Carmacks leads front for chinook
Mike Thomas/Yukon News
The Whitehorse Fishway is a popular spot to view salmon. This year's chinook salmon return may be the lowest on record.
Eddie Skookum wants to save the chinook.
The chief of the Little Salmon/Carmacks First Nation has called a meeting between all salmon fishermen today, in hopes of finding a way.
“This is a highly critical time of what to do,” he said. “There’s only so much salmon coming down. It’s very, very low. We may not even get anything. But the fact of the matter is, if we want to see salmon tomorrow, we have to do our part today.”
The meeting will announce another year of voluntary cutbacks for the Carmacks-based First Nation, said Skookum.
But the chief wants to see all fisherman, First Nation or not, do even more this year.
“We need to do something now,” he said. “We want to see a recovery plan of some type. And we want to talk to the Alaskans about that too. The salmon has one highway and they know no boundaries.”
Skookum has a lot of questions for the Alaskans. He still points a finger to the pollack fisheries off the Pacific coast as a culprit for “decimating” the run. That fishery has been long-recognized as a threat because of high bycatch, or accidental killing of other fish, including chinook. New restrictions were put in place in recent years, including fines, and the amount of bycatch reported by pollack fishermen have been lower than ever before.
Skookum also points to overfishing and competition with hatchery fish “in other jurisdictions” as threats to the chinook run, which enters the Yukon River from the Pacific Ocean and travels through Alaska and past Dawson City before getting to Carmacks and Whitehorse.
For his part, Skookum is recommending that no fisherman catch more than what they need this year.
“Hopefully, other communities will catch on and try and do the same,” he said.
In a good year, his community will catch between 1,600 to 1,800 salmon with anywhere from 40 to 120 for each family, said Skookum.
Last year, only 812 salmon were caught, and most Little Salmon/Carmacks citizens made do with only one or two salmon per family, he said.
“It’s not enough but it’s better than nothing,” said Skookum. “We want to let some of the salmon go down to our counterparts down the river and make sure they try and get some too.
“Our elders are going to go fish. But they themselves have a very strong consideration for cutbacks. And that’s a good thing.”
Apart from human-caused concerns, climate change is also affecting the run, said Skookum.
Warmer temperatures and more rain also mean higher water levels and more dangerous fishing conditions, he said.
As of July 18, only 1,367 salmon had passed the Eagle Sonar station at the Yukon/Alaska border - more than 5,000 shy of the average at this time. The next count won’t be released until Thursday and will give much better evidence for what can be expected this year, said Mary Ellen Jarvis from the Yukon’s branch of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.
But even with current numbers, managers can confirm the run is later than normal and “appears to be very poor at this time,” Jarvis added.
Skookum hopes the fishermen’s meeting will bring lots of discussion and ideas - not just for how to cope this year, but also for how to recover the salmon for generations to come, he said.
No idea should be unexplored, said Skookum. He is even considering asking the federal government to declare this year’s run a disaster, as Alaskan Governor Sean Parnell has done for the state’s river villages, this year and last.
“We have depended on the salmon for hundreds of years. It’s our food staple,” said Skookum. “It’s one of the things that we get by on in the winter, we share it for our dinners and potlatches. Look at our logo, you see the salmon on top. That’s one of our staples. But now it’s a grave concern.”
Today’s meeting will start at 1:30 p.m. at the Little Salmon/Carmacks First Nation Heritage Hall.
Contact Roxanne Stasyszyn at
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
14 Comments
It is hard to listen to or believe any advice from Chief Skookum and the community who actually voted to keep a proven violent abuser as their leader. His past isn’t something to “get over” (as recommended by Tiffany) and it speaks to the whole community that he is still in leadership. When Little Salmon citizens tell the rest of us to get over it, is like the early Europeans settlers telling the aboriginal communities to “get over what was done to them”. The situation re our fish is a really important subject and we need leaders with character to lead us.
Chief Ike Turner, still on the payroll compliments of your Canadian tax dollars
I have an idea. Lets appoint 1 person to take responsibility for the Chinook run. They would report twice annually to the international Panel which is a failure by the way. Well it is, all those meetings and yet they cannot control the greedy and needy people who continue to fish and decimate the few fish which enter the river in a very poor year. And they cannot stop all the dogma about people’s lifestyles. They need those fish for food since they have fished them for years and its a right but they also need so many other things and they will not give any of the other things up to save 200 dollars to buy some meat and contribute to saving the fish. Its as simple as that people.
There are too many DFO staff providing incomplete information and too many Eddie Skookums talking nonsense- noone really seems to understand that there are too many people doing nothing- you cannot fly a plane with a committee. Give one person complete responsibility and let them save these fish.
Bet we will hear shortly from another 4 ot 5 community leaders who are as eloquent as Eddie. It makes me angry to hear all the nonsense.
If Winston Churchill was alive he would save the salmon and it would be entertaining to hear his speaches. The rest of them are just wasting our time and driving the run further into the ground- or river bed for want of a more appropriate expression.
Here are some idea’s:1st idea:You can have two fish run per year.Both start in may.But is May/June and other is May/Sept.If you put a water spellway in Skagway AK. throw the vally (northwest area)and connect it the stream something like a long ladder which can be used as a fishway to Carcross,Whitehorse YK.the 2nd run would be in 5days and by the time they hatch in the river the 2nd run would just be coming in to lay there eggs in sept. 2nd idea:Ratio fish count hatcheries,if you have 1 male to 5 females fish you can remove the eggs from 5 female and use 1 male fishes sperm.this balance the rest of the run on mating pairs.And the hatcheries have there count to keep balance on the fish.The collection would be done by wild life management and the Indain harvest.and two keep a good count on fish you need two places to keep count eagle and dawson city.and by time they reach whitehorse the wild life management work on the balance of the fish for the hatcheries.3rd idea: low count of fish no fish in the river only indain harvest for food and rebalancing the fish count. the fish count the see it is:5000 mating pairs.which means 27 million fish.the return of 02% would be 55 thousand after harvest your back to 5000 thousand fish for restocking the river. Thank you for your time on this issue and have a nice day.Marcel SJ Rossignol/MSJR
I take issue with you guys bringing up Chief Skookum’s case, get over it, whatever happened, happened. That was the past.
Chief Skookum is trying to make a statement…You guys are taking the focus away from the more important issue here, the Salmon.
There may be a few aboriginal people that do take more than they should, but you know what, there are more non-aboriginal people that do that, which has brought us into the situation we are in. So instead of criticizing what he’s trying to do, or bring up his past, bring an idea, and put your lynching mob stick away.
I would wish the elders from the yukon and alaska would get together and tell us how to save this fishery.
Eddie Skookum is doing nothing, asking people to only take what they need is what these people do every year and what these people have done for generations. All he is doing is making a statement to the media so that it looks like he is doing something, this is not fisheries management this is a political move.
How is this guy still chief anyways, does anyone remember when this guy was in jail in Juneau only a short while ago for the brutal assualt of a very young woman.
“The next count won’t be released until Thursday and will give much better evidence for what can be expected this year, said Mary Ellen Jarvis from the Yukon’s branch of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.”
Why is the count information not available on a daily basis? It should be online daily for everyone. What is DFO trying to hide? This is clearly not transparent- why do we have to wait for DFO to release information during a salmon crisis? Harper promised more efficient government services. Do we have to us an ATIP for basic information? Why are they so controling with information that we need to make informed comments?
Seems like DFO is afraid to shut the aboriginal fishers down. They can buy meat at the store like everyone else to protect the salmon this year. Where is the leadership in this crisis? Seems like its not in the DFO office or in Carmacks or anywhere where people are out fishing like there is no tomorrow. Maybe its time to turn the management over to a transparent group which will protect these fish without using dogma and nonsense. A group which will say no fishing for any group- the fish needs come first.
Look at all the fish failures and DFO’s legacy with the cod. Protecting fish means shutting down fisheries when its required.
The Teslin Tlingit Council have leadership, they have had conservation measures in place for years. They have stated clearly what should be done and they have shown the way by buying fish for their citizens whose nets do not go in the water. They are not whining and pointing fingers and projecting blame as they fish, they are protecting their runs and the spirit of these great fish. They are promoting conservation- why do they understand what so many others do not?
Unfortunately they are a long ways from the mouth of the river and they cannot do it alone.
Will Eddie Skookum help them?
“No idea should be unexplored, said Skookum. He is even considering asking the federal government to declare this year’s run a disaster, as Alaskan Governor Sean Parnell has done for the state’s river villages, this year and last.”
“Carmacks leads front for chinook” I think this title is misleading. “For his part, Skookum is recommending that no fisherman catch more than what they need this year.” What Eddie is saying is go out and fish for what you need. That is not conservation and I suggest that is what has been done in the Alaska subsistence fishery- people supposedly fishing for chum were really after chinook. To me this shows no leadership- no wonder these fish are in trouble. People will not back off even in a crisis year.
I declare this year’s run a disaster due to lack of leadership. Eddie Skookum has not ruled out asking the federal gov to declare this year’s run a disaster after recommending that no fisherman catch more than what they need this year.
Any harvest this year will contribute to a crisis if info from the lower river sonar is correct. And yet they fished in Alaska and in Canada conservation is being sold as only fishing to what you need for a year. Maybe the reporter got the quote wrong, but probably not.
Its too bad the chinook salmon do not have legal representation, they could sue the US and Canadian governments and many first nations and tribal groups for fish genocide.
Whatever you say Eddie. Ten years ago I was sport fishing at Tatchun Creek when along came two Little Salmon Carmacks First Nations Beneficiaries. They set a net right at the mouth of Tatchun Creek inside the markers where the rest of us were fishing for our one salmon limit and being checked constantly by DFO. Either Eddie or Eric was the chief at the time. I wonder if this is why the stocks are low.
Eddie Skookum? He can’t save himself, never mind a salmon.
Allowing individual fishers to make conservation choices seems unlikely to work. Its not the type of leadership I would expect when there really is a crisis. FN leadership and DFO, you have to do the right thing and provide leadership- make the right decision and close the fishery immediately.
All these people have a right to fish until DFO says no fishing for anyone. Are they waiting too long this year? I think so. Have they given too much support to the Americans who somehow cannot get it right and provide our fish? Yes, the US is trying but comes up short far too often. This is not that complicated. There are not enough fish in the river for any harvest- period. What is this nonsense about the run being really late. Its only 2 or 3 days later than average in my experience. What are we waiting for?
“In a good year, his community will catch between 1,600 to 1,800 salmon with anywhere from 40 to 120 for each family, said Skookum.
Last year, only 812 salmon were caught, and most Little Salmon/Carmacks citizens made do with only one or two salmon per family, he said.”
Is this really true Eddie? My math comes up with 20 to 60 per family.
The previous comment said “Its so nice to see a different mind set among aboriginal fishers in Canada!” This is likely only partially true.
Why are things always left so late and why are we failing these fish and ourselves?
...and everyone that does not agree with Eddie gets taken into a hotel room and gets the hell beaten out of them. It makes me sick to hear this guys name and “chief” in the same sentence.
It seems there were enough salmon counted at the lower river sonar in Alaska to meet the US obligation for Canadian spawning grounds and some first nation harvest.
At the sonar near the border the run is coming up short, so- did some fish die, was the US harvest in the river harvest too excessive, or was the lower river sonar count not accurate.
My bet is that many subsistence fishers used fishing opportunities to harvest chinook salmon when given an opportunity to take chum.
Shame shame on them.
Its so nice to see a different mind set among aboriginal fishers in Canada!
Add a comment