This summer about 24,000 chinook were counted moving up the Yukon River at the border with Alaska. That’s compared to historic lows of 12,000 and 15,000 the last two seasons, says Elizabeth MacDonald, a biologist and fisheries manager for the Council of Yukon First Nations.
The fishing moratorium has only been in place for five months.
“I don’t want to sound too joyous, because if we were talking about the run like we’re having right now, five years ago, we would have been devastated by the numbers,” said MacDonald, who lives in Whitehorse. “But it is better than the last few years. I’m really grateful for that.”
When data on the salmon run was first collected in the 1980s, between 100,000 and 200,000 chinook would enter the Yukon River, MacDonald said. Anywhere from a quarter to more than a third were destined to make that crossing into Canada.
I’m not indigenous. I grew up in Alaska. The idea of the salmon runs failing is so existentially horrifying I cannot express it to people who don’t live in the pacific northwest. If the salmon die the whole world dies. It’s very heartening that things are improving, even slightly.
