financially and timely. We build trust and
achieve conflict resolution and we value supporting local
organizations, creating linkages, increasing local influence on policy,
and disseminating new visions and organizational innovations. Bridging
organizations are central players in an emerging ``multisectoral''
development paradigm that is less subject to the flaws of the still-
dominant market-led and state-led paradigms. Evidence from different
natural resource management settings shows that bridging organizations
can add value to governing processes by reducing the transaction costs
of management.
BSFA acts as a platform for communication among residents and the
wide-range of agencies that oversee and manage fisheries in western
Alaska. More importantly, BSFA supports the capacity of residents to
actively engage in the management and development of their own
fisheries. BSFA does not ``represent'' the interests of our
communities, we ``serve'' their interests by engaging and supporting
residents to bring the ideas and needs of western Alaska to state,
Federal and international forums.
BSFA & Freshwater Salmon Monitoring
Among all the animals that serve as a source of food for humans,
salmon are iconic. Their wide-ranging habit of migrating from
freshwater to the ocean and back are indicators of ecological health.
They play invaluable ecological, social, and cultural roles in Alaska
and around the globe.
Salmon are highly valued culturally simply for their existence,
socially as a source of food, and economically as a source of wealth
through fisheries and tourism.
The well-being of humans and salmon are intimately linked in
coastal communities. Indigenous peoples, resource managers, fishers,
processors, businesses, and governments have demonstrated a need to
understand what drives the variation we see in salmon abundance now and
into a future with climate change.
Salmon abundance fluctuates on intra-annual to decadal scales and
the causes of this variation have not yet found convincing explanations
in any ocean.
In the summer of 1993, western Alaska experienced a failure in the
chum salmon run on a scale never before seen. While some chum returns--
particularly northern Norton Sound--had already been depressed, the
region-wide poor returns led to sweeping subsistence and commercial
fishery restrictions, closures, and lack of adequate spawning
escapements to most river systems throughout the AYK region of Alaska.
One aspect that became apparent in the face of these disastrous returns
was a need to increase monitoring of the salmon returns to improve
fishery management. This may not be as important when runs are healthy,
but when poor runs dominate, fishery managers must exercise even
greater caution when faced with inadequate information.
Beginning in 1994, BSFA received funds from the Department of
Interior for research and monitoring of salmon returns in the AYK
region. After working with fishery managers to create cooperative
efforts between state, federal, and local entities, BSFA passed-through
over 80 percent of this funding to rural communities and regional
Native organizations and created the most extensive collection of
cooperative monitoring projects ever seen in Alaska. Western Alaskan
residents were, for the first time, directly involved in gathering
information to better understand and help manage their fisheries, and
the fishery managers now had a greatly expanded set of information upon
which to base management decisions.
Federal appropriations for this program continued through 2006 but
ended abruptly. Without this information the data available to inform
fishery managers has become increasingly limited, continued state
budget cuts led to unprecedented levels of uncertainty in day-to-day
decisions.
BSFA & Marine Research
BSFA has been a long-time supporter of understanding the
variability of marine ecology of Pacific salmon as it relates to their
sustainability. We have fostered, funded and partnered with state,
Federal and regional organizations to investigate the ecological
mechanisms regulating marine distribution and production of salmon
populations, climate change impacts, retrospective analysis of key
populations as indicators of conditions in North Pacific marine
ecosystems, and implications of stock identification and model
development for salmon management. Our Western Alaska Marine Salmon
Studies (WAMSS) program maintains a strong relationship with the NOAA
Fisheries, University of Alaska Fairbanks College of Fisheries and
Ocean Sciences and the North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission (NPAFC)
to improve the understanding of the marine-life history state of salmon
in the Bering Sea.
While WAMSS is suspended due to a lack of funding, international
efforts to reengage in high-seas research is underway. On October 11,
2018 the NPFAC announced the International Year of the Salmon, a five-
year initiative which includes a high-seas expedition to the central
Gulf of Alaska.
Given the pace of change and the degree of uncertainty we need to
effectively use the capacity of these multi-agency efforts to be
efficient in our sharing of what we know, conducting research to
address known gaps in our understanding, and to stand ready to
effectively address surprises when they emerge.
Despite the investments, our ability to understand the relationship
of salmon to our actions and the changing environment remains a
challenge. Fishery managers continue to pursue a balance between
commercial and subsistence fishing objectives while remaining mindful
of Alaska's treaty obligations to Canada. Advocating for sustainable
fisheries management practices and stewardship of Alaska's resources
means BSFA will never tire of tracking decisions and activities that
might threaten Alaska's fisheries, the resources upon which we depend,
and the people who make up the history of this great land.
Community-Based Salmon Harvest Monitoring on the Kuskokwim River
Data to inform Kuskokwim River salmon fishery management is very
limited. Because subsistence harvests are not assessed until after the
season, information on run timing, strength, and composition from the
upper three quarters of the drainage is extremely limited to inform in-
season management decisions. At the same time, communities have shown
strong interest in participating in a community-based salmon monitoring
program.
As a result of the 2012 Federal Fisheries Disaster Declaration and
at the request of the Association of Village Council Presidents, BSFA
developed a work-plan for an integrated set of community-based
monitoring projects to address three objectives:
1. Inform an operative in-season fisheries management model with
relevant additional data from across the watershed.
2. Build fisheries research capacity in community level
organizations in the watershed.
3. Improve data transparency and ownership in the management
decision process.
The Community-Based Salmon Harvest Monitoring program is designed
to support the management of salmon throughout the watershed. This
project involves harvest monitors in participating villages being
selected, trained and mentored to collect data for in-season
assessment, and to provide public outreach regarding the goals of
management and assessment.
Data or sample collection varied by river location and management
data needs but includes:
Near real-time harvest reporting
Drift gillnet catch per unit effort (CPUE) of Chinook salmon
and other species to index run timing and strength
Age, sex and length (ASL) data necessary to assess
escapement quality
Catch ratio of chum and sockeye to Chinook salmon
Temperature monitoring in selected tributaries to assess
thermal stress on Chinook salmon and other salmon species
Other information that informs management of the fisheries
This data collection program bolsters engagement with fisheries
management as well as builds fisheries research capacity within local
institutions.
A central goal of the project is to provide fisheries research
expertise to work with regional partner organizations to:
Build capacity and train community-based monitors and
harvest reporters.
Assist with project design, start-up and implementation.
Assist with data collection, reporting and in-season trouble
shooting.
Assist with communicating fisheries management decisions to
community partners.
The project partners with a set of regional organizations across
the watershed such as the Kuskokwim River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission,
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS), Alaska Department of Fish & Game
(ADFG), the Association of Village Council Presidents and other partner
organizations.
In addition, several subprojects were funded as collaborative
efforts to facilitate existing data collection efforts and fill data
gaps, particularly in light of declining agency budgets and the need to
provide data to support conservative fisheries management as Kuskokwim
River Chinook salmon stocks recover.
All projects maximized the hire and training of local residents in
the data collection and reporting process, with a goal of maximizing
community fisheries capacity-building throughout the projects.
Voices from the Region
Several years ago, a lengthy effort was undertaken to assess
regional perceptions and observations, on the Yukon River, recording
respondent's ideas for how to best manage salmon in difficult times
(Brown, C.L. and A. Godduhn, editors. 2015. Socioeconomic effects of
declining salmon runs on the Yukon River. Alaska Department of Fish and
Game, Division of Subsistence Technical Paper No. 398, Fairbanks.).
The following bullets are derived from this research and are
sentiments I've heard in all regions of Alaska:
Eliminate Non-Essential Use [a reference to bycatch in the
commercial pollock fishery in the Bering Sea]
Eliminate All Use [a preferred alternative to risking the
permanent loss of Chinook salmon from the Yukon River]
Increase an Ecological Approach to Salmon Research
Management [a call for a more holistic approach to research and
management that includes all stages of salmon life cycles and
all habitats occupied during those various life stages]
Continue Public Outreach Programs and the Development of
Communication Networks [an appreciation of collaboration to
improve mutual knowledge by both explaining scientific methods
and findings, and by listening to local concerns and
observations]
Make Subsistence Fishing More Efficient [short subsistence
windows are inefficient]
Continue to Improve Research Methods for Accurate Run
Enumeration and Assessments [concerns regarding the accuracy of
sonar-based assessments of salmon run strength and timing]
Protect Subsistence Practices of Sharing, Barter, and
Customary Trade [researchers, managers, policymakers, and the
public need to recognize customary trade as a complicated
continuum of exchange practices and attend to this complication
in policy development]
Continue to Research the Effects of Gear [mixed comments but
general concerns about what the most effective gear is for
reducing effects on genetic composition and drop-out rates]
Economic Mitigation of Salmon Disaster Effects [options and
ideas were proposed to mitigate the economic effects of the
Chinook salmon disaster]
The take-away from this research is that residents are willing to
examine every possible avenue for addressing the declines of salmon, up
to and including restricting themselves to protect our salmon
resources; this has literally been put into practice in some areas when
fishery managers announced fishing openers and residents stood down in
protest because they knew there weren't enough fish in the river
(Unalakleet River, 2000).
It would be naive to pretend that illegal fishing doesn't happen in
the BBAYK. It happens and may continue to happen while anger and
resentment exists as they do. It is a reaction from individuals seeing
their way of life disregarded, their voices not heard, and questions
not answered. It is a sign of desperation, deep suspicion, and
insecurity. When people experience scarcity and are being managed by
government, they, out of frustration, are sometimes inclined to do
things that are often not in the long-term interest of sustaining
resources.
Stock Status & Threats to Sustainability of Western Alaska Stocks
High subsistence dependence on salmon by Alaska Native Tribes
combined with low incomes. In the AYK Region, there are over 30,000
Alaska Natives from Athabascan, Inupiat, and Yup'ik cultural groups
occupying 90 villages and three regional centers (Bethel, Fairbanks and
Nome). The health and well-being of this region depends intensely on
the annual harvests of wild salmon.
In virtually all of these communities, salmon constitute the
largest category of wild foods harvest, providing about 167 lbs. of
salmon per person annually in rural Alaska (Fall, J.A. 2014.
Subsistence in Alaska: a year 2012 update. Alaska Department of Fish
and Game Division of Subsistence: Anchorage. http://www.adfg
.alaska.gov/static/home/subsistence/pdfs/subsistence_update_2012.pdf).
Due to many cultural, nutritional, and logistical factors (such as
favorable drying conditions during early summer), Chinook salmon remain
the most important salmon species to many communities in the AYK
watersheds.
The continued steep decline of AYK region Chinook salmon stocks has
resulted in a failure to meet core subsistence needs, and in some
years, a failure to meet both key escapement goals as and subsistence
needs. Chinook salmon stocks necessary for native subsistence fisheries
have steeply declined, resulting in significantly reduced, or in some
years, no subsistence harvests. Disastrous declines in Chinook salmon
returns to western Alaska rivers within the AYK region beginning in the
early 2000s resulted in the closure of commercial harvest of Chinook
salmon for over a decade, numerous restrictions to subsistence
fisheries, and a series of state and Federal disaster declarations. AYK
Chinook salmon populations are suffering a multi-year period of very
low productivity and abundance.
Table 1. List of precipitous salmon population declines that have
spurred multiple Federal disaster declarations and the designations by
State of Alaska as stocks of concern. A ``Stock of Concern''
designation under the State of Alaska's ``Policy for the Management of
Sustainable Salmon Fisheries,'' by the Alaska Board of Fisheries is a
very important gauge of the conservation risks facing these
populations.
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As I discuss below there are multiple dimensions of the Chinook
salmon decline. Specifically, the decline in the total number of
returning adult salmon is exacerbated by two additional factors:
(1) declining escapement quality, especially the shrinking size of
female spawning salmon which results in fewer potential eggs in
the gravel; and
(2) smaller, currently less productive stocks in this period of
decline are more vulnerable (Figure 1).
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Figure 1: Multiple dimensions of the AYK Region Chinook Salmon
declines
Yukon River Chinook Salmon Declines
During 1961 to 1997, the Yukon River Chinook salmon populations
sustained an average combined subsistence and commercial harvest level
of approximately 155,000 fish per year (Figure 2). The Alaska Board of
Fisheries established in regulation the ``amounts reasonably necessary
for subsistence'' (ANS) for Yukon River Chinook salmon as the range of
45,500-66,704 fish. Due to the recent declines and management actions
striving to meet critical escapement needs, the ANS has not been met
since 2010. The 2014 subsistence harvests of Chinook salmon were
drastically curtailed to meet escapement goals, and rebuild the stocks,
resulting in the lowest subsistence harvest on record.
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Figure 2. Alaska harvest of Chinook salmon, Yukon River, 1961-2017.
Source: Yukon River Joint Technical Committee 2017.
Kuskokwim River Chinook Salmon Declines
From 1985 to 2010, the Kuskokwim River supported the largest
subsistence fishery for Chinook salmon in the world. Due to the recent
declines, subsistence harvests have fallen well below the amount
reasonably necessary for subsistence for each of the last eight years
(Figure 3). The 2014 Chinook salmon subsistence harvest of 11,000 fish
was the lowest on record and 56,000 short of the minimum of what is
necessary for subsistence. Estimated Chinook salmon harvests in 2018,
will be less than 45 percent of the minimum amount necessary for
subsistence in the Kuskokwim River Watershed.
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Figure 3. Kuskokwim River Chinook salmon subsistence harvests 1976-
2018. Source: ADFG, Kuskokwim Region Data.
Norton Sound Chinook Salmon Declines
In the southern Norton Sound region, Chinook salmon subsistence
harvests have decreased by more than 60 percent for the two watersheds
which support important native subsistence fisheries, the Shaktoolik
and Unalakleet rivers. Figure 4 presents the combined harvests from
these watersheds, showing the steep decline and elimination of
commercial harvests (1993-2000), followed by the steep sustained
decline in subsistence harvests (2002-2011). This trend continues to
the present.
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Figure 4. Norton Sound Subdistrict 5 (Shaktoolik River) and
Subdistrict 6 (Unalakleet River) combined commercial and subsistence
Chinook salmon harvests, 1961-2017. Source: ADFG, personal
communication.
A key Federal fisheries management metric demonstrating the
collective magnitude and duration of the Chinook decline in the AYK
region is the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council's ``Three-
System Index.'' This index, based on the sum of estimated total returns
of Chinook Salmon to the Upper Yukon, Kuskokwim, and Unalakleet rivers,
was established by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council
(Council) as a measure to reduce Bering Sea pollock fishery impacts
after years of dramatically increasing bycatch of Chinook salmon.
A threshold of 250,000 Chinook salmon for the three-system index
was implemented by the Council in 2016, meaning that if the total
Chinook salmon returns in a year fall below the threshold--indicating
declined and therefore more vulnerable Chinook salmon populations--more
restrictive bycatch measures would be adopted for the next year's
pollock fishery with the intent of reducing pollock fishery impacts on
Chinook salmon rearing in the marine environment.
Using the May 2018 revised Kuskokwim River run reconstruction
model, ADF&G presented revised total run estimates to the NPFMC
indicating that the 3 System Index was less than the 250,000 fish
threshold in each of the last three years (Figure 5)(K. Howard, ADF&G,
Memo to the NPFMC: ``Updated Relationship of 3 System Inriver Total Run
Index and Total Western Alaska AEQ'', May 15, 2018).
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Figure 5: North Pacific Fisheries Management Council's ``Three-
System Index'' based on the revised estimated total returns of Chinook
Salmon to from the Kuskokwim River plus the Canadian Yukon and
Unalakleet Rivers in relation to the Council's established threshold of
250,000 salmon. Source: (K. Howard, ADF&G, Memo to the NPFMC: ``Updated
Relationship of 3 System Inriver Total Run Index and Total Western
Alaska AEQ'', May 15, 2018; Liller, Z. W., H. Hamazaki, G. Decossas, W.
Bechtol, M. Catalano, and N. J. Smith. 2018. Kuskokwim River Chinook
salmon run reconstruction model revision--executive summary. Alaska
Department of Fish and Game, Division of Commercial Fisheries, Regional
Information Report 3A.18-04, Anchorage).
Threats to salmon biodiversity: Declines now pose significant
documented risks to small populations and potential loss of stock
diversity/biocomplexity. Chinook salmon stocks in the AYK region are
composed of over 100 discrete spawning populations, many with unique
phenotypes and life histories. These aggregate populations--salmon
biocomplexity--play an important role in buffering interannual
variability of the overall stock complex and provide resilience in the
face of environmental change (Hilborn, R., Quinn, T.P., Schindler,
D.E., and Rogers, D.E. 2003. Biocomplexity and fisheries
sustainability. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 100(11): 6564-6568.
doi:10.1073/pnas.1037274100. PMID:12743372.; Schindler, D.E., Hilborn,
R., Chasco, B., Boatright, C.P., Quinn, T.P., Rogers, L.A., and
Webster, M.S. 2010. Population diversity and the portfolio effect in an
exploited species. Nature 465:609-613.).
This diversity in populations produces a stabilizing effect where
less productive populations are compensated by the most productive
populations, thereby stabilizing annual returns to the river (Schindler
et al., 2010). AYK Chinook salmon stocks still retain much of this
diversity that stabilizes annual returns (Griffiths, J.R., D.E.
Schindler, J.B.Armstrong, M.D. Scheuerell, D.C.Whited, R.A. Clark, R.
Hilborn, C.A. Holt, S.T. Lindley, J.A. Stanford, and E.C. Volk. 2014.
Performance of salmon fishery portfolios across western North America.
Journal of Applied Ecology doi: 10.1111/1365-2664.12341).
However, the challenges to management and conservation of
population diversity is that in these large complex watersheds, highly
productive populations are harvested together with low productivity or
low abundance stocks, which are at risk of unsustainable exploitation
or even extinction when part of such mixed-population fisheries. Loss
of unproductive or small populations will erode the resilience of the
overall system because these components of the population complex can
become the productive or dominant producers in the future, under
different prevailing environmental conditions (Hilborn et al., 2003).
Sustained productivity of salmon has been shown to be possible only
if genetic diversity and population structure are maintained (NRC
(National Research Council). 1996. Upstream: salmon and society in the
Pacific Northwest. National Academy Press, Washington, D.C.; Hilborn et
al., 2003). However, the effective population size of some small,
currently less productive stocks in the Yukon, Kuskokwim, and
Unalakleet River watersheds may be approaching a threshold of concern
for long term loss of genetic diversity (Olsen, J.B., Miller, S.J.,
Harper, K., and Wenburg, J.K. 2005. Effective population size of
Chinook salmon in Yukon and Kuskokwim River tributaries. Arctic Yukon
Kuskokwim Sustainable Salmon Initiative Final Report. Anchorage,
Alaska. http://www.aykssi.org/project/effective-population-size-of-
chinook-salmon-in-yukon-and-kuskokwim-river-tributaries/) found that
discrete populations may be at risk for long term loss of genetic
diversity as populations fall below an ``effective population size''
(Ne) of 500. Figure 6 illustrates the drainage-wide pattern of long
term decline of monitored Chinook salmon populations.
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Figure 6. Kuskokwim Watershed with 2017 Kuskokwim River Chinook
monitored salmon tributary escapements compared to long-term average
escapements, illustrating the magnitude and widespread pattern of
decline facing small or currently less productive stocks. This
comparison shows that that 77 percent of the monitored tributaries
remain declined compared to long-term average escapements, with 15
percent of the tributaries showing declines of greater than 50 percent.
Source: ADFG, Commercial Fisheries Division.
Some monitored Chinook salmon spawning populations have steeply
declined to near or potentially below the ``minimum viable population
size'' applicable to many salmon populations. These potentially
vulnerable including three Kuskokwim River Tributaries (Tuluksak,
Tatlawiksuk, and Takotna Rivers). The ADFG counted a total of 94
Chinook salmon at the Takotna River weir monitoring site in 2013, down
from a high of 721 in 2001.
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Figure 7: Linear regression of Chinook salmon mean annual length
(mm) by year for the Yukon and Kuskokwim Rivers. (Lewis B, Grant WS,
Brenner RE, Hamazaki T (2015) Changes in Size and Age of Chinook Salmon
Oncorhynchus tshawytscha Returning to Alaska. PLoS ONE 10(6): e0130184.
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0130184. pmid:26090990)
Declining size of AYK Region Chinook salmon
The size-at-age of older Yukon and Kuskokwim River Chinook salmon
has declined and the mean age of returning fish has declined since the
early 1970s (Lewis B, Grant WS, Brenner RE, Hamazaki T (2015) Changes
in Size and Age of Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha Returning to
Alaska. PLoS ONE 10(6): e0130184. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0130184.
pmid:26090990). Overall, a decreasing proportion of older fish and
smaller sizes at a given age (Figure 7) have led to a reduction in the
average size of returning females. This decline in the average size
results in a reduction in the average number of eggs per spawning
female, because fecundity increases with female body size.
Critical AYK Region Salmon Research & Monitoring Data Gaps
The need for an integrated marine and freshwater research and
monitoring to better understand the causes of Chinook salmon
declines.
For most salmon populations the freshwater stages sustain over half
of the total egg-to-adult mortality. Adult, embryonic, and juvenile
stages are all vulnerable to changes in freshwater environmental
conditions. Specifically, we need to better understand how changes in
the suitability or productivity of freshwater habitat and changing
ocean conditions (physical and biological) in the Bering Sea has caused
reduced survival of Chinook salmon and contributed to the decline of
AYK stocks.
The need to better understand the drivers and consequences of declining
size of Western Alaska Chinook salmon
By directing research to understand the factors that altered the
size, sex ratio, and composition of life history types in ways that
have contributed to recent declines of AYK Chinook salmon. The large
old female salmon that provided much of the reproductive potential of
western Alaskan stocks are disappearing.
Key information gaps related to declining salmon size include:
How has size- and age-at-maturity of returning adults
changed among stocks, and drainage areas (Yukon and Kuskokwim
rivers) and has this occurred synchronously with stocks
elsewhere such as in Bristol Bay populations and coastwide?
What is the relationship between size- and age-at-maturity
of returning adults in stocks fished by gear selective for
small fish versus gear selective for large fish?
Which explanation, genetic selection or changes in
environmental parameters (e.g., ocean conditions), better
accounts for the observed changes in size- and age-at-maturity
of returning adults in stocks? What is the relative
contribution of anthropogenic and environmental variables as
causal mechanisms for changes in size- and age-at-maturity?
Are fewer eggs being deposited than in the past because the
size- and age-at-maturity of returning adults in stocks has
changed? What is the relative role of different variables
affecting fecundity and egg deposition? Do stock-recruit
relationships change if they are expressed in units of eggs
rather than as aggregate spawning population numbers?
How should management strategies change to accommodate the
changes in reproductive potential of Chinook salmon? Which data
are needed to monitor further changes, and which management
strategies will be most robust to the inevitable uncertainties
of the causes of the decline. Such analyses should be done by
independent scientists outside the management agencies to
ensure an objective assessment of the problem at hand.
The need to assess and proactively address risks to the most vulnerable
Chinook Salmon stocks in the AYK region
We need applied research, monitoring and recovery actions for
salmon stocks that address declined stocks to ensure that they do not
become listed on the Federal Endangered Species Act (ESA).
Considering the very large information gaps combined with steep
declines there is an urgent need to address data gaps related to those
salmon populations facing declining Viable Salmonid Population
parameters that could potentially lead to ESA listing of stocks which
are of greatest importance to subsistence fisheries. Each of the major
western Alaska rivers support dozens of individual spawning stocks
that, in aggregate, make up the runs to the Yukon, Kuskokwim, Nushagak
and other large rivers. This collection of populations within each
river provides stability to the overall runs but is also critical for
producing fish for isolated villages throughout the watersheds.
Recovering and managing at-risk stocks requires an understanding of
the genetic and demographic thresholds for population viability as well
as the best approaches to risk management. Key information gaps for
sustainable salmon management include:
1. Assessing the population viability of smaller currently less
productive stocks in the region including assessing risk of
overharvest and extinction;
2. Developing approaches to reduce these threats through the
implementation of rebuilding actions and risk averse harvest
strategies.
Addressing this information gap is critically important for a
number of reasons:
Proactive measures to conserve small viable stocks are less
costly and more effective than later measures to address stocks
at the brink of extinction.
The AYK region Chinook salmon stocks overall are in a period
of low productivity, driving some less productive stocks to new
lows.
Majority of harvest occurs in mixed stock fisheries where
the productivity of strong stocks can mask proportionally
greater impacts to weak or small stocks.
Some stocks which are weak producers under one climate
regime may emerge as major producers under another regime,
highlighting the importance of conserving salmon biocomplexity
for long term resilience (Hilborn et al., 2003).
Although small stocks contribute to biodiversity and are
most at risk from habitat change, these stocks represent as
small proportion of the stocks receiving annual monitoring.
The focus of management (due to funding shortages) has
shifted from tributary escapement goals to a single drainage-
wide escapement goal creating greater potential for weak stocks
to be overharvested or extirpated without timely detection. A
critical information gap is in understanding the consequences
of management assuming that each river is a homogeneous
collection of fish, when in fact, it is a collection of
biologically diverse populations.
Research and monitoring to assess the impact of climate change on
salmon and salmon habitat
Western Alaska is one of the fastest warming regions on Earth and
recent trajectories of change are predicted to continue for at least
the next century. With climate warming comes a loss of snowpack,
increased winter flooding, increased erosion, and increased intensities
of summer droughts and heat waves. All of these climate-induced changes
threaten the productivity and suitability of salmon habitat in western
Alaska rivers. Climate change will also alter the productivity of the
nearshore ocean and the Bering Sea. In aggregate, changing climate will
fundamentally change the nature of salmon habitat in western Alaska and
produce changes in population abundance and productivity. New science
and monitoring is required to understand the mechanisms and
consequences of climate change on salmon and their habitat, and to
successfully management these fish in a warmer future.
Particularly pressing science and information needs include:
Monitoring of river flows and thermal regimes to understand
how these change in response to changing air temperature and
precipitation patterns. Currently there is almost no dedicated
environmental monitoring throughout any of the major rivers in
western Alaska
Monitoring for temperature-mediated disease outbreaks that
affect both juvenile fish during rearing and adult fish during
migration and spawning
Monitoring of physical and biological conditions in the
nearshore ocean to understand how climate change is affecting
early marine survival of salmon smolts
Assessment of changes in migration timing of adults and
smolts in response to changing environmental changes. What is
the magnitude of these changes? How are changes in migration
best monitored? How should in-season management of salmon adapt
to changing migration timing?
Quantifying the effects of changing climate on stock
productivity and, therefore, management reference points for
sustaining production from major rivers.
Evaluation of alternative management strategies for
providing the most robust approaches for managing fishery
resources in a future with persistent and inevitable
uncertainties about climate effects on fish populations.
Loss of key monitoring projects creates additional critical data gaps
For example, a number of critical long-term monitoring projects on
the Kuskokwim River--over 60 percent of the high-quality salmon
counting projects--have no secure funding from either state and Federal
agencies for 2019 forward (Figure 8).
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Figure 8: Map of Kuskokwim River salmon monitoring projects using
weirs to count returning adult salmon showing long-term projects with &
without funding for 2019 onward.
In rivers such as those in western Alaska, which are vast, complex
and remote, there will always be substantial uncertainties about the
status of the stocks, the causes of population changes, and the
consequences of different management actions for achieving the multiple
objectives of different stakeholders. It should be required that
population models and agency management strategies are periodically and
independently reviewed as it is not common practice for management
agencies to perform thorough evaluations of how robust their management
actions are to these uncertainties. Ongoing climate change will only
add to uncertainties about the effectiveness of different management
strategies for sustaining populations and allowing a safe level of
harvest.
Addressing key information needs in the region is made more
challenging by the steep decline in funding awards to Alaska state and
tribes from an existing NOAA/NMFS program which has the potential to
assist.
PROBLEM: Significant decline in funding to Alaska over the past decade
under NOAA's Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund (PCSRF)
Program
The Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund (PCSRF) was
established by Congress in 2000 to address and reverse the
declines of Pacific salmon and steelhead by supporting
conservation and recovery efforts in California, Oregon,
Washington, Idaho, and Alaska.
The priority of the program is to fund projects and
activities that are ``necessary for conservation of salmon and
steelhead populations that are listed as threatened or
endangered, or identified by a State as at-risk to be so-
listed, for maintaining populations necessary for exercise of
tribal treaty fishing rights or native subsistence fishing, or
for conservation of Pacific coastal salmon and steelhead
habitat.'' (emphasis added)
NOAA's PCSRF recipients in Alaska consist of:
State of Alaska's Sustainable Salmon Fund
Arctic-Yukon-Kuskokwim Tribal Consortium (consisting of the
tribes represented by the Tanana Chief Conference, Association
of Village Council Presidents and Kawerak Inc.)
Despite relative stability in congressional funding levels, the
share of the funding allocated to Alaska's PCSRF recipients by NOAA
administrators has dropped from 25 percent of the total in 2007 to 7
percent in 2016 & 2017 since the competitive grants program began in
2007. (Figure 9)
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Figure 9: A clear trend of precipitously declined funding to Alaska
over the past decade.
The PCSRF is almost exclusively focused on investing on ESA listed
stocks. Clearly there is an imminent need for a program which
proactively addresses salmon declines in advance of any potential or
actual ESA listings.
AYK SSI: A Successful, Unique, Collaborative Solution
Salmon runs of the Arctic-Yukon-Kuskokwim (AYK) region have been
critical to the survival of the people and wildlife for thousands of
years. Over eighty communities in the region depend heavily on the
harvest of salmon, which forms the foundation of their subsistence diet
and their cultural identity. However, dramatic declines in salmon runs
across the AYK region over the past two decades have led to
restrictions on subsistence fishing and closure of many commercial
fisheries. As a result, harvest restrictions have created tremendous
hardships for the communities in a region with the highest subsistence
dependence on salmon in the state, coupled with some of the lowest
incomes in the state.
In response to these declines, BSFA and regional Native
organizations invited state and Federal agencies to create the Arctic-
Yukon-Kuskokwim Sustainable Salmon Initiative (AYK SSI), a proactive
science-based program working cooperatively to identify and address the
critical salmon research needs facing the AYK region.
Created via a Memorandum of Understanding in 2002, this innovative
partnership includes BSFA, the AYK Tribal Consortium consisting of the
Association of Village Council Presidents (AVCP), Tanana Chiefs
Conference (TCC) and Kawerak, Inc., as well as ADF&G, National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries, and the USFWS.
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
The AYK SSI is governed by an eight-member Steering Committee (SC)
and advised by a six-member Scientific Technical Committee (STC).
Current roster of committee members:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Steering Committee Scientific Technical Committee
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alaska Department of Fish and Game Christian Zimmerman, Ph.D., Chair
John Linderman, Commercial United States Geological Survey
Fisheries Division Alaska Science Center
Lisa Olsen, Division of Subsistence
Association of Village Council Chuck Krueger, Ph.D., Vice-Chair
Presidents Michigan State University
Jennifer Hooper Center for Systems Integration and
Sustainability
Bering Sea Fishermen's Association Milo Adkison, Ph.D.
Karen Gillis, Chair University of Alaska Fairbanks
School of Fisheries and Ocean
Sciences
Kawerak, Inc. Caroline Brown, Ph.D.
Rose Atuk-Fosdick Alaska Department of Fish and Game
Division of Subsistence
NOAA Fisheries, Auke Bay Andrew Munro
Laboratories Alaska Department of Fish and Game
Peter Hagen Commercial Fisheries Division
Tanana Chiefs Conference Daniel Schindler, Ph.D.
Gale K. Vick University of Washington
School of Aquatic and Fishery
Sciences
United States Fish & Wildlife
Service
Aaron Martin, Vice-Chair
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The AYK SSI is truly unique for Alaska and different from other
approaches in several important ways.
AYK SSI provides a cooperative forum for addressing research needs
The uniqueness of our program has been recognized as, potentially,
the largest example of co-management of research funding addressing
salmon within the Pacific Rim and is one of the largest successful
experiments in the co-management of fisheries and wildlife research in
North America.
AYK SSI provides coordination and avoids duplication of effort
Projects funded through the AYK SSI address high priority
hypotheses and critical uncertainties drawn from our AYK SSI Salmon
Research & Restoration Plan (RRP). The aim of this long-range,
strategic science plan is to identify the conceptual frameworks,
research themes and research priorities needed to guide research funded
through the AYK SSI. Development of the RRP helps to ensure that
available funds are spent wisely and avoids duplication. The RRP draws
on the best available science to identify effective ways to investigate
and understand the complexity of marine and freshwater ecosystems which
support these salmon stocks; identifies significant knowledge gaps, and
establishes research and monitoring priorities that complement other
relevant programs in the region without duplication of effort. In doing
so, the RRP provides a science-based roadmap guiding the AYK SSI's
current and future proposal solicitations and ensures that available
funds target the highest priority issues and questions. (Arctic-Yukon-
Kuskokwim Sustainable Salmon Initiative (AYK SSI). 2006. Arctic-Yukon-
Kuskokwim Salmon Research and Restoration Plan. Bering Sea Fishermen's
Association, Anchorage, AK.)
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AYK SSI completes implementation-ready AYK CHINOOK SALMON RESEARCH
ACTION PLAN to guide research in a coordinated, collaborative
way
In 2013, responding to the disastrous decline of Chinook salmon in
the AYK region, the specially appointed AYK SSI Chinook Salmon Expert
Panel released its research blueprint for addressing failing Western
Alaska salmon populations entitled: ``Arctic-Yukon-Kuskokwim Chinook
Salmon Action Plan: Evidence of Decline of Chinook Salmon Populations
and Recommendations for Future Research.'' Our expert panel members
included scientists from two divisions within the Alaska Department of
Fish and Game, NOAA Fisheries, U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Forest
Service and several universities. For each of the possible drivers of
decline, the Chinook Salmon Action Plan provides a description,
discussion of the biological plausibility, a summary of the evidence
available, and a set of research themes and questions to guide future
research. (Schindler, D.E., Krueger, C., P. Bisson, M. Bradford, B.
Clark, J. Conitz, K. Howard, M. Jones, J. Murphy, K. Myers, M.
Scheuerell, E. Volk, and J. Winton. 2013. Arctic-Yukon-Kuskokwim
Chinook Salmon Research Action Plan: Evidence of Decline of Chinook
Salmon Populations and Recommendations for Future Research. Prepared
for the AYK Sustainable Salmon Initiative Anchorage, AK). v + 70 pp.
Available at https://www.aykssi.org/aykssi-chinook-salmon-research-
action-plan-2013/)
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AYK SSI develops a state-of-the-art assessment of salmon stocks and
management practices for the AYK region
Pacific Salmon: Ecology and Management of Western Alaska's
Populations is a timely book, sponsored by the AYK SSI and published by
the American Fisheries Society. It covers the freshwater, estuarine,
and marine ecology and management of salmon and is the first-ever
comprehensive appraisal of the region's salmon resources. Containing 61
chapters, the book assesses the ecological processes that cause changes
in salmon populations; describes the effects of varying salmon runs on
rural communities; reviews state, Federal and international management
of salmon fisheries in the region; and examines emerging themes at the
nexus of salmon ecology and management in the AYK region.
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
The book includes special sections on the economic, social, and
cultural significance of salmon, and on governance associated with
salmon management. Reviews of several other fisheries such as those in
Washington and Oregon, provide lessons learned elsewhere conclude with
recommendations for future research to promote a better understanding
of the region's fisheries. (Krueger, C. C., and C. E. Zimmerman,
editors. 2009. Pacific salmon: ecology and management of western
Alaska's populations. American Fisheries Society Symposium 70,
Bethesda, Maryland.)
The AYK SSI has created an important legacy of improved salmon
science and conservation in an otherwise data-poor region with limited
scientific capacity. Information from our high priority monitoring and
applied research projects has contributed to:
3 An improved understanding by management agencies of the complex
relationships between salmon and their freshwater, nearshore
and marine environments; and
3 Improved management and recovery of declined salmon populations to
better provide sustainable harvest opportunities for
subsistence uses.
Our research addresses the full salmon life cycle; integrated marine
and freshwater research
Gravel to gravel research focus, the AYK SSI has made important
contributions by maintaining its focus on identifying and
addressing drivers of decline throughout the entire salmon
lifecycle. The AYK SSI is the only program in this large region
focused on applied research, conservation, and restoration
activities that span the freshwater--estuarine--marine habitats
that salmon use throughout their life cycle.
Capacity-Building is a major goal of the AYK SSI's funded research
Our approach to conducting research includes an integrated
program to expand the capacity of Native and rural
organizations to participate in and lead the salmon research we
fund. Principal investigators and their organizations are
highly encouraged to demonstrate the ability to create and/or
maintain effective relationships with local communities/
organizations and a commitment to capacity-building.
We recommend establishing a funding mechanism for the AYK SSI which
provides a Native, state and Federal science-based partnership
undertaking collaborative salmon research informing the rebuilding and
management of declined stocks. Our collaborative partnership has an
extensive track record of applied research and restoration activities.
I'm grateful for the opportunity to address you and I look forward
to working with you to rebuild and maintain healthy and sustainable
western Alaskan salmon stocks.
Senator Sullivan. Great. Thank you, Ms. Gillis. Ms.
Hoffman.
STATEMENT OF KATRINA HOFFMAN, M.S., PRESIDENT AND
CEO, PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND SCIENCE CENTER
Ms. Hoffman. Good morning, Senator. My name is Katrina
Hoffman. I'm the President and CEO of the Prince William Sound
Science Center, which is based in Cordova, Alaska.
Environmental conditions define many aspects of salmon life
history, and therefore it's important to measure those
conditions in order to evaluate how they drive salmon
populations and salmon productivity. Ocean productivity is key
to fisheries productivity.
Prince William Sound is home to a salmon industry that's
typically worth about 15 million dollars per year in ex-vessel
value. It's also the nursery to several hundred million salmon
smolts that enter each year from the streams and hatcheries
around this periphery.
The environment that salmon smolts encounter is critical to
their life history as they proceed to the Gulf of Alaska. We
know that environment is changing. The North Pacific in general
warming at about a fifth of a degree per decade, and we see
that signal repeated in Prince William Sound.
At the same time, the glaciers and ice sheets that surround
the Sound are melting and the ocean near those glaciers and
glacially influenced rivers are cooling and becoming fresher,
and in some cases more acidic. We don't have a good
understanding of what this will do to the marine ecosystem,
including salmon populations and productivity. Changes in ocean
chemistry, such as ocean acidification, may even influence the
ability of salmon to home to their natal streams.
From approximately 2014 to 2016, we did see the North
Pacific experience a marine heat wave that you have heard
referred to as ``the blob.'' We saw plankton that are more
common in Oregon and California becoming present in Alaskan
waters, toxin-producing algae blooms up here, and there was a
huge die-off of marine birds in Prince William Sound.
We later saw what may be the cascading effects of that blob
in our fisheries. As Commissioner Cotten mentioned, the
precipitous decline of Pacific cod populations, the 2016 pink
salmon run crash, and this year some salmon fisheries in
Alaska, including the Copper River fishery, experienced low
returns of sockeye salmon, which resulted in restricted fishing
opportunity for our communities.
Recently, some of our scientists participated in a two-year
working group on ocean and climate effects on salmon. In
reviewing available data, they detected effects of ocean
temperature and pink salmon numbers on productivity of sockeye
salmon populations in the Gulf of Alaska. Their analysis
suggests that sockeye exposed to warm coastal waters like the
blob in their first year in the ocean were more likely to
suffer from competition with other salmon species.
The team also documented slower growth rates of several
populations of sockeye salmon in the Gulf of Alaska during
years influenced by the blob. In 2016 we conducted a pilot
study to examine at-sea foraging strategies of natural-origin
and hatchery-origin pink salmon that returned to Prince William
Sound. We did this using staple isotopes, which is a way of
evaluating their food web interactions.
Food web interactions are important. They can shape salmon
body size, overall quality and survival and spawning success.
This topic is a major knowledge gap, and it would be valuable
to examine in future studies, including high and low run years
for pink salmon, as well as sockeye and chum salmon that return
to the same regions.
We are also collaborating on a study that looks at the
number of days that adult pink salmon are alive and spawning in
streams. This is with collaborators at UAF. Stream life is
thought to be positively correlated to reproductive success.
And this study will assess whether there are differences
between salmon that are hatchery and natural in origin and
whether those differences are important or can be detected in
any way.
Sockeye salmon returning to the Copper River are getting
smaller. This winter the science center researchers will
initiate a pilot study to explore whether there are trade-offs
among sockeye salmon that only swim a short distance upriver
versus those that migrate a longer distance. In other words,
habitat migration distance potentially affect fat stores,
pathogen loads and reproductive fitness. Those relationships
are not defined.
Stressful environments have been shown in some studies to
magnify the impacts of infectious agents on fish populations.
This winter our staff will also use molecular techniques to
measure whether and to what extent Copper River sockeye possess
certain pathogens that could affect their migration success or
spawning success. Very little of this type of work has been
done with salmon populations anywhere in Alaska.
With funding from the fishing industry, we provide near
realtime data to ADF&G. Our regional seafood development
association for the Copper River as well as NOAA have funded us
to deploy a pair of imaging sonars in the lower Copper River.
We use these sonars to count salmon, and if during the start of
the Copper River run, they complement the ADF&G installation
several miles upriver. For fish, it's a multi-day run before
they hit the ADF&G sonars, and by providing data on salmon
escapement that was collected closer to the mouth of the river,
the state fisheries managers have the option to use our data
along with their own when deciding when to provide fishing
opportunities and for how long.
As you know, Copper River salmon is the first major salmon
fishery in our state each year that delivers to market. The
salmon are very valuable. And each fishing opportunity has the
potential to return hundreds of thousands of dollars to over a
million dollars to our community alone.
So improving fishing enumeration methods can help maintain
sustainable salmon populations while improving economic
opportunities for coastal Alaskan communities.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Hoffman follows:]
Prepared Statement of Katrina Hoffman, President and CEO, Prince
William Sound Science Center and Executive Director, Prince William
Sound Oil Spill Recovery Institute
Introduction
Good morning Chairman Sullivan, Ranking Member Baldwin, and Members
of the Subcommittee. Since our founding in 1989, the Cordova, Alaska-
based Prince William Sound Science & Technology Institute (dba Prince
William Sound Science Center, and referred to as ``the Science Center''
or PWSSC) has focused the vast majority of our work on ecosystem
research and science education in our heavily spill-affected region. We
are the only place-based research and education institute on Prince
William Sound, and we now have three decades of experience studying the
region. In our first 29 years, the organization has generated more than
$90 million in direct expenditures related to our work. We are driven
by our vision of communities that maintain socioeconomic resilience
among healthy ecosystems.
Cordova remains economically the hardest hit community in the wake
of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill. Numerous species have yet to recover
from the spill, and environmental conditions, including climate change,
are impacting our region--including salmon--in unprecedented and
unanticipated ways. To fully understand these changes and to help
management agencies and communities adjust appropriately, more long-
term research must be conducted in Alaska.
Conclusions from our current research:
Rapid environmental changes are occurring in Alaska.
Unprecedented ocean conditions have characterized the northeast
Pacific Ocean in recent years including anomalously warm sea-
surface temperatures 2-3 +C above the long-term average, known
as the ``Warm Blob'' or ``the Blob''.
We know that Prince William Sound is changing: the North
Pacific Ocean in general is warming at about a fifth of a
degree per decade, we see that signal in the waters flowing
into the Sound from the Gulf of Alaska.
Glaciers and ice sheets that surround the perimeter of
Prince William Sound are melting at rates as high as anywhere
else in the world--enough that we see marine waters near those
glaciers becoming cooler and fresher as a result of the runoff.
This impacts the typical function of the marine ecosystem.
The recent marine heat wave, colloquially referred to as
``the Blob,'' gives us a hint of what we can expect as the
ocean continues to warm. We saw big changes in the surface
ocean: productivity was down, nutrients were not used up by
living organisms; plankton that are more common off Oregon and
California became prevalent in the northern Gulf of Alaska;
toxin-producing algae blooms appeared; and there were huge die
offs in marine birds and mammals. Recent, unexpected declines
in Alaska fisheries, including collapsing Pacific cod
populations and historically low returns of salmon in the
region, may be cascading effects of the Blob.
Our research suggests that fish exposed to anomalously warm
coastal waters in their first year in the ocean made them more
likely to suffer effects from competitive interactions with
pink salmon. We have also documented slower growth rate (as
measured on scales) of several key populations of sockeye
salmon in the Gulf of Alaska during the years influenced by the
Blob.
At-sea food web interactions among natural- and hatchery-
origin salmon are important as they can shape salmon body size,
overall quality, and survival and spawning success. This topic
is a major knowledge gap. We are keen to extend our pilot work
with future studies that will examine similar relationships
between at-sea foraging and performance correlates, such as
body condition, migratory timing, timing of residence in
spawning streams, and investment in reproduction, among
natural- and hatchery-origin Pink Salmon over multiple years
including both high and low run years for Pink Salmon, as well
as for Chum and Sockeye Salmon that return to the Prince
William Sound region.
We feel that further study of these issues and reduction of
these knowledge gaps is highly relevant to the interests and
needs of a variety of salmon stakeholders in the State of
Alaska.
In addition, we believe a new program of research focused on
ecosystem shifts, especially those associated with the loss of
glacial ice and subsequent ecosystem impacts, including those
affecting salmon, is necessary for our region.
Ecosystem Shifts in the Face of Climate Change
Climate change is affecting ecosystems and salmon in Alaska in a
variety of ways. One of the most dramatic changes is associated with
the loss of glacial ice. The most obvious change is the exposure of new
terrain as the glaciers recede. Less obvious, but just as important,
are changes in freshwater flow, water temperatures, water chemistry,
water clarity, and nutrient supplies downstream of the glaciers. The
ecosystems from glaciers to the ocean thus have to adapt to the loss of
ice. There is a recolonization of the land by a succession of plants.
New lakes, rivers, and streams form that are eventually inhabited by
macroinvertebrates and fish, including, potentially, salmon. As
glaciers disappear, the source of water shifts from melting ice to snow
melt and rain. This leads to altered stream and river flow regimes. The
changes in streamflow affect organisms reliant on that water. Changes
in freshwater input, minerals, and nutrients carried by the streams or
released by glaciers also have impacts on ocean properties and ocean
productivity due to changes in ocean chemistry and the physical
structure and interactions of different seawater layers.
In the northern Gulf of Alaska region, including Prince William
Sound and the Copper River basin, we have glaciers in all stages of
loss, and changes in the cryosphere are driving changes in ecosystem
function and ocean productivity. For example, the Columbia Glacier is a
rapidly retreating tidewater glacier that is exposing miles of new land
each decade. We also have hanging glaciers in which the ice is nearly
gone, resulting in altered freshwater flow regimes as streams become
more influenced by rainfall or rapid melting, flooding, and scouring.
The human communities in the region are highly dependent on natural
resources, particularly salmon, that must adapt to the changing
environment. Changes in ocean chemistry may even influence the ability
of salmon to home to their natal streams, and more acid ocean
conditions complicate the matter further.
It would be beneficial to support further research focused on these
ecosystem shifts, including those associated with the loss of glacial
ice. While this is a very large and complex problem, there are many
aspects that can be separated that will allow for a series of focused
research projects to address the theme in an integrated fashion. Even
when focusing on a single species, such as salmon, there is much to
learn. The opening of new streams and lakes provide new spawning and
rearing habitat. How long does it take for those new habitats to
support new fish runs? How does the shift in source of freshwater
affect the survival of salmon? Does salmon run timing have to shift
with changes in the timing of river outflow cues? There are many
unanswered questions. Additional knowledge gained can help humans
continue to utilize the resources in a sustainable manner while
adjusting to novel conditions.
Environmental Drivers
The deep waters of the Gulf of Alaska are the northern extent of a
huge global conveyor belt that takes about 1,000 years to cycle. This
source of seawater, combined with a constant rain of organic material
from the surface, results in nutrient-rich waters upwelled to the
surface. The nutrients drive the productive marine ecosystems of the
Gulf of Alaska region, which in turn drive the many fisheries that are
a cornerstone of the Alaska economy. Those deep waters are, however,
lacking in one element, iron, a micronutrient that is required by
marine producers to take up other nutrients and grow. Iron comes from
the weathering of rock, and is present in high concentrations in the
freshwater that washes out into the coastal margin of the Gulf of
Alaska. In the central Gulf of Alaska, far from shore, iron must be
delivered by atmospheric transport of aerosol dust. One potentially
large source of aerosol iron from Alaska is glacial flour: the fine,
powdery, crushed rock produced by ice grinding on bedrock. Wind storms
are able to carry that glacial flour hundreds of miles out into the
North Pacific, into the iron-limited region. Such storms are visible in
satellite imagery, and in our region, the dust deposited from the
Copper River basin into the northern Gulf of Alaska has a measurable
effect on ocean productivity. The iron-rich dust provides an injection
of nutrients that can support more robust growth of plankton, known as
primary productivity. These plankton are the food upon which some
salmon prey. There is a delicate interplay between ice, rock, weather,
and water that actually supports marine life and salmon fisheries.
We know that the landscapes of our watersheds are changing.
Glaciers and ice sheets are shrinking and receding; colonizing plants
are moving into those new habitats. Those landscape changes will
manifest in the ocean as a change in iron transport, and thus marine
productivity. With the initial retreat of glaciers, as we are now
seeing, we might expect an initial increase in iron transport as
glaciers recede and glacial flour is mobilized. But as those colonizing
plants move in, the glacial flour will become bound up in soils, and
iron transport will decrease. It is unknown what the impact of this
change will be on marine productivity.
Prince William Sound is the nursery to several hundred million
salmon smolts that enter it each year from the numerous streams and
hatcheries around its periphery. The environment that salmon smolts
encounter is critical to their life history as they proceed to the Gulf
of Alaska to continue their life cycle. We know that Prince William
Sound is changing: the North Pacific in general is warming at about a
fifth of a degree per decade. We see that signal in the waters flowing
into Prince William Sound from the Gulf of Alaska. At the same time,
the glaciers and ice sheets that ring the Sound are melting, at rates
as high as anywhere else in the world--enough that we see marine waters
near those glacier rivers cooling and becoming fresher. We suspect that
this is changing the way the surface oceanography in Prince William
Sound works, but don't have a good understanding of what this will do
to the marine ecosystem and salmon productivity. Our oceanographic
efforts right now are focused on observing Prince William Sound as it
changes, using a combination of vessel surveys and automated robotic
observations. We are watching how changes in the physical environment
are changing the way nutrients move around, how material and energy
moves through the food web, and how the major players in the upper
trophic levels are responding to these changes.
Observing Marine Ecosystems
We are now able to observe marine ecosystems at unprecedented
scales. Every spring, PWSSC deploys a robotic profiling float in the
middle of Prince William Sound. It measures temperature, salinity,
oxygen, nutrients, and plankton concentrations from a depth of 200 feet
to the surface, taking measurements every two inches. The moored
profiler does that twice per day. If ocean conditions permit, it will
transmit some of that data after every profile. With that profiler we
are able to watch the annual cycle of marine productivity in near real
time. We see all the nutrients in the surface layer become depleted as
the single-celled phytoplankton that drive the base of the marine food
web use it up. We are able to watch as different types of zooplankton
grazers come and go. Some are important food for species higher up in
the food web--the cod, salmon, herring and halibut that consume
plankton directly as young fish, not to mention the many other fish,
birds and mammals that prey on these plankton consumers. The technology
now exists to do this at much larger scales--to monitor the nutrients
and productivity that makes up the base of our extraordinarily
productive marine ecosystem. Understanding this base of the food web
gives us a picture of how much of that productivity will be available
to the players higher up in the food web--things like salmon, that in
part drive our region's economy. Tracking every fish in the sea is
hard; tracking how much food is available to them is much easier.
The recent marine heat wave, colloquially referred to as ``the
Blob,'' gives us a hint of what we can expect as the ocean continues to
warm. We saw big changes in the surface ocean: productivity was down,
nutrients were not used up; plankton that are more common off Oregon
and California became prevalent; toxin-producing algae blooms appeared;
there were huge die-offs in marine birds in Prince William Sound. We
are now seeing what are likely cascading effects of ``the Blob'' in our
fisheries: Pacific cod populations have collapsed, and there have been
historically low returns of salmon in the regions impacted by the Blob.
Salmon Ecology
Via the NCEAS SASAP Working Group (Ocean/Climate effects on
salmon), we have detected strong effects of ocean temperature (during
1st year in the ocean) and densities of pink salmon in the ocean on
productivity of sockeye populations in the Gulf of Alaska. Further, we
found an interaction between these two variables, suggesting that fish
exposed to anomalously warm coastal waters in their first year in the
ocean made them more likely to suffer effects from competitive
interactions with pink salmon. We also documented slower growth rate
(as measured on scales) of several key populations of sockeye salmon in
the Gulf of Alaska during the years influenced by the Blob.
In addition, we have conducted research via funding we obtained in
2016 through the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation for a one-season
pilot study focused on examining the at-sea foraging strategies of
natural- and hatchery-origin adult Pink Salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha)
returning to the Prince William Sound region of Alaska using stable
isotope analysis. This study was an initial effort that extended the
work being conducted by the Alaska Hatchery Research Program (AHRP) to
begin developing a mechanistic perspective regarding Pink Salmon
fitness variation by considering at sea foraging determinants of
performance in migration and reproduction. Our results indicate that in
2015, a high run Pink Salmon year, strong relationships existed between
muscle '13C and '15N stable isotope values and the body size of Pink
Salmon, with hatchery-origin Pink Salmon being smaller than natural-
origin fish. However, relationships were not evident between marine
foraging and body condition (size corrected body weight) of either
natural- or hatchery-origin Pink Salmon. On-going analysis is examining
relationships between tissue-specific stable isotope values and
investment in reproduction such as gonad weight, fecundity and egg
size.
Additionally, this pilot study begins to fill a major knowledge gap
regarding overlap in at-sea food preferences by natural- and hatchery-
origin Pink Salmon as density dependent impacts of ocean ranching
practices in Alaska, particularly those occurring at-sea, have not been
extensively considered and are not specifically addressed by the AHRP
research program. At-sea food web interactions among natural- and
hatchery-origin salmon are important as they can shape salmon body
size, overall quality, and survival and spawning success. This topic is
a major knowledge gap and PWSSC researchers are keen to extend our
pilot work with future studies that will examine similar relationships
between at-sea foraging and performance correlates, i.e., body
condition, migratory timing, timing of residence in spawning streams,
and investment in reproduction, among natural- and hatchery-origin Pink
Salmon over multiple years including both high and low run years for
Pink Salmon, but also similar relationships for sympatric Chum and
Sockeye Salmon returning to the PWS region. Salmon food web
relationships were recently highlighted as key, needed information.
Thus, we feel studies such as ours are highly relevant for filling
knowledge gaps that are currently of interest to a variety of salmon
stakeholders in the State of Alaska.
Through funding support by Alaska INBRE (Idea Network of Biomedical
Research Excellence) at the University of Alaska, PWSSC researchers are
currently engaged in a pilot study that is exploring ecological
dynamics between reductions in the body size of adult Sockeye Salmon
(O. nerka) returning to spawn in the Copper River, Alaska, and energy
density, pathogen loads, and reproductive fitness trade-offs among
short and long distance Sockeye migrants.
Rapid environmental changes are occurring in Alaska. Unprecedented
ocean-climate conditions have characterized the northeast Pacific Ocean
in recent years including anomalously warm sea-surface temperatures 2-3
+C above the long-term average. The impacts of ocean acidification are
exacerbated in Alaska. In the Gulf of Alaska region, cold water
temperatures and significant freshwater input from glacial discharge
can influence alkalinity and carbonate ion concentrations in seawater,
which has important implications for the structure and function of
marine food webs. Stressful environments can magnify the impacts of
infectious agents on fish populations. Recent scientific reviews
highlight the increasing concern for understanding how environmental
change might alter the severity or distribution of diseases in aquatic
animals. It is notable that research focused on infectious agents has
not been widely conducted on Alaskan salmon stocks, despite extensive
hatchery aquaculture practices and the importance of robust salmon
populations to Alaskan livelihoods.
To this end, PWSSC researchers are conducting pilot research that
is a first of its kind for the State of Alaska by employing a recently
developed, high throughput, molecular microfluidics approach to
quantify globally-significant pathogens such as viruses, bacteria,
fungal and protozoan parasites in Sockeye salmon of the Copper River.
Copper River Sockeye are an economic cornerstone of the commercial
salmon fishery in southcentral Alaska and also sustain active
subsistence fisheries in the upper reaches of the watershed, some of
which are moderately enhanced by the Gulkana hatchery. Since the mid-
1990s, there has been a notable long-term decline in the size at age of
adult Sockeye returning to the Copper River, with marked declines in
body size occurring in recent years (2015-2018). Recent reductions in
body size of returning adult Copper River Sockeye has coincided with an
unprecedented oceanic heatwave throughout the northeast Pacific Ocean.
Body size and energy density of adult Sockeye have been negatively
related to warmer sea surface temperatures during the last year of
ocean residency, and recent studies have confirmed growth impacts to
Sockeye due to density-dependent competition at-sea. Research on salmon
in British Columbia, Canada, has already revealed striking
relationships between physiological variation and survival during
spawning migration by Sockeye of the Fraser River, possibly as a result
of viral infection. Thus, our pilot research aims to couple
physiological variation in returning Copper River Sockeye, with
information on the diversity and loads of pathogens that these fish
carry to understand mechanisms contributing to spawning migration
success and performance. This initial work on salmon pathogens will
lead to important future research to be conducted on all salmon species
in Alaska and at various life stages from young emerging in freshwater
systems, to adults during their ocean residency and return spawning
migration.
Finally, we are looking at reproductive traits in wild and hatchery
pink salmon in PWS via a University of Alaska-Fairbanks collaborative
study. In two streams in western PWS, we are quantifying stream life
(the number of days adult pink salmon are alive and spawning in
streams) and determining if there are differences among individuals
that differ in their origin (natural- or hatchery-origin). Stream life
is thought to be positively related to reproductive fitness. We
conducted a pilot project in a single stream in 2017, and executed a
full field program in 2018 in two separate streams. Results will be
included in a UAF thesis. This work is important in that it may
elucidate mechanisms that could explain fitness differences, and thus
complements the larger AHRP effort.
Other Work
Salmon Monitoring For Management
The Science Center, in collaboration with the Copper River/Prince
William Sound Marketing Association (a Regional Seafood Development
Association funded by Area E permit holders) and with recent support
from the NOAA Saltonstall-Kennedy program, deploys a pair of imaging
sonars in the lower Copper River delta to count salmon during the start
of the Copper River run. The sonars complement ADF&G sonars several
miles up river and give state fisheries managers near real-time
information on salmon escapement that they can use when deciding on the
timing and duration of fisheries opportunities. Copper River salmon are
the first major salmon fishery to market, and early season fish are
exceedingly valuable. Each fishing opportunity generally means several
hundred thousand, to over a million dollars added to the local economy
alone.
ADF&G AHRP (H-W) Project
PWSSC just completed the 6th year of field sampling under contract
to the ADF&G. This work included test fishing at the PWS entrances
(Hinchinbrook and Montague) in addition to monitoring in over 30
streams across PWS. The focus of the project was on quantifying the
fraction of hatchery-origin pink and chum salmon in the run (entering
PWS) and in the spawning populations in streams. This work resulting in
the most rigorous assessment to date of the scale and magnitude of
straying of hatchery-origin salmon in this ecosystem. The project also
involves sampling tissues to assemble DNA-based pedigrees to compare
relative reproductive fitness in pink salmon families whose parents
differ in origin. This work will provide some insight into whether
families composed of hatchery-origin parents are less fit than those
completing their entire life cycle in natural habitats. PWSSC have
produced annual reports on this project (posted on the ADF&G website)
and we are currently finalizing two manuscripts (on PWS and SE Alaska)
that will be reviewed by the AHRP Science Panel and submitted to a
scientific journal for peer-review.
Salmon Under Climate Change Impacts
The plumes of meltwater that stream out from tidewater glaciers are
a double threat for ocean acidification: They do not contain much
calcium or carbon dioxide. Being calcium poor, meltwater tends to be
corrosive to calcium in general, and being low in carbon dioxide means
that when those water do take up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere,
they tend to become even more acidic as the carbon dioxide is converted
to carbonic acid. That is bad news for any marine organism with a
calcium carbonic shell, because their shell will be dissolved by those
acidic waters. Prince William Sound alone has lost many cubic
kilometers of ice in the last two decades, and glaciers and ice sheets
continue to recede; this problem can be expected to get worse, not
better as time passes.
The productivity in the marine ecosystem of the Gulf of Alaska each
year is set up in part by the size and duration of the ``spring
bloom'': an explosion of growth by primary producers that proceeds
until all the nutrients in the surface waters are used up. The size of
that spring bloom in many ways sets up the amount of production that
will make its way into higher trophic levels like fish. A better
understanding of the timing and magnitude of that bloom will give us a
better idea of the state of the ecosystem, and improve our ability to
forecast fisheries productivity.
Conclusion
Rapid environmental changes are occurring in Alaska. Unprecedented
ocean conditions have characterized the northeast Pacific Ocean in
recent years including anomalously warm sea-surface temperatures 2-3 +C
above the long-term average. We know that Prince William Sound is
changing: the North Pacific in general is warming at about a fifth of a
degree per decade, we see that signal in the waters flowing into the
Sound from the GOA. Our research suggests that fish exposed to
anomalously warm coastal waters in their first year in the ocean made
them more likely to suffer effects from competitive interactions with
pink salmon. We also documented slower growth rate (as measured on
scales) of several key populations of sockeye salmon in the Gulf of
Alaska during the years influenced by the Blob. We feel more studies
are highly relevant for filling knowledge gaps that are currently of
interest to a variety of salmon stakeholders in the State of Alaska. In
addition, we believe a new program of research focused on the ecosystem
shifts, especially those associated around the loss of glacial ice and
related to salmon, is necessary for our region.
As part of this research, we believe that to truly get a picture of
what is happening we need to take in place measurements at different
depths--not just remote-sensing. This will allow us to understanding
interactions between wild and hatchery salmon--in PWS and GOA and on
the spawning grounds. This needs to be broad, and include
oceanographers, ecologists, pathologists, geneticists, fishery
managers, and hatchery operators. More work on key fitness components
(spawning, hatching and early life history, resistance to pathogens,
etc.) should be undertaken to help elucidate any differences that might
exists between wild, natural-origin, and hatchery-origin salmon in PWS.
We must also look at ocean effects on salmon--growth and competitive
interactions at sea. NOAA has substantial resources, and groups like
PWSSC could collaborate, focusing on linkages between PWS and GOA, for
example. In addition, we must look at migratory and reproductive
performance of salmon in changing river conditions, including
glacially-influenced rivers like the Copper or smaller coastal streams
like many in PWS, while also engaging economic studies of salmon
management practices, to maintain our regional resilience and presence
as a global leader in salmon management.
Thank you.
Senator Sullivan. Great. Thank you, Ms. Hoffman. Ms.
Peltola.
STATEMENT OF MARY SATTLER PELTOLA,
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, KUSKOKWIM RIVER
INTER-TRIBAL FISH COMMISSION
Ms. Peltola. Thank you, Senator Sullivan. My name is Mary
Peltola. I'm the Executive Director of the Kuskokwim River
Inter-Tribal Fish Commission. The fish commission is a
consortium of all of the 33 federally recognized Alaska Native
tribes located along the Kuskokwim River.
In February 2016, the Kusko Fish Commission entered into a
Memorandum of Understanding with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife
Service to cooperatively manage the Kuskokwim River Chinook
salmon stocks and to ensure more self-determined management
structure.
The fish commission has four in-season managers who,
together with the Federal and state managers, make important
in-season decisions about fishing openings and closures. Our
in-season managers have fished on the Kuskokwim River for
decades and bring a wealth of traditional knowledge to the
table. Traditional knowledge is rarely used by managers who
favor western scientific models and data sources.
While there is a role for western science and traditional
knowledge in co-management, traditional knowledge fills
informational gaps that can otherwise confound in-season
management decisions. Traditional knowledge also makes adaptive
management possible. By integrating traditional knowledge into
existing western management regimes, we hope to pioneer a
better approach to fisheries co-management.
Traditional knowledge means having a detailed and deep
understanding of an ecosystem and using that understanding to
help you make informed decisions about where and when to use
that ecosystem's resources.
For example, this summer the Kuskokwim River had a later
Chinook run. Rather than coming in in late May or early June,
Chinook started to come back in mid-June. And we see this trend
not only with Chinook salmon, but many other species of salmon,
as well as migratory birds. The moose this year were about 2
weeks late in coming down to the banks. We see it with insects
and plants, as well.
By the last week of June, Kuskokwim subsistence fishermen
had had only two chances to fish and June is usually--has
traditionally been unrestricted, and that's when we put up all
of our fish. Western science cannot accurately predict run
timing or what percentage of the run has passed at a given
location.
One of the Kuskokwim River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission's
in-season managers, James Nicori, relied on his traditional
knowledge to help answer these questions. James predicted that
more Chinook were coming because he knew that when catches are
successful on the Kuskokwim side of the river in front of his
fish camp and unsuccessful on the Kuskokwak Slough side, it is
still early in the run.
As of June 22, James had observed fishermen catching on the
Kuskokwim side, and skunking on the slough side. To him, this
meant that we were not yet halfway through the run.
Federal and state managers were reluctant to accept James'
knowledge because no proven or scientific or reliable data
supported it. But the fish commission firmly recommended
additional opportunity based on this traditional knowledge, and
two limited openings were held on June 24 and on June 29.
People were able to fish, and the additional chances did not
compromise overall escapement goals.
In another example of traditional knowledge, in 2014, I
asked my uncle, Phillip Noes, to teach me how to use a set net.
He only asked me one question: What do you want to catch? I
said sockeye--we call them reds on our river--and I did not
want to get any kings, or Chinook. In early June we went to the
mouth of the Gweek River, and he showed me exactly how to set
the net. Each day when I checked the net, 85 to 95 percent of
the fish in it were sockeye, and I only caught one Chinook that
summer.
Traditional knowledge is also essential to effectively
addressing climate change in the Kuskokwim River region and its
effect on our natural resources. Climate change impacts our
lands, waters and natural resources. Because of climate change,
we cannot harvest enough Chinook to meet our nutritional needs.
Traditional knowledge represents the most significant data
set of systemic observations to our ecosystem. Using
traditional knowledge to address climate change ensures that
our responses have the necessary adaptivity and flexibility.
I urge Congress to support and create additional
legislative, administrative and funding opportunities for our
tribes to fully co-manage our important resources on an equal
footing with our Federal and state partners. The only effective
way to co-manage our resources is by fully integrating our
traditional knowledge into co-management.
I would also ask you to seriously consider moving the
Federal subsistence program out of its current location.
And I really appreciate this opportunity to speak in front
of you. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Peltola follows:]
Prepared Statement of Mary Sattler Peltola, Executive Director,
Kuskokwim Inter-Tribal Fish Commission
My name is Mary Peltola. I am the Executive Director of the
Kuskokwim Inter-Tribal Fish Commission (KRITFC). I am originally from
Kwethluk, Alaska, a small Yupik Alaska Native Village located on the
Kuskokwim River. I have been fishing with my family on the Kuskokwim in
our traditional ways for my entire life. Our fishing--when we fish,
where we fish, how we fish--has always been informed and managed by our
traditional knowledge. For thousands of years, our traditional
knowledge protected our salmon stocks and helped ensure healthy runs
and returns. However, despite an agreement with the U.S. Department of
Interior (DOI) that provides our tribes with a role in the co-
management of traditional subsistence fisheries on the Kuskokwim, our
traditional knowledge is continually sidelined and minimized in favor
of Western scientific models and data sources championed by Federal and
State administrative structures and policy priorities. The failure to
acknowledge and fully integrate our traditional knowledge undermines
our tribes' efforts to protect our salmon stocks and preserve our
traditional ways of life. I will first describe the KRITFC and how it
utilizes traditional knowledge in its co-management of Chinook salmon
stocks in the Kuskokwim River, and will then recommend how Congress can
support and create additional legislative, administrative and funding
opportunities for our tribes to fully co-manage important resources in
Alaska. I will also recommend how Congress can recognize the value of
traditional knowledge and its importance in improving resource
management outcomes, including addressing salmon management in the face
of climate change.
For about a decade now, our Kuskokwim Chinook salmon stocks have
been crashing. The consequences are disastrous. We depend on Chinook
salmon for our nutritional, spiritual, and cultural well-being. In May
2015, the KRITFC was formed as a consortium of all of the 33 federally-
recognized Alaska Natives tribes located along the Kuskokwim River to
address the crisis facing our Chinook salmon. This historical unity of
the tribes was driven by our understanding, and insistence, that we
must have at least a co-management role if our Chinook salmon stocks
and our traditional ways of life were to survive in the face of
drastically reduced Chinook returns. Each tribe appoints a Commissioner
to the KRITFC which is authorized to make decisions on behalf of that
Tribe. The Commissioners, in turn, select seven of their own members to
serve on an Executive Council that is responsible for making larger
governance and strategy determinations for the KRITFC. The KRITFC, and
the Executive Council, strives to achieve consensus in all decisions.
The KRITFC also selects four In-Season Managers from four different
regions along the Kuskokwim River (Upper, Middle, Lower, and Lowest)
who, together with Federal and State managers, participate in making
important in-season decisions about fishing openings and closures. In-
Season Managers bring a wealth of traditional knowledge to a
conversation otherwise dominated by Western scientific principles.
In February 2016, the KRITFC entered into a Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU) with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). The
MOU was designed to enable the KRITFC, together with FWS, to
cooperatively manage Kuskokwim River Chinook salmon stocks to ensure a
stronger, more self-determined management structure, help address
conservation issues so that the run could recover, and to avoid the
burdensome administrative process. Working with FWS, the KRITFC has
consistently and unanimously agreed to voluntary fishing restrictions
to protect Kuskokwim River Chinook salmon stocks. The KRITFC also uses
its collective traditional knowledge and expertise concerning the
Kuskokwim River to develop culturally appropriate conservation
management plans.
Since inception, the KRITFC has aspired to integrate traditional
knowledge in the development of management plans for the Kuskokwim
River, and to jointly implement these management plans with FWS and,
when possible, the State of Alaska. It is also the KRITFC's goal that
once a management plan is agreed to, and consistent with conservation,
our tribes will be clearly empowered to implement and enforce that plan
for their rural tribal members. Only when traditional knowledge is
fully integrated into management of Chinook salmon stocks, and we are
fully able to implement and enforce management plans throughout our
tribes, will there be true co-management. Co-management of whaling
through the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission is clear evidence that
fully incorporating Alaska Natives and their knowledge into management
of subsistence uses and resources is essential for conservation and to
continue the traditional and cultural well-being of Alaska Natives.
However, the KRITFC's ability to achieve its goals for full co-
management authority is frustrated under existing Federal and State
subsistence management programs. Throughout its 702-mile long course,
the Kuskokwim River runs through both Federal and State lands and is
subject to the management jurisdictions of both entities. Under the
Alaska National Interest in Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA), Federal
managers are required to prioritize non-wasteful subsistence uses of
fish and wildlife resources, such as Kuskokwim River Chinook salmon, by
Alaska's rural residents, including KRITFC's rural tribal members. If
conservation concerns require Federal managers to restrict people from
hunting or fishing from a certain stock, they must consider a user's
customary and direct dependence upon the resource as the mainstay of
livelihood, the user's local residency, and the availability of
alternative resources before any restrictions are put in place. ANILCA
helps to ensure that the people who depend on a resource the most have
the best opportunity to harvest that resource.
By contrast, State law prohibits prioritizing subsistence uses of
fish and game resources for Alaska's rural residents. Instead, State
managers must provide all Alaskans, regardless of whether they live in
a rural village where food is costly and scarce or in an urban city
where food is plentiful and relatively affordable, with equal access
and opportunity to take fish and wildlife resources. Realistically, the
State's ``all-Alaskans'' policy means is that a person who works and
lives in Anchorage is provided with the same opportunity to fish for
Kuskokwim River Chinook salmon as an elder subsistence user living in
Bethel who is unemployed and depends on the nutrition provided by
Chinook salmon to make it through the winter without going hungry.
These conflicting management regimes create serious problems that
restrict our tribes' subsistence opportunities and impede our ability
to fully engage in our traditional subsistence ways of life and to be
fully self-determined in our engagement. Despite these obvious
conflicts, and despite the fact that Federal management is required to
prioritize subsistence opportunities for rural residents, it is the FWS
policy to defer to state management of the Kuskokwim River whenever
possible. Unless FWS agrees that there is a conservation concern or a
threat to subsistence uses, the agency stands aside while the State
manages the Federal portion of the Kuskokwim River through State
regulations governed by its diluted ``all-Alaskans'' policy and its
bias towards commercial fisheries. This is routinely done over the
KRITFC's objection, and to the obvious detriment of rural subsistence
users. It is also contrary to the intent of the MOU that KRITFC entered
into with the FWS.
Neither Federal nor State management regimes recognize our right as
a matter of policy or law to manage our fish and wildlife resources.
The fact that we do not reside within reservations is used as an excuse
to sideline tribal co-management. And, because we do not have a direct
role in either the Federal or State management systems, our traditional
knowledge is sidelined and takes a backseat to the empirical data and
assumptions informed by the Western science favored by Federal and
State managers, despite the fact that we have successfully managed this
river with our traditional knowledge for thousands of years.
Since before contact with Russian traders and missionaries, and
certainly before statehood, we were stewards of this resource and
successfully managed the harvest and conservation of our Kuskokwim
River salmon stocks according to our traditional Yupik and Athabascan
rules and values. These rules and values are not difficult to
understand: provide for children, the sick, and the elderly first. Only
catch what you can eat, and share what you cannot. Treat all resources
with respect. Co-management is not true co-management without full
acknowledgement and integration of our traditional knowledge into the
management of our Chinook salmon.
While each KRITFC member tribe has a unique relationship with the
Kuskokwim, we are all unified by the vitally important role salmon--in
particular, Chinook salmon--plays in our nutritional, cultural, and
spiritual well-being. We are further unified by our bounty of
traditional knowledge and expertise about effectively managing and
protect our Chinook salmon stocks in the face of diminishing returns
and the unpredictable effects of climate change. Our traditional
knowledge helps us understand who we are and how to act to ensure
future success for our children and communities. Traditional knowledge
guides our customs, ceremonies, cultural practices, and our individual
behaviors to ensure that respect is shown to the land, water, and
natural resources upon which our people depend.
While I personally do not think that Western science values
traditional knowledge in the same way that it values empirical data,
there is increasing interest in and attention being paid to traditional
knowledge in the context of resource management. However, many people
misunderstand traditional knowledge or are confused by what it means.
Traditional knowledge is holistic. The quality and behavior of one
species can be used as an indicator of presence and abundance of a
completely different species. What one thinks, what one says, and what
one does, all has the potential to impact or influence another aspect
of one's world. Wasting a resource or treating a resource
disrespectfully incurs consequences for the individual, those around
them, as well as the resource. In comparison, the western way of
knowing is compartmentalized and specialized, some might say narrow. A
western scientific observer may study a particular aspect of the world,
like salmon run-timing and abundance, take notes, gather data, test
hypotheses, confirm or formulate new theories, and develop a predicted
salmon run forecast for the next season based on mathematic models.
Some academics understand traditional knowledge as ``a living body
of knowledge which pertains to explaining and understanding the
universe and living and acting within it. It is acquired and utilized
by indigenous communities and individuals in and through long-term
sociocultural, spiritual and environmental engagement. TK is an
integral part of the broader knowledge system of indigenous
communities, is transmitted intergenerationally, is practically and
widely applicable, and integrates personal experience with oral
traditions. It provides perspectives applicable to an array of human
and non-human phenomena. It is deeply rooted in history, time, and
place, while also being rich, adaptable, and dynamic, all of which keep
it relevant and useful in contemporary life. This knowledge is part of,
and used in, everyday life, and is inextricably intertwined with
peoples' identity, cosmology, values, and way of life. Tradition--and
TK--does not change, nor does it equal only `the past'; in fact, in
inherently entails change.'' \1\
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\1\ Raymond-Yakoubian, Julie, Brendon Raymond-Yakoubian and
Catherine Moncrief. 2017. The incorporation of traditional knowledge
into Alaska Federal fisheries management. Marine Policy 78: 132-142.
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I understand traditional knowing as having a detailed and deep
understanding of an ecosystem and using that understanding to help you
make informed decisions about where and when to use that ecosystem's
resources. For example, in 2014, my mom's younger brother taught me how
to use a little set net to fish for red (sockeye) salmon. We went to
the mouth of the Gweek River, a small tributary of the Kuskokwim River
north of Bethel, where his grandparents had their fish camp. He knew
exactly where to put the net to catch 95 percent sockeye (Reds) and
avoid Chinook salmon. Many biologists and fisheries managers imagine
that gill nets are indiscriminate killers of fish. But if you know
where each species tends to swim, if they prefer sandbars, slower
currents or deeper depths, gill nets can be a very targeted and
discreet gear type. I know this from experience: I only caught one
Chinook in the set net that summer.
My friend Charlie Wright, who lives on the Yukon River, told me
that on his section of the Yukon, an indicator of the arrival of
Chinook salmon is yellow butterflies. When he sees a yellow butterfly,
he knows the Chinook salmon are there. He also said the abundance of
yellow butterflies reflects the abundance of Chinook salmon. In 2017
when the Chinook salmon came back in real numbers, there were big
swarms of butterflies again. These interconnections are inherent to
indigenous knowledge systems and represent a very different way of
viewing the relationship between human beings and the natural world
compared western science.
Traditional knowledge should not need to be ``proven'' by Western
scientific methods and ways of knowing before it is considered in
making resource management decisions, but oftentimes, our traditional
knowledge is disregarded in favor of western scientific predictions and
models. For example, in 2017, the KRITFC and FWS agreed on a
conservative harvest of 40,000 Chinook salmon during pre-season
negotiations and meetings. This harvest estimate was based upon the
State's estimated Chinook returns--estimates based wholly on western
science.
However, when the run actually started FWS and the KRITFC disagreed
about its size and timing. Western science indicators used by UFWS
suggested that the Chinook run was weak, whereas real-time traditional
knowledge suggested that the Chinook run was strong but returning in
ways--running deeper in the river, and returning later in the summer--
for which western science could not account. At the end of the summer,
the post-season escapement numbers confirmed that the traditional
knowledge advanced by the Commission was correct, and there was a
surplus of at least 10,000 Chinook salmon. While the conservation of
these fish was important, those 10,000 fish represent lost subsistence
opportunity and food security for hundreds of our tribal members. Had
our traditional knowledge been fully acknowledged and recognized, we
would not have lost important subsistence fishing opportunity.
There is a role for both Western science and traditional knowledge
in the co-management of Kuskokwim River Chinook salmon stocks. The
KRITFC strives to make all management decisions using the best
available data. Oftentimes, that best available data is our traditional
knowledge. Traditional knowledge fills informational gaps that can
otherwise confound in-season management decisions. By integrating
traditional knowledge into existing Western management regimes, the
KRITFC hopes to pioneer a more complete, accurate, and holistic
approach to fisheries management.
KRITFC's In-Season Managers all value the empirical data that is
presented by our State and Federal managing partners in support of
their management decisions. However, these tribal managers also
recognize the value of traditional knowledge and are skilled at
incorporating traditional knowledge into resource management decision-
making in order to strengthen the end result. For example, upon
receiving a mathematical forecast of the anticipated salmon return, our
In-Season Managers will also use other traditional information before
advising people on when and how long to fish. These additional
considerations include observations about river water levels, snow
depth of the previous season, height of grasses, when shoots of green
grass emerge, numbers of migrating birds arriving and when they arrive,
where people have been catching certain kinds of fish and which stock
of fish are presently migrating, the nature of and direction of winds
at the river mouth, when cotton flies, when there are storms in
Kuskokwim Bay, river water temperatures, water clarity, amount of
debris floating downriver, anticipated fishing interests, and fish-
drying weather conditions, and the effect that these interconnected
observations have on one another insofar as fisheries management is
concerned.
There are a number of other ways in which the KRITFC uses
traditional knowledge to improve management decisions and outcomes on
the Kuskokwim River. A few years ago, the Bering Sea Fisherman's
Association (BSFA) designed and began implementing a community harvest
data monitoring program. This program trains people from local
Kuskokwim communities to collect real-time harvest data from
subsistence fishermen and women either as they fish, or immediately
thereafter, to gauge the size, strength, and timing of Kuskokwim River
Chinook salmon runs. Recently, the KRITFC partnered with BSFA to help
implement this program. The KRITFC then uses the information reported
by BSFA's community monitors to inform its management decisions. The
KRITFC firmly believes that the knowledge of our local fishermen and
women is one of the best and most accurate sources of in-season
information we have. Their individual experiences and observations of
fishing conditions are a unique and essential source of traditional
knowledge that we rely on heavily during the fishing season.
The KRITFC's use of information collected through the Bethel Test
Fishery is another example of how the KRITFC blends empirical data with
traditional knowledge to improve management outcomes. Every year, the
State of Alaska's Bethel Test Fishery (BTF) helps to monitor the
strength and timing of Kuskokwim River Chinook salmon run. The number
of Chinook salmon that pass through the BTF each day during the season
is used as an indication of the run's health, strength, and timing. As
with the data provided by BSFA's harvest monitoring program, data
collected by the BTF plays a critical role in the KRITFC's in-season
management decisions.
Traditional knowledge is also essential in any study of climate
change in the Kuskokwim River region and how climate change is
affecting our natural resources. Traditional knowledge represents the
most significant data set of systematic observations of our ecosystem.
Though the KRITFC lacks the resources to conduct ``formal'' climate
change studies demonstrating how climate change is affecting our
subsistence resources, by the measure of the traditional knowledge used
and recognized by our elders, it is evident that climate change is
making it more challenging to predict weather, river conditions, and
fish and wildlife behavior. Our tribal elders are observing changes in
weather, temperature, river water levels, returning species, and other
indicators of natural resource status, health, changes which all
suggest that climate change and the coincident escalation of global
temperatures is having a detrimental effect upon our subsistence
resources--which, in turn, has a detrimental effect upon our physical,
psychological, and spiritual well-being.
As this Subcommittee is aware, climate change has a broad range of
impacts upon the lands, waters, and natural resources of Alaska. From
milder, drier winters to warmer, wetter summers, these impacts change
our physical landscape right before our eyes. These impacts also affect
health and strength of the natural resources we depend on, as well as
the lives and health of our tribal members. We need secure, dependable
funding in order to build our capacity and commit to monitoring the
effects of climate change. Additional congressional appropriation is
one of the only ways to secure this necessary funding.
It is difficult to know the full extent to which climate change has
affected the health and bounty of Kuskokwim River Chinook salmon
stocks. But recent years of disastrously low Chinook salmon returns
have deeply impacted our emotional, nutritional, economic, social, and
spiritual well-being. We are no longer able to harvest enough Chinook
salmon to meet our nutritional needs throughout Alaska's long and harsh
winters. When our families can barely feed themselves, it then becomes
additionally challenging for us to engage in our traditional practices
of sharing and trading food resources with our friends and family who
cannot otherwise provide for themselves. The Commission believes that
the negative effects of climate change have contributed to, and even
created, an ongoing scarcity of essential resources, which in turn is
causing an ongoing crisis in our tribal communities as we lose our food
security and watch one another suffer.
My recommendation to the Subcommittee is simple: support and create
additional legislative, administrative and funding opportunities for
our tribes to fully co-manage important resources in Alaska. Recognize
the value of traditional knowledge and its importance in improving
resource management outcomes, including addressing salmon management in
the face of climate change. The diluted form of tribal ``cooperative
management'' that the State and FWS seek to foster may serve to protect
their perceived roles as the ``primary'' management authorities. This
failed model, however, will not serve either the salmon or subsistence
users moving into the future. The only way to fully integrate
traditional knowledge, and secure a partnership with the primary salmon
harvesters on the Kuskokwim, is to establish, in law, a co-management
structure that integrates the KRITFC as an equal with the State and
FWS.
Senator Sullivan. Great. Thank you. Thanks again to all the
witnesses. Again, I think you see the expertise that's aligned
here.
So let me ask a very basic question. Well, really two.
Hopefully you got to see the first panel. But you know, I
didn't get a sense that a lot of them thought there were a lot
of data gaps, and I get the sense that you think that there are
a lot of data gaps. And that's fine. That's why we are having
two panels and getting the views of everybody.
So let me open this up to all the panelists. You know, what
would you consider the top data gaps, you know, top two or
three that we need to focus on, Federal, state, but mostly
Federal here?
And then a second question. Why don't we just start with
that question. Then I'll go to the second one. I'll just open
it up to any of you.
Yes, Ms. Hoffman.
Ms. Hoffman. That's an opportunity to put in a pitch for
the value of oceanography because, as you heard the first panel
mention the phrase ocean conditions, ocean conditions, and
ocean conditions.
Senator Sullivan. Right.
Ms. Hoffman. The challenge with the ship-based monitoring
that they mentioned is that it's very limited temporally and
spatially. You go out on a vessel for about a week, maybe more,
maybe less, and in that time you collect data. Satellites can
collect data on much greater time scales, but it's not very
fine in resolution.
So we have in Alaska the opportunity to improve ocean
observing systems through both moored and autonomous devices.
For example, the Prince William Sound has an autonomous moored
profiling robot that's stationed in the central Prince William
Sound. It does two runs a day between zero feet and 200 feet of
depth, and in that run it collects all kinds of chemical,
physical and biological data. It appears at the surface and
pings that data to us via a cell tower. We can control it
remotely. And----
Senator Sullivan. How far out in the ocean can that go,
like how many miles off the shoreline?
Ms. Hoffman. We have this moored just to the east of Naked
Island, but you can moor devices in potentially any location,
as well as devices that operate autonomously without any
moorings that are transiting the ocean environment.
And although it is expensive to instrument these and they
do need to be maintained from time to time, we installed this
device in the ocean in March and we remove it sometime between
October and December. That allows us to capture the spring
bloom, the fall bloom, and to detect the zooplankton that are
prey for forage fish and salmon species. And we have been doing
this for 6 years in Prince William Sound.
Our colleagues at UAF just got funding from NSF and others
to install a similar device on the Seward line that they are in
the process of constructing, but as you can hear, there is an
opportunity to collect this kind of environmental data in many
locations that will be relevant and valuable to fishery
managers, both Federal and state.
Senator Sullivan. Anyone else on that?
Ms. Peltola. In addition to using traditional knowledge,
the Kuskokwim River has seen a marked reduction in resources
available from mostly the state side. Many weirs are not being
operated. We need--we always need--and a marked recapture study
had been funded using disaster funds that is now closed.
Bering Sea Fishermen's Association started a community-
based harvest monitoring program that does not have funding for
next summer, as well as sonar, test fish, aerial surveys; all
of those things need additional funding.
Dr. Baker. Let me just weigh in there, as well. I think I
would agree with Milo that I think the habitat is quite good in
Alaska, and I think that allows for resilience overall, but
understanding individual year or maybe stanzas of years and
returns, both in terms of abundance and run timing and so on,
there are a lot of issues that are related to ocean conditions.
And so understanding how those ocean conditions--similar to
what Katrina was talking about, how that influences different
stage-specific survival for different species, looking at
whether or not there are some carrying capacity constraints for
some of those fish, I think there are several questions along
those lines that we'd be really good to get at.
And we had an integrated ecosystem research program in the
Gulf of Alaska that was primarily devoted toward looking at
groundfish in the first year of survival, which meant looking
up in the water column up high. And we collected a lot of--
opportunistically we collected a lot of salmon data there. And
there were some recognitions that salmon at that life stage are
competing to some extent with some of those groundfish. So
understanding some of the species interactions in the marine
environment, I think, is another area. Danielle might be able
to talk more about that, as well.
Senator Sullivan. Dr. Adkison.
Dr. Adkison. Yes. So I wanted to talk about kind of a
general lack of knowledge about where salmon go and what they
do in the ocean. It's a really hard and really expensive thing
to study. One of the biggest improvements we made during my
career is these regular NOAA nearshore surveys looking at
juvenile salmon. And I think you heard the last panel talk
about how they have kind of had to cobble together funding to
continue that program every year.
Senator Sullivan. So you would say that is a critical gap
that we should prioritize funding for?
Dr. Adkison. I would say so. And I would also like to
extend it beyond looking at the--the excellent program looking
at juvenile salmon in the nearshore to putting more effort into
older salmon further out in the ocean.
Senator Sullivan. That's a lot harder to do, though, I take
it?
Dr. Adkison. It is quite a lot harder to do. That study I
was talking about that was looking at oceanic predation in
salmon sharks, one of our faculty has been putting pop-up
satellite tags on Chinook salmon that are older out in--near
Dutch Harbor he has been taking them. But it's really
expensive. It's hard to get a good sample size. But we really
don't know what they are doing out there.
Senator Sullivan. Ms. Gillis.
Ms. Gillis. Thank you. And I concur everything that was
said, except I have a couple more points. So----
Senator Sullivan. Remember, I asked you to prioritize.
Ms. Gillis. Right. So my point is the Sustainable Salmon
Initiative addressed this directly starting--we have been
addressing this since 2002; what are the gaps, what are the
priorities. We do have within the science research plan that I
provided today seven, but I would say the top three, and as I
think about your Federal view on Alaska, freshwater is
extremely important, you know, for a lot of reasons.
Bill Templin mentioned the juvenile studies and so did Milo
because he's right. We have cobbled together a lot of money. We
agree that that's an incredible priority, what the juvenile,
you know, life expectancy really is from the point they leave
that month until they return.
So we also believe that ocean mortality at any level were--
again, Bill said when do those fish die in their life span, and
anthropogenic changes to marine ecologic processes. Again, it
kind of crosses the board. These are very expensive, all of
these. And I don't expect that anyone can afford, even the most
efficient spenders of money, but I do think as organizations
work more and more together, we really do have an opportunity
here to keep things efficient and not duplicate efforts.
Senator Sullivan. Let me ask a related question. And you
know, we have two panels here. The first one, obviously, was
the government, and they need the data. But they make the
decisions. They make the management decisions. They, you know,
have the authority to do that as state and Federal officials.
A lot of what you guys are doing is not only helping with
them, but reinforcing their decisionmaking by providing
additional data and expertise. How well do you feel you are
able to plug in to them in terms of getting your expertise,
your data--Ms. Peltola, I specifically wanted to emphasize and
I'm glad your testimony did, the importance of traditional
knowledge. I think we have seen examples.
You know, I spoke in my remarks at AFN earlier this morning
about what happened with the International Whaling Commission
down in Brazil and the subsistence quota that was reauthorized,
but I think most Alaskans know the story there that the whaling
captains, you know, had much better knowledge about what was
happening with the bowhead whale population than all the best
western scientists in the world. And it took the western
scientists a long time to recognize like, holy cow, these guys
have got it right and we have been wrong the whole time. But
they finally did, which was good.
So for all of you, are there roadblocks to plug in? It
seems like the feds and the state are pretty amenable to
getting the data and the expertise that you also bring to the
table. But is that the case and are there areas that we can do
a better job on that? Really from everybody.
Mary, you want to start?
Ms. Peltola. Could you see I was really eager?
Senator Sullivan. You are.
Ms. Peltola. So we have an MOU. The Kuskokwim Inter-Tribal
Fish Commission has an MOU with Fish and Wildlife, as I stated.
And under it, the advice given by the in-season managers is
urged to be taken with the utmost adherence to that advice.
That is not something that we on our river enjoyed with the
state. It was advisory and it was very clear--it has been very
clear that that's just advice and they don't have to take it.
And for many years there was much frustration because of that.
We do feel with the Inter-Tribal Fish Commission that we
are in the room where the decisions are happening and have more
say in openings and closures.
Senator Sullivan. So that's gotten a little better.
Ms. Peltola. It is with this Inter-Tribal Fish Commission.
I also want to add that with our four in-season managers, they
come from four sections of the river. And because they have
that--they have been on that river every summer of their life--
their parents, grandparents, ancestors--they have a sense of
deep time that we don't have in western science. And because
they are residents and from there and depend on that species,
it has added legitimacy to the management of our river.
And I believe--you know, and we are not the only river that
has an Inter-Tribal Fish Commission. There's also one on the
Yukon. And I think that with tribal co-management, it adds
legitimacy in the eyes of Native people.
Senator Sullivan. Others in terms of the plug-in process?
Yes. Dr. Adkison.
Dr. Adkison. Yes. So I just wanted to give a shout out to a
program that's really good at bringing state, Federal and
private groups together, and that's the fish habitat
partnerships that are funded through Fish and Wildlife Service.
The groups on the Kenai, the Mat-Su group, the Bristol Bay
group, Southeast Alaska group are doing wonderful cooperative
work. You know, Mat-Su group is doing a whole bunch of stuff,
restoring fish passage and prioritizing that. That's Federal
funded, and it's just completely nonconfrontational. We have
got the Director of the Bristol Bay group and the former
Director of the Kenai group here in the audience.
Senator Sullivan. Ms. Gillis.
Ms. Gillis. I want to echo something Mary said in her
testimony and maybe put it into a different light.
Mary mentioned the information about how the run was late
this year based on traditional knowledge. She also mentioned
that her uncle took her out and taught her, do you want to
catch the right fish--if you want to catch a particular fish,
this is how you do it. Those are scientists and those are
managers. And Mary is right. Traditional ecological knowledge
is not respected. As far as, you know, the big decisions, I
think it's unwanted, like Mary said.
Bering Sea Fishermen's Association knows that the people in
the region have a seat at the table, need a seat at the table.
We have been working on it. I mean, really, you know, it's our
main priority. And it's not just about us. It's about making
sure that there are entities in the region and individuals in
the region that have the right information in their hands so
that they can talk to the managers at a level that the managers
talk to them.
And so it has been a long frustration. I have been with the
organization for 26 years with a little blip, even though I
didn't actually leave. And I have to say, it's frustrating, and
I feel it's deceiving in the public service efforts to say,
yes, we'll take your money so that you can fund our research
projects, but we don't really want to work with you.
Senator Sullivan. Others? Ms. Hoffman.
Ms. Hoffman. Thank you, Senator. Every entity has its own
mission or mandate. And where I see some of the most excellent
integration is when a funder requires it. And that's when they
take a proactive lead on requiring partnerships. You have seen
this in Gulf Watch Alaska, which was funded by the Exxon Valdez
Oil Spill Trustee Council. You saw this in the Gulf of Alaska
Integrated Ecosystem Research Program funded by NPRB.
And there is a sea change in the scientific community in
attitudes and approaches on what data is made available
publicly and when it is made available publicly.
Senator Sullivan. You mean in a positive way?
Ms. Hoffman. In a positive way. It's becoming more common.
Senator Sullivan. Could you explain a little bit more?
Ms. Hoffman. Well, typically, let's say, in a traditional
academic environment, a scientist would write a grant. They
would get funded by an entity to do their work, and they would
hold that data close forever, sometimes until they die. And
sometimes they might never publish information based on that
data. And that limits the ability of the scientific community
to advance its work.
So making data publicly available advances the state of
science, and the effort is smoothed when a funder requires
that. And you have excellent technological applications, like
the Alaska ocean observing system has made a data portal
available. And they mine data from publicly available sources,
and anyone can use it. And it's a fantastic way of streamlining
that integrative effort between the nonagencies and
organizations.
Senator Sullivan. So you think it's going pretty well?
Ms. Hoffman. I'm seeing a positive shift.
Senator Sullivan. Good. Dr. Baker, what about you?
Dr. Baker. I think it's a great question. As an institute,
we are kind of in a unique position where we fund academic
research. We also fund government--Federal, state and
community-related research.
And so one of the programs that we have is a data rescue
program. So we worked with the Alaska Department of Fish and
Game to take what was essentially a huge archive of written
documents, most of which I had gone through in some of my
research in grad school. And it was very inaccessible. It was
in different offices that different individuals knew about, and
as they retired, that information was often lost.
And so we provided a program that allowed them to digitize
that and publicize that. And that's something that we do, as
Katrina mentioned, for any of the research that we fund, we
have an obligation for that project to organize the data,
develop metadata, to describe what that data is and then have
that go out to a publicly accessible data portal. And I think
that's a really important aspect for any kind of funding is to
ensure that that research, as Katrina had mentioned, is
accessible beyond the group of individuals or scientists or
agencies that are working on that.
And I think we have also made some in-roads with making
some bridges between institutions. And I actually might ask
Danielle to talk a little bit about some of the work she was
doing between both the state and the Federal Government on run
timing, as well as further outreach to arctic Native
communities and some of the work that we were doing there.
STATEMENT OF DANIELLE DICKSON, SENIOR PROGRAM
MANAGER, CHIEF OFFICER FOR COLLABORATION
AND SYNTHESIS, NORTH PACIFIC RESEARCH BOARD
Ms. Dickson. Hi. My name is Danielle Dickson. I'm a Senior
Program Manager for North Pacific Research Board. I'm also our
Chief Officer for Collaboration and Synthesis.
Senator Sullivan. Oh, good.
Ms. Dickson. So I have been working in recent months with
NOAA--in part funded by NOAA to help advance an ecological
forecasting initiative. And one of three case study projects
involves attempting to forecast run timing for salmon in Cook
Inlet. So we have----
Senator Sullivan. I'm assuming when NOAA funds it, they
want to use it.
Ms. Dickson. Yes.
Senator Sullivan. That's good.
Ms. Dickson. And so I have been very fortunate to work with
some very talented individuals in both NOAA and the Alaska
Department of Fish and Game to pool their resources and work on
building a model.
And we are drawing from some NPRB-funded research,
including the data that has been rescued from Fish and Game
that Matt just mentioned and looking at how we can make better
connections across organizations to really make use of the
breadth of data that are available, including data from the
marine systems that have been collected by other programs like
NPRB's Gulf of Alaska Integrated Ecosystem Research Program and
the Seward Line Long-Term Monitoring Program, for example, to
try to get at some of that information on ocean conditions that
may be important to salmon run timing.
And our Integrated Ecosystem Research Program in the Arctic
runs from the northern Bering Sea through the entire Chukchi
Sea and a little bit into the western Beaufort Sea. That
program in part is looking at what are the drivers of fish
distribution and abundance dance in the Chukchi Sea, including
specifically pink and chum salmon. And that program includes a
very robust piece on social science and looking at what are the
drivers of food security for Arctic residents and whether they
are more driven by environmental conditions or socioeconomic
conditions, for example.
Senator Sullivan. Great. Thank you, Danielle. Ms. Gillis,
if you want to add to that, but I also wanted to ask you a
specific question. In your testimony you mentioned the NOAA
grants and funding, we have seen a significant decline. Why do
you think that's happening?
Ms. Gillis. Can I----
Senator Sullivan. Yes, please.
Ms. Gillis.--just do a quick--Matt did mention the data
rescue project, which again--well, the Sustainable Salmon
Initiative was a partner with the department in rescuing data.
And I think the noted point here is that it's taking private
funds sometimes to make data accessible, and that's a
frustration for us, but I think maybe everyone. And so I just
wanted to add that to what Matt and Danielle were saying.
Yes, the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund was
established in the year 2000 by Congress to address the ESA
listed stocks. They have three priorities, but their highest
priority and the highest ranking that determines the highest
amount of money that you receive now is competitive. Now the
process for funds is competitive since 2007. So there were
direct appropriations between 2000 and 2006, and since 2007
this program has gone to a competitive process.
And it's--the competition is between Washington, Oregon,
Idaho, Alaska, Nevada is in there, but--and California and the
tribal organizations in Washington and Alaska and the Lower 48
in those same states.
So we compete against these other states for this funding.
In fact, the highest priority--and I said it because it's
just--I don't understand the distinction. And even though we
have asked--and thank you for sending your letter inquiring to
the same exact question.
Their highest priority is to address factors limiting the
productivity of Pacific salmon either listed under ESA, which
are the Lower 48 states, or necessary for Native subsistence
fishing. So if that ``or'' is in there and they continue to
tell us since 2007 that we don't fit their highest priority,
then the language is either interpreted incorrectly, which I
absolutely believe, or I don't know what Native subsistence
fishing is.
Senator Sullivan. So you think that that's set up to kind
of skew the funding to the Lower 48 states?
Ms. Gillis. I can tell you that of the 1.2 billion, almost
1.3 billion dollars that the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery
Fund has awarded, Washington has received $470 million.
Senator Sullivan. Geez.
Ms. Gillis. Alaska has received--when we had direct
appropriations and Senator Stevens and a little bit different
profile than we do now, it was different. Alaska had a higher
priority. When we compete, we fail at every turn against those
other states. And we get about five to seven percent of the----
Senator Sullivan. But the basis by which you described the
allocation prioritization, is that a regulation in NOAA or is
that statutory? Do you know?
Ms. Gillis. Statutory. Statutory.
Senator Sullivan. Well, I have one bit of homework to do on
this issue. Do you have a comment on that, Ms. Hoffman?
Ms. Hoffman. I did. There are Federal funding
opportunities, such as the one Ms. Gillis mentioned, that also
have a heavy match requirement. For institutions that are
entirely soft money funded, such as several at the table, that
makes it prohibitive to compete. If you are not an agency with
base funding, you absolutely cannot enter the competition.
Second, there are excellent funding opportunities, such as
the NOAA Saltonstall-Kennedy fund that Alaska--both ADF&G and
my organization and many others have benefited from in
fisheries research. I will say to you, though, that the cap on
individual projects, the value of the cap, is set at $300,000.
And we know that the cost of doing research in Alaskan waters
can be astronomically high. You cannot necessarily do a good
science project in two or more years for under $300,000, but
you are required to fit within that cap.
So even if the agency has a set amount of funding, such as
10 million dollars available for this funding opportunity in a
year, if they were to raise the cap to, say, half a million,
scientists could put together better research programs that
would be better reviewed and we would have the opportunity to
do better work.
Senator Sullivan. That's very helpful. And hopefully all of
you know we had a bill that was a bill of mine that passed the
Senate recently that for the Saltonstall-Kennedy funds makes it
much less NOAA controlled and much more kind of our
stakeholders in terms of being able to choose where the funds
go, I think, which would benefit all of you, all of us. And
that recently passed the Senate. We are trying to get that
through the House and hopefully get that signed into law.
So let me ask the big $64,000 question from each of you.
And it's really one of the big reasons we held this. And I
asked the last panel, of course. Strong runs in certain parts
of the state, depending on species, historically strong runs,
weak king runs pretty much almost everywhere, and all kinds of
theories on what is driving that? I do think it is important to
look at kind of historical context, which is what I tried to
emphasize a little bit in my opening statement and I know
Commissioner Cotten talked about, as well.
But a lot of theories on the ocean conditions. And what we
talked about on the last panel a little bit, I won't repeat
them here, but you guys are experts on it. I would just like
your very frank opinion on what you think is going on? And I'm
not sure anybody really knows. The last panel indicated that,
but might have some more definitive views on that, which I
would welcome here. So I really want to get your sense of that.
Maybe we could just start down the line here.
Dr. Adkison. Sure. And I don't know if I'll be much more
help. We kind of have an idea when it's happening. The early
marine period seems to be the most likely culprit.
Senator Sullivan. So you agree with the last panel to some
degree on that? They did say that.
Dr. Adkison. I do, but I'll come back to my kind of the big
picture that, you know, these ups and downs are normal. And I
think--I'm a scientist. I want to know why it's happening.
Senator Sullivan. I don't want to keep interrupting. But
what about the size of the kings; is that normal, and are we
ever going to get back to, you know, 70-pound Yukon River
kings?
Dr. Adkison. I think so, but I couldn't guarantee it.
Senator Sullivan. I think we all hope so, right?
Dr. Adkison. Yes. You know, I--I think these phenomenon are
driven by environmental fluctuations. And you know, I think
it's really interesting and important to try to understand
them. I think it's even more important, though, to make sure
both the salmon and the people that depend on the salmon have
the ability to be resilient to these kinds of fluctuations
because they are going to keep happening.
Senator Sullivan. OK. Dr. Baker.
Dr. Baker. Yes. I think it's a great question. I think a
lot of the most prominent theories have been mentioned already.
I agree, I think it is an early life history survival and sort
of a match or mismatch with the environmental conditions in
that particular area. I think we talked a little bit about the
differences with the Bering Sea and the Gulf of Alaska.
If you are talking about increased temperatures, there is
not too much further north you can go in the Gulf of Alaska.
You are running up against the continent there. Within the
Bering Sea, you have a little bit more flexibility and the
Aleutians and sort of adapting to that with your spatial
distribution.
And then I think the forage species is also an important
aspect. Not all these species are feeding on the same things or
at the same--on the same things at the same life stage. So we
are looking at what are estuarine conditions, what are some
offshore conditions, and are you looking at a piscivorous or a
fish-dominated diet or plankton or squid, and there are some
significant differences between the species on that, so that
might be part of it, as well.
Senator Sullivan. Thank you. Ms. Gillis.
Ms. Gillis. Again, I'll concur in the causes. I think we
are getting closer to finding out, you know, what are the big
causes.
Talking about things that we can do or things that we can
change, because when these normal fluctuations happen, we don't
know how to respond right now. So we are taking stabs in the
dark, and we are--so maybe 150 years from now we will be in
this new down or whenever the next up is going to happen.
So let's be prepared and let's not make these issues
divisive, I guess I would say, too. And we are all looking--we
all have the same goal. 70-pound Yukon kings, in addition to
maybe ocean conditions and other factors, disease--they were
targeted. Everybody wanted those. So our impacts are just as
real as the science, you know, and the ocean is indicating. So
will we get back to them? I don't know, honestly. Because we
don't--there is no data. There is no way to know how--whether
that will ever happen. Make sure my fingers are crossed because
I'm always optimistic.
But anyway, I just wanted to say that they are both right
and there are so many more factors and considerations that are
driving this panic in us to find out more.
Senator Sullivan. Ms. Hoffman.
Ms. Hoffman. Thank you, Senator. When ecosystems change,
there are what you might call winners and losers. And our
colleague, Dr. Sonya Batten, who runs the continuous plankton
recorder through the north Pacific, detected during the warm
blob years a presence of more pennate diatoms than we are
accustomed to seeing. They have a different nutritional
content. They are preferentially preyed upon by some organisms
versus others.
The challenge for humans in an example such as that is that
the cascading effect up through the ecosystem sometimes affects
our things that we value. They affect the organisms that our
industries and communities need to maintain our economy and
ways of life. And those are unpredictable.
Senator Sullivan. Ms. Peltola.
Ms. Peltola. I really feel that our communities that rely
on salmon have been going through the seven stages of grief.
And you can see it in meetings. And a lot of that is blame. We
spend a lot of time trying to figure out what the cause of this
is. You can't help but wonder if it's that eight-inch
commercial gear.
Many scientists have said that the 8-year-old kings, the
largest ones, are almost extirpated. They are in the very low
single digits of the entire run. And we know that the larger
female kings have the best chance--their eggs have the best
chance of reproducing. They have, I don't know, 65 percent more
eggs or larger. They have a higher survivability rate.
I'm learning through my--this job that ocean pinks eat the
same food that Chinook do, which surprised me because they are
such different quality of fish. But they eat the same food. And
there are studies that show that in the high pink years in the
ocean, kings don't grow as much during that year.
I personally wonder if it has something to do with no
snowfall. We have had multiple years of almost--you know, very
brown tundra. It's really annihilated the ptarmigan and other
species. But I wonder if at the headwaters if the river is
freezing to the bottom and freezing the eggs when they are
incubating.
And we have seen on our river more presence of one-year-old
kings, which to me means they don't like the ocean conditions,
so they are trying to stay in the river longer. I don't know.
These are all my wild guesses.
Senator Sullivan. Well, they are important. Well, listen. I
want to thank everybody here. The goal here is actually to try
to be unifying and try to find answers to questions that we all
care about. I think that's a unifying concern here in Alaska.
And as I mentioned, data and scientific gaps that can help us
get to some of the answers that I think everybody is struggling
with. But I'm not sure we solved it, but I think it was a very
important discussion and a lot of different views.
So again, I really want to thank the witnesses coming in on
a Saturday to be part of this official Senate hearing.
I do want to mention again, we will have a website up where
people can submit questions. And the way these hearings work is
the hearing record will remain open for two weeks. During this
time, myself or other senators may submit questions for the
record upon receipt. The witnesses, and I should have told the
last panel because they are still on the hook for answers, are
requested respectfully to submit their written answers back to
the Committee as soon as possible if there are additional
questions for the record for all of you.
And again, I want to thank all of you for being here. I
want to thank everybody else who attended. And we will continue
to focus on this issue. But for now this hearing is adjourned.
[Proceedings adjourned at 1:10 p.m.]
A P P E N D I X
Additional Testimony of Sam Cotten, Commissioner,
Alaska Department of Fish and Game
Introduction
Following the hearing that took place at the Dena'ina Civic and
Convention Center in Anchorage, Alaska on October 20, 2018, the Alaska
Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) is honored to submit additional
testimony to the Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries and the
Coast Guard. Senator Sullivan asked exceptionally important questions
of the witness panels that led ADF&G to discuss and organize relevant
research to address the current state of Alaska's salmon fisheries.
Research Need: The Marine Environment (nearshore and open ocean)
The single largest gap in scientific understanding of Pacific
Salmon in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) surrounds the marine environment,
both nearshore (0-5miles offshore) and open ocean. Natural
perturbations to the marine ecosystem are believed to have had effects
on food availability, body condition, and ultimately on survival of a
number of species (Pacific salmon and cod for example) during critical
juvenile life history stages. Concerns have also surfaced regarding
fisheries enhancement activities (large scale releases of pink and chum
salmon) and the capacity of the oceans intrinsic productive capacity to
support additional inputs while not impacting wild salmon stocks. The
recent events surrounding the GOA, coupled with several fisheries
disasters that have been experienced, should be sufficient impetus for
justifying the following efforts in an attempt to address the
contemporary questions needing resolution.
Background
There are estimates that about one third of all Pacific salmon rear
in the GOA in the winter. An international collaborative project known
as the Gulf of Alaska Salmon Expedition will be the first comprehensive
study of the stock abundance, composition, and condition of all species
of Pacific salmon in the GOA at the end of their winter residence. This
international study of Pacific salmon could be a precedent for future
studies to determine mechanisms that regulate Pacific salmon abundance
in the ocean and potentially develop additional forecasting tools based
on abundance of stocks sampled. This one expedition should be
considered a ``proof of concept'' study based on the past success of
Russian trawl surveys that have been used to assess abundance of pink
and chum salmon in the Sea of Okhotsk. Surveys of the abundance and
condition of Pacific salmon in their first winter-at-sea are a logical
extension of early marine survival studies conducted in nearshore
marine areas of each North Pacific country. Ultimately, stock-specific
abundance estimates will be used to test the hypothesis that brood year
strength of salmon is determined by the end of the first-ocean winter.
Current Projects
There are several collaborative projects between the State of
Alaska and NOAA Fisheries aimed at understanding early marine ecology
of salmon (impact of climate on fitness and survival); information from
two of these projects are used to forecast adult returns.
1) Southeast Coastal Monitoring--21 year time series of bio/
physical oceanographic measurements, catch of salmon and other
associated marine species, and analyses of fish diet and fitness. The
location is in the northern regions of southeastern Alaska, inside
waters. The annual survey occurs during the last week of June, July,
and August (21 days at sea). Data are used to forecast adult returns of
pink salmon to Southeast Alaska. We are working on forecast tools for
Chinook and chum salmon at this time. Funding for this project is
currently provided by the Northern Fund Committee of the Pacific Salmon
Commission with potential contributions from pink salmon disaster
funds. Most of the funding goes to the State of Alaska for charter
costs for the R/V Medeia with some funding directed to contract work at
the Alaska Fishery Science Center. Long term funding for this work is
not clear since there are no permanent State of Alaska or NOAA budget
allocations. Total survey cost is around $300K to $400K.
Past projects that could play a central role in understanding early
marine ecology of Gulf of Alaska salmon stocks.
The Alaska Fisheries Science Center/Alaska Biological Laboratory
conducted bio/physical oceanographic measurements and surface trawl
(juvenile salmon and associated marine fish species) along the GOA
shelf within the eastern and western regions during 2001 to 2016. These
surveys were conducted on chartered fishing vessels (35 days at sea).
The data were used to understand ecosystem function, juvenile salmon
migration, and fitness for stocks from the Pacific Northwest, Canada,
Southeast Alaska, and Prince William Sound regions, as well as
collecting information on marine ecology of important age-0 ground fish
(i.e., sablefish). The annual cost of the research was $850K (charter
vessel costs = $525K).
New Project(s) International Year of the Salmon (initial effort)
The international year of the salmon (IYS) is seeking funding to
address questions related to shifting distribution/migration pathways,
ocean carrying capacity, and competition among stocks of Pacific
salmon. A signature project in the GOA (winter 2019) is planned and
funding has been secured for this effort. The survey/research costs
associated with this project are approximately $1.75 million of which
$1 million is for vessel chartering and conducting the survey.
Each of these surveys have had an impact upon our understanding of
the GOA/North Pacific ecosystem, however they have not been
sufficiently connected nor integrated into a cohesive project that
spans nearshore and offshore processes while integrating information
from the spring/summer and winter phases of the ecosystem. The current
activities being conducted in the nearshore environment coupled with
the winter survey results outlined above should be combined into a
longer term comprehensive project that addresses the gaps identified
but also allows for capturing a wider array of ocean environmental
conditions that are likely occurring over multiple year scales. The
cost of these surveys in total is in the order of $3-4 million dollars
annually and should be conducted likely every other year for a period
of 8-10 years. Efforts have been made through IYS (North Pacific
Anadromous Fish Commission) to solicit interest from Canada, Japan,
Korea, and Russia.
Research Need: Human Dimensions of Alaska Salmon Fisheries Management
Salmon are critically important to the food security, well-being,
and cultural identity of Alaska's communities and people. Maintaining
healthy and sustainable salmon stocks requires an effective fisheries
management program that incorporates sound biological and social
science. Here, we briefly describe four components of human dimensions
research on Alaska's salmon fisheries, identify data gaps, and
highlight key principles of this research. We draw upon the findings of
the multi-disciplinary State of Alaska's Salmon and People (SASAP)
project, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game's (ADF&G) Chinook
Salmon Stock Assessment and Research Plan (ADF&G Chinook Salmon
Research Team 2013), and the research program of the Division of
Subsistence, ADF&G.
Harvest monitoring and assessment of subsistence
fisheries. A collaborative review of Alaska's subsistence
fisheries harvest monitoring programs concluded that
``collection of accurate harvest data is an essential
component of any effective resource management program''
(Fall and Shanks 2000:B-8). The review developed guiding
principles as well as recommendations for effective
monitoring programs. Many of these recommendations remain
to be implemented. Research needs include:
There are significant gaps in Alaska's current
subsistence salmon harvest monitoring programs: post season
harvest surveys in the Kuskokwim Area are not fully funded
and do not include all communities; there is no annual
program in the Kotzebue District; and there is no program
in the Arctic District, where new salmon fisheries are
developing as a result of the expanding range for salmon
stocks.
Few current subsistence harvest monitoring programs
include subsistence fishers' assessments of the performance
of the fishery; for example, if adequate harvests were
achieved.
There is very limited evaluation of the subsistence
harvest estimates resulting from current monitoring
programs; some programs are limited by incomplete
participation by all users and/or failure to account for
all sources of salmon for home use.
There is increasing interest among managers and users
in in-season collection of subsistence salmon harvest data
to aid in in-season management and evaluation of management
actions, but little critical investigation has taken place
to explore how best to implement such efforts to minimize
respondent fatigue and coordinate with existing programs.
2. Patterns and trends in Alaska's subsistence salmon fisheries.
There is presently no coordinated effort to identify and
evaluate long-term patterns and trends in Alaska's subsistence
salmon and personal use fisheries. Causes of annual and more
long-term changes to harvest quantities, species composition,
effort, and participation are not well understood, but are
likely related to stock status, access issues, social and
economic conditions, regulations, or personal factors (see
Magdanz et al., 2005). Understanding these factors is
especially important in the context of the effects of climate
change on salmon stocks and fisheries. Research needs include:
A SASAP working group identified social indicators of
well-being of Alaska communities as they relate to salmon
harvests and uses. There are, however, currently no
projects funded to follow through on this. A primary need
is projects that select key indicators for tracking and
further analysis.
One indicator of trends in subsistence fisheries is how
harvest levels compare to ``the amount reasonably necessary
for subsistence'' (ANS) which the Alaska Board of Fisheries
is required to establish for each salmon stock with
customary and traditional subsistence uses. Research is
needed to evaluate ANS as a tool for assessing how well
subsistence opportunities are being provided in Alaska's
management system.
Because subsistence salmon harvests occur within the
mixed subsistence/cash economy of rural Alaska, research is
needed on the interrelationships between commercial and
subsistence fisheries in terms of knowledge, access,
equipment, and income.
3. Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK), local traditional
knowledge (LTK), and indigenous knowledge (IK) about Alaska
salmon. Although this topic is a component of human dimensions
research, there is strong overlap with stock assessments, in-
season management, and run forecasting. As noted in ADF&G's
Chinook Salmon Stock Assessment and Research Plan (pages 16-
17):
LTK can provide detailed observations about abundance,
distribution, run timing, condition, and habitat, often
focused on specific locations and informed by
considerable time depth. In addition to empirical
information, LTK raises research questions and
hypotheses for further investigation and testing. Thus
LTK studies seek both to document local knowledge and
to involve the holders of this knowledge directly in
applying this information to inform scientific
inquiries and fisheries management.
Key data gaps, which can be investigated through case study
research, relate to:
How can TEK/LTK be integrated into the management
process, both in-season and long-term?
How can TEK/LTK be effectively and respectfully
communicated to managers and the public?
What are the guidelines for respectfully evaluating the
utility of TEK/LTK into salmon management?
4. Governance systems for Alaska salmon fisheries. Governance
includes the laws, procedures, and organizations that manage
and regulate salmon fisheries. Research that evaluates the
performance of these systems may identify improvements in terms
of public participation, data collection, communication, and
understanding. The databases developed by SASAP's Governance
Working Group created numerous possibilities for research.
These databases organized information related to the content
and outcome of proposals submitted to the Alaska Board of
Fisheries; board membership; meeting locations; location of
advisory committees; and the number of advisory committee
meetings by type of committee. Research needs include
investigation of:
What are the impediments to the public's effective
involvement in the regulatory program?
What are the most effective ways for ADF&G to support
the public process?
How can management and regulatory decisions (resulting
from the board process as well as in-season management) be
best communicated to a diverse public?
Although not a topic for research, adequate funding of advisory
committees is also an issue for Alaska's salmon management system,
especially fiscal support for those committees in rural areas serving
multiple remote communities and ADF&G participation in these meetings.
Key Themes: The following are components essential to human
dimensions research on Alaska's salmon systems.
Partnerships between managers and stakeholders: they
promote understanding of multiple ways of knowing,
encourage sharing of skill sets, and help reach consensus
on key findings.
Local involvement in all phases and types of research,
including: identifying researchable topics, preparing
proposals, conducting research, and communicating results.
Communication of findings in multiple formats, for
diverse audiences.
Assessments of study findings: all findings (biological
and human dimensions) should be available for review and
discussion.
Avoid duplication of effort to effectively use
available funds and prevent multiple, potentially
incompatible sets of findings.
References cited
ADF&G Chinook Salmon Research Team. 2013. Chinook Salmon Stock
Assessment and Research Plan, 2013. Alaska Department of Fish and Game,
Special Publication No. 13-01. Anchorage. http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/
FedAidPDFs/SP13-01.pdf
Fall, James A. and Roland Shanks. 2000. Statewide Subsistence
Fisheries Harvest Monitoring Strategy (Division of Subsistence, Alaska
Department of Fish and Game Special Publication No. SP2017-10) http://
www.adfg.alaska.gov/specialpubs/SP2_SP2017-010.pdf
Magdanz, James et al., 2005. Patterns and Trends in Subsistence
Salmon Harvests, Norton Sound and Port Clarence, 1994-2003. Alaska
Department of Fish and Game, Division of Subsistence Technical Paper
No. 294. Nome and Juneau. http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/techpap/tp294.pdf
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