Fisheries

By high tide on Monday, the sky was overcast and spitting rain. Birds circled cacophonously above the Chilkoot River, and sea lions bellowed downstream. Haines resident Sonny Williams was there, too – posted up on the bridge that straddles the river nine miles outside of town.

They were all there for the same reason: hordes of small black fish wriggling through the current below, a telltale sign of spring. Williams pointed as a school made its way upstream. In one swift motion, it spiraled back and merged with another school that was headed back toward the ocean.

“They’re going up and down, up and down,” he said. “Their bodies are acclimating to the freshwater.”

Williams is 73. He has lived in the Chilkat Valley and harvested hooligan here all his life. The fish — also known as eulachon, or saak in Tlingit — return to the area to spawn each spring. For millennia, the Chilkoot and Chilkat Tlingit people have harvested them and extracted their oil, both to trade and to keep.

Some years, the run is thick. Others, it’s lighter or never comes at all, depending on the river. Why exactly that happens remains uncertain, as does a long list of other questions about the fish, which experts say is understudied and little regulated.

That’s why, about two decades ago, Williams started keeping his own records — and advocating for a more robust data collection effort.

“Nobody was recording when they were coming. What days they were coming on the Chilkat side, and coming over here,” he said. “And I was doing that.”

Williams is still taking notes. He said the information is crucial for protecting the fish for future generations.

But now, so are a handful of researchers across the region. In 2010, the Chilkoot Indian Association launched a study to start tracking the run, prompted by tribal members who wanted more concrete data about how the populations were faring from year to year.

“Runs further south were dramatically declining,” said Meredith Pochart, a fisheries biologist for the tribe. “It’s not really a coincidence that also in 2010, the year we started this study, was the same year that the populations in Washington, Oregon and California were listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.”

The study first focused on the Chilkoot River. But Pochart said it became clear that to really gauge population trends, the study needed to branch out. So in 2017, the tribe expanded the project to include the Chilkat, Taiya and Katzehin, among other rivers.

So every day at this time of year, Pochart heads to the Chilkoot to take samples. On a windy, cold morning earlier this week, she knelt down to fill some bottles. Later, the samples would be sent to an out-of-state lab to analyze the DNA that hooligan have shed in the water.

That data helps track the size of the run, when it arrives and how long it lasts. But even 20 years in, it’s not a huge sample size – especially when compared to generations of observations by Tlingit people.

“This is a drop in the bucket compared to the thousands of years of traditional knowledge of monitoring these species,” Pochart said.

But there are still plenty of questions about the fish. Pochart said those include how old they are and if they spawn more than once. Another gray area is why they spawn where they do each year – though she and other local experts say factors including human activity and environmental changes can play a key role. 

“Obviously the fish have an idea of what’s going on, probably way more than we do,” Pochart said. “We don’t know.”

Williams echoed that point, and added to the list of unknowns.

“One of the things they don’t know is where they go, and how come they’re a species of fish that come and spawn and go back out to the sea,” he said. “Herring come and spawn and they go back. But salmon don’t do this. Salmon come to spawn and they die.”

While Pochart finished taking samples, a flock of gulls took off from a nearby bank. Steller sea lions huffed in the distance. It was an impressive show of the hooligan run’s immense ecological value to the area.

“This is like, the buffet is open,” Pochart said. “Eulachon are a forage fish. They’re the basis of a food web. And so it’s what supports all of this other life.”

The sea lions forage on eulachon just before the females give birth. If they can’t find the nutrient-dense fish at this time of year, it can thwart their ability to nurse their young.

Which is why it’s also important to monitor other species’ activity. Stacie Evans is the science director of the Takshanuk Watershed Council, a local nonprofit that partners with the tribe to track the run on the Chilkat River. Every day when she heads out to get water samples, she also does a wildlife survey.

One day last week, the Chilkat appeared calm when Evans arrived to do her survey. But then she set up a high-powered scope and scoured the opposite bank, where she said the water is deeper and draws more hooligan. Evans estimated that more than 50,000 gulls were there to feast before migrating further north.

“They are going bonkers, all over the estuary here,” Evans said.

“It’s just like life coming back to the valley, in such a big way,” she added. “I’ve really never seen anything quite like it anywhere else, and I’ve worked in a lot of cool places.”

Back on the bridge over the Chilkoot, the fish were coming in thick. Williams grabbed his bucket, made his way down to the riverbank and swung his throw net.

It was heavy with fish when he pulled it back out – enough to fill his small, blue cooler in one go. Over the next few days, he said, he would fillet and smoke just the males. He doesn’t like dealing with the females, which ooze eggs during processing.

Then he’ll eat one hooligan a day, or maybe more if the mood strikes, until he runs out – hopefully, around the same time next year.

The commercial fishing industry relies on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for everything from marine weather forecasts to fisheries data. But NOAA — which lost hundreds of employees in February when the Trump administration fired probationary staff — is in the administration’s crosshairs again, according to a preliminary budget proposal from the White House Office of Management and Budget.

The budget calls for slashing NOAA’s funding by more than 27% for fiscal year 2026. It also restructures the agency’s fisheries division, shifting key responsibilities to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Frank Kelty, a fisheries consultant and former Unalaska mayor, said big changes like these could have major consequences for commercial fishing in Alaska.

“What are we going to do if we don’t have weather information?” he asked. “People are going to go out and get sunk.”

Kelty now serves as an advisor for the city of Unalaska, which operates the nation’s largest fishing port by volume. He said reliable stock assessments and real-time data are critical to managing sustainable harvests.

“We’re going to have a lack of information. And in the fisheries, timely information is critical,” he said.

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council is one of eight groups around the nation that manage federal fisheries and recommend catch limits. Those responsibilities are laid out in the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the bedrock of federal fisheries policy. The groups rely on NOAA data to fulfill their mission.

North Pacific Council Executive Director David Witherell warned that the council would struggle to operate under the proposed cuts.

“Cuts of this magnitude will have significant impacts on fisheries in the North Pacific,” he said.

Federal employees with NOAA’s fisheries division, he said, are responsible for opening and closing fisheries in-season, issuing permits, providing technical analysis, and conducting monitoring programs to ensure harvest limits are not exceeded.

He also warned that reductions in scientific surveys would make stock assessments and ecosystem monitoring less precise.

“Inadequate scientific surveys result in unnecessary reductions in sustainable yields,” he said. “Reduced surveys mean reduced confidence, which leads to lower catch limits.”

Vice Chair Bill Tweit echoed those concerns. He spoke in a personal capacity, as the council is expected to issue an official statement this week.

“The basic cause for concern is twofold. One is just loss of the science,” he said. “The other is the staff resources.”

Tweit and Witherell both said diluting NOAA’s mission would make it harder to attract and retain top-tier scientists, many of whom have already been under fire by the administration.

The council itself has already scaled back, according to Witherell. It has reduced staff, canceled travel and is holding meetings virtually. He warned that no viable private-sector alternatives exist to replace NOAA’s data collection and analysis.

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski called the proposal “more than concerning,” but she emphasized that it was only a proposal and would still need to go through the budget process.

“I think it’s too early to say,” she said in an interview before the ComFish trade show in Kodiak. “Nobody really knows.”

U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan echoed Murkowski.

“No final funding decisions have been made about NOAA cuts and reorganizing efforts,” Sullivan wrote in an email to Alaska Public Media. The email went on to say that Sullivan was “weighing in with the administration when such decisions would impact Alaska’s economy.”

The Trump administration can still change the numbers in the coming weeks before sending the proposed budget to Congress for review.

Alaska Public Media reporter Liz Ruskin contributed to this report.

It was standing room only during Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s address at ComFish in Kodiak on Tuesday. Murkowski broke some of the tension with a joke about giving a talk to high schoolers, who she met with ahead of her remarks to the conference.

“My team that was with me said afterwards ‘Toughest interview ever,’ so questions from you guys? Gonna be easy peasy after your high school students,” Murkowski said.

Then she took a turn to talk about the elephant in the room since the Trump administration took over – tariffs.

“We don’t have the certainty that we would like with regards to the tariffs coming out of Washington, D.C. right now. I think the certainty that we know is that even without knowing, even without having the tariffs put in place, we’re already seeing and feeling the impacts on Alaska’s economy and really, the economy as a whole,” she said.

Murkowski said she’s aware that tariffs could increase the costs of consumer goods and how that can be exacerbated in rural places like in Kodiak.

“When we’re talking about the issues that you are all engaged with when it comes to Alaska – seafood and your ability to access and to compete fairly on the global markets – the reality is that tariffs just make everyday life more expensive,” she said.

Murkowski said she’s also concerned about the layoffs at NOAA, particularly as preparations are underway for the summer trawl survey for various species.

She said she’s reminding anyone who will listen why the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s fisheries departments are important.

Sen. Dan Sullivan has faced criticism recently for not speaking with constituents amidst the federal changes. He called into ComFish via video conferencing this year, and focused on some of the Trump administration’s policies he believes are helping Alaska.

“What I keep doing is brandishing this executive order from the president on Alaska,” Sullivan said. “This thing is all about unleashing Alaska’s economy (and) resources, including fish and our fisheries.”

He said he reminds other officials of that when working with Elon Musk’s controversial Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. President Trump and DOGE have already slashed NOAA staff. The administration is proposing massive cuts to the organization’s budget by about $1.5 billion next year.

Sullivan, however, didn’t address the proposed cuts directly.

“I’ve been working with the DOGE guys, the leadership, and when they’ve made mistakes, particularly as it relates to anything in this executive order that’ll hurt Alaska’s economy, including our fisheries,” he said. “I have very strongly advocated for ‘Hey guys, you got to reverse some of this stuff. Can’t do stuff that hurts our economy.'”

He said he’s also trying to work with administration officials on how to provide some consistency for the seafood industry despite the president’s on-again-off-again tariffs. Sullivan said he wants to get fisheries included on a relief program available to farmers negatively affected by trade wars. Although, any efforts to get seafood related support into the farm bill have so far stalled in Congress.

Alaska’s newest member of the congressional delegation, Rep. Nick Begich III, faced criticism during a telephonic town hall early in the Trump administration, and this time spent time in person at ComFish. He told the crowd he’s generally in favor of Trump’s changes and that one of his top concerns for fisheries is to improve domestic markets.

“When it comes to seafood exports, Alaska should have the advantage, not just the level playing field,” Begich said.

He also said he wants to see better representation of Alaska seafood in programs like school lunches and distinguishing Alaska-origin products in stores.

Begich echoed some of the same rhetoric on tariffs as Sullivan. He said it’s unfair for Russia and China to undercut Alaska and sell in U.S. markets.

“We’re looking at ways to harmonize those international standards and ensure that there is full reciprocity,” he said. “When folks want to enter our markets, we should be able to enter their markets on the same terms – that is the backdrop for this tariff discussion.”

Begich said he’s concerned about the national debt and applauded DOGE’s efforts to curb excess spending.

Alaska Wildlife Troopers are accusing four members of Kodiak’s Fields family as well as their fishing business, Fields & Sons Inc., of allegedly generating $1.17 million in illegal revenue between 2020 and 2024.

That’s according to a dispatch from Alaska State Troopers on Tuesday, April 8.

Duncan Fields, 69; Wallace Fields, 64; Beth Fields, 66 and Leslie Fields, 67 – all of Kodiak – are charged with perjury and lying on fish tickets. Duncan and Wallace Fields are also both charged with multiple counts related to fraud, theft, and other fishery violations.

Duncan Fields serves on multiple boards, including the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute and the Kodiak Island Borough School District’s Board of Education.

Duncan Fields said in a text message that the family and crew have been gifting permits to each other for 30 years. He said it “is a common practice in the industry,” and added that he thinks his family has “been singled out to try to set an example.”

Fields said that the charges aren’t supported by the facts.

The charges, however, come after a year-long investigation by Wildlife Troopers, according to the dispatch, after they received a tip in March of 2024 about suspicious fishing permit activity. During the investigation, troopers claim to have found the family was falsely gifting salmon setnet permits to crewmembers and later reclaiming them.

Troopers interviewed 21 crewmembers, according to the dispatch, and say there was a coordinated scheme involving family members lying under penalty of perjury as well as defrauding the state and fish buyers.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game is imposing what it calls “unprecedented” conservation measures to address declines of Gulf of Alaska Chinook salmon — also known as king salmon — which is currently under review for listing under the federal Endangered Species Act.

The department said in a March 18 announcement that it will be restricting western Alaska king salmon fisheries, including in Kodiak, Chignik and Sand Point.

Matt Keyse, an area management biologist at Fish and Game’s Sand Point office, said the measures reflect a broader shift in strategy, and that it is unusual to restrict multiple fisheries based on broad concerns for Chinook salmon across the Gulf of Alaska.

“That is unprecedented,” Keyse said.

Sand Point — off the Alaska Peninsula — is in the middle of the management region known as Area M. Although it doesn’t have its own king runs, fishermen intercept salmon that migrate through the region. In recent years, Area M’s harvest levels have drawn criticism from stakeholders in Western Alaska, who argue the fishery reduces local salmon returns.

Keyse said genetic sampling shows much of the Chinook harvested in the South Peninsula fishery actually come from the Pacific Northwest. He noted the data comes from DNA sampling taken around a decade ago, but said new genetic sampling conducted over the next several salmon seasons will “provide us with a better understanding of the stocks that are harvested within this area.”

He added that the new management approach reflects a broader effort to distribute conservation burdens more evenly across the regions that encounter Gulf of Alaska Chinook.

Recent Chinook-related closures have also taken place elsewhere in the state. Last year, the fleet in the federally-managed Central Gulf pollock fishery, which is mostly based out of Kodiak, voluntarily ended its season when Chinook bycatch reached a specified threshold.

Keyse said the department is looking at ways to try to boost Chinook stocks throughout the gulf, and additional measures could affect other fisheries.

“Everyone that’s catching fish is going to bear a little bit of that burden,” he said.

Starting July 1, for instance, purse seiners on the Alaska Peninsula in the Area M region will have to release Chinook measuring 28 inches or longer. That restriction was in place last year as well. But the department is also imposing a new catch limit of 1,000 salmon during any 36-hour opener in a harvest area on the east side of Popof Island, where Sand Point is located.

The current, planned restrictions apply only to purse seiners and are limited to July, but Keyse said the management plan could evolve based on in-season harvest numbers.

Correction: An earlier version of this story included a quote that incorrectly stated it was unprecedented to manage a fishery based on data from fish not found locally. While such management is not new, the current measures are unprecedented because they restrict several fisheries based on concern for king salmon in the Gulf of Alaska.

Four years ago, an Oregon-based timber company won a contract to harvest some 23 million board feet of spruce and hemlock outside Haines. Now, the company’s plan to get that timber out of Alaska – and into buyers’ hands – is sparking pushback.

That’s because the company’s local operator is seeking permits to build a log transfer facility and storage site in Haines’ Lutak Inlet, a popular spot for commercial and subsistence fishing.

“We all fish right there,” said Erik Lembke, a commercial fisherman in Haines.

The concern pushed the State Department of Natural Resources to make an about-face late Wednesday afternoon by temporarily closing the permit application’s public comment period. The period was originally set to end on Friday.

Tony Keith, a natural resource manager with the department, said the feedback the agency had received so far made it clear the public needs more information. In response, the agency will require the company to provide the public with more details, including a dive survey of the ocean floor.

“Then, once you’re finishing the log transfer facility, or if you’re trying to bring it back under review or anything, you’re able to do another dive survey and go out there and check bark accumulation and stuff like that,” Keith said.

The Chilkat Valley’s first major timber sale in decades

The so-called Baby Brown timber sale lies in the Haines State Forest, just over 35 miles northwest of town between Porcupine and Jarvis Creeks. The state first awarded the sale to a contractor in 2016 but later canceled it after conservation groups appealed the land use plan. Later, in 2021, the sale was awarded again, this time to an Oregon-based company named NWFP Inc.

State Forester Greg Palmieri said the company has been developing what he called a “responsible plan” for the project over the last several years. As he sees it, Baby Brown presents a “huge opportunity” for Southeast and the Chilkat Valley specifically, which used to be home to a booming timber industry – but hasn’t seen a major sale in decades.

Palmieri said 8 million board feet of timber were harvested in the area in 1995, and there were a few other, smaller sales until about 2000. But he added that the last time there was a sale around the size of Baby Brown, “it was probably around the mid-70’s.”

“If there’s no industry working in the area, there’s no potential for growth. So this sale was designed to encourage the development of the industry,” Palmieri said. “Conceptually, does it crack that egg? We’ll have to see. It has the potential to do that.”

The contractor’s local operator – NSEA Timber Inc. – submitted the permit application on March 11, according to Keith of the Department of Natural Resources. The company also needs permits from the borough and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The application proposes a log transfer facility and storage area on a 12-acre site about four miles out of town, off Lutak Road. The property is in a borough-designated waterfront industrial zone near the Alaska Marine Lines dock.

The facility would include a slide to transfer log bundles into the water. A boat would then place each bundle into a floating log raft and tow the raft to a storage site close to shore. Later, they would be loaded onto ships, which would transport them to buyers.

“This is a fundamental step in that process to get the product to market,” said Palmieri.

This type of facility has been around for decades, said Charles Nash, who used to be employed by the contractor but is no longer associated with the sale. Nash has worked in Alaska’s timber industry for years.

“There used to be log transfer facilities all over Southeast, and they come in many types. Some are slides, some are cranes,” he said. “But that’s how, generally, how logs got in the water.”

Palmieri, the forester, said the facility is a conservative option that aims to reduce traffic and limit impacts on the inlet – and the fisherman who use it. He estimated the storage site would be about 1,700-feet long, roughly one-third of a mile.

Fishing concerns

But some worry about the log rafts affecting water quality and access to the inlet.

“The way that you fish Lutak Inlet, you know, you fish out from the shoreline,” said Rafe McGuire, a commercial fisherman in Haines.

He added that a log area close to shore would mean fishermen would lose access to that area and more because they would need to make sure their nets wouldn’t get swept closer by the tide.

“You can’t fish very close to it. So you’d lose most of that distance,” McGuire said.

Lembke, the other fisherman, said there could be up to 20 boats fishing the area during the sockeye run.

“I think if there was a lot of logs and a big ship, it would pretty much make it impossible to do that,” he said

Polly Johannsen – who signed the permit application for the local operating company, NSEA Timber Inc. – did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Nicole Zeiser, area management biologist with the state Department of Fish and Game, did not respond to an emailed request for comment.

Earlier this month, a separate lumber company confirmed it was temporarily shutting down a work site near Kodiak. The company attributed the decision to China’s pause on imports of U.S. logs in response to ongoing trade disputes.

Palmieri says he’s received no indication that the trade war has affected the sale. The permit application, for its part, says logging could begin as soon as this spring and run through 2028. The agency did not say when the dive survey will take place or what the permitting delay will mean for logging operations.