Alaska Governor Muke Dunleavy has requested federal financial relief for fishers and seafood businesses in the Kotzebue District in Northwest Alaska after the area experienced the “poorest harvest on record.”
Despite projections that fishers in the district would harvest between 200,000 and 300,000 chum salmon in 2024, only 5,392 chum salmon were harvested. That places the value of the 2024 Kotzebue salmon fishery at USD 25,085 (EUR 23,741) – 98 percent lower than the five-year average of USD 1 million (EUR 946,408).
In a letter to the U.S. Department of Commerce, Dunleavy said the historically poor harvest could be the beginning of a collapse of chum stocks in the area similar to what the state experienced with the collapse of several salmon stocks in the Norton Sound, Yukon, and Kuskokwim salmon fisheries. The exact cause of the poor harvest isn’t clear to Alaskan authorities, but changes in freshwater and marine ecosystems, as well as competition in the ocean, are listed as possible causes.
Dunleavy said the shockingly low harvest could have severe consequences for communities in the Kotzebue District, which rely heavily on fishing revenue.
“90 percent of the 148 Kotzebue District salmon permit holders live in Kotzebue or rural villages in the region,” Dunleavy said in a letter to the Department of Commerce. “Fishery losses for participants who reside in Kotzebue and other rural areas in the region were likely severe and resulted in adverse impacts because residents rely on the commercial salmon fishery for income and have very limited economic opportunities outside of the fishery.”
Only 24 permit holders sold salmon in 2024, well below the annual average of 105 permits.
THis year was a difficult year across Alaska’s salmon fisheries, with the total harvest falling well below preseason projections. The state recorded 101 million salmon harvested in 2024, down 56 percent from the 2023 harvest of 232 million salmon and 25 percent lower than the official preseason harvest projection. Sockeye and Chinook salmon harvests slightly exceeded projections, while pink, chum, and coho salmon harvests were all lower.
The government estimates the value of the 2024 harvest at USD 304 million (EUR 288 million), down USD 94 million (EUR 89 million) from the year before.
“When compared long term (1985 to 2023), the 2024 all-species commercial salmon harvest of approximately 101 million fish and 450 million pounds was the third-lowest on record for total fish harvested and the lowest on record for total pounds harvested,” the Alaska Department of Fish and Game said in a press release. “Adjusted for inflation, the 2024 ex-vessel value estimate of USD 304 million was the third-lowest ex-vessel value reported since 1975.”
