What steps would you take to help restore depleted salmon populations and ensure salmon runs remain strong in Alaska?
U.S. Senator
Kelly Tshibaka
Republican candidate for U.S. Senator
Our salmon are a valuable and sacred resource that must be available to all Alaskans, with a prioritization on subsistence first. I strongly support increased Coast Guard aircraft, drones, cutters and resources in Alaska to enforce our EEZ. I also support funding for research not yet conducted to understand migration patterns.
I support exploring creating a new fisheries management council to manage Alaska waters. The NPFMC is the largest of the eight fisheries management councils. A new fisheries management council for Alaskan waters would improve the odds that Alaska gets its fair share of the fisheries harvest. I also will work to address the issue of bycatch overage in a meaningful and fair way. I support examining changes needed to statutes, regulations and the observer program, such as consistent electronic observation on all commercial vessels. For the sake of our fish, our ocean habitat, our fishermen, our families, our communities and our future, bycatch overages must be addressed.
Lisa Murkowski
Republican candidate for U.S. Senator
Alaska’s salmon are vital to food security, culture and employment. We have enjoyed abundance and fought to protect it for future generations, but our rivers and oceans are at a tipping point. With key exceptions like Bristol Bay, Alaska’s salmon fisheries are struggling to adapt to climate change, plastics pollution, illegal fishing, predation and geopolitical disagreements. Through my role on the Senate Appropriations Committee, I have worked to pursue resilience by increasing and targeting our research and management funding through agency budgets and conservation programs, as well as congressionally directed spending to tribes and nonprofits. We must continue our work to clarify and improve the federal management process to be responsive, accessible and equitable for all Alaskans. And we must ensure that our federal policies take into account the knowledge of the First Alaskans who have responsibly managed marine resources for thousands of years. I was proud to include priorities like climate resilience in the Infrastructure Innovation and Jobs Act of 2021 as well as introducing the Ocean Regional Opportunity and Innovation Act of 2022.
(Listen to the Kodiak Fishery Debate between Murkowski and Chesbro for more detailed discussions of fisheries issues.)
Patricia Chesbro
Democratic candidate for U.S. Senator
As with most issues, depletion of salmon populations has many complex causes. One of those causes, of course, is climate change. In fact, the Southeast Conference Seafood and Maritime Industry Committee listed climate/ocean change as their top weakness in the seafood industry and listed global warming, ocean change and ocean acidification as the top threat to their industry. In my limited understanding, it seems that the different species require different food sources, different maturation times and different water temperatures. This does not seem to be a one-size-fits-all situation. More mechanical, and perhaps easily solved issues, relate to excessive bycatch which is discarded by fishing vessels. This is much fish that could be eaten or used to sustain the species. It seems that more observers could travel on fishing vessels to measure bycatch. Also, the unintended harvest could be used against the quota for the vessel and sold/distributed for use by those threatened by food insecurity.
(Listen to the Kodiak Fishery Debate between Murkowski and Chesbro for more detailed discussions of fisheries issues.)