Subsistence users across the region are feeling the impacts of the die-off.
Subsistence
Subsistence users, scientists seek answers for chum salmon declines
For Yukon River families, chum is particularly important. Chinook salmon have been low for decades, but chum were the fish they could depend on.
Declining sea ice in Kotzebue Sound is shortening subsistence hunt for seals, study finds
Seal meat makes up a good portion of what’s in subsistence hunters’ freezers in Kotzebue. But the sea ice the seals haul out on is diminishing, and new research shows that’s shortening the window to hunt seals.
How low chum runs changed the lives of these Western Alaska fisheries workers
With salmon runs low and commercial fishing closed, the Yukon River’s only fish processor is offering few jobs this summer.
With chum runs crashing, Yukon River fish processor pivots to greenhouses
To keep up local employment, Kwik’pak Fisheries pivoted last summer when the chum runs started dropping. If workers couldn’t catch food, they could grow it.
Why is Bristol Bay’s sockeye run breaking records while other areas struggle?
Ocean waters are a few degrees warmer in the Gulf of Alaska, and that slight difference has challenged fish populations south of Bristol Bay.