The Pacific Salmon Commission (PSC) on March 25 announced funding support for 83 projects totaling $9 million.
That includes 40 projects receiving $5.36 million from its Northern Fund and 43 projects receiving $3.66 million from its Southern Fund.
The projects selected align with the Pacific Salmon Treaty for improved management, enhancement and habitat restoration for Pacific salmon. Recipients include First Nations, non-profit organizations, researchers and U.S. and Canadian federal management agencies.
The list includes $234,126 for Stikine River Chinook and coho coded wire tagging and Chinook mark recapture and $206,913 for Stikine River-Tahltan River Chinook Sonar and coho mark-recapture feasibility, both by Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
Also earmarked for the Stikine River is $157,176 for Tahltan Lake sockeye salmon smolt and adult enumeration and monitoring and $95,205 for sockeye and coho salmon fishery monitoring and sockeye assessment, also led by Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
Funds totaling $292,407 are allocated for Chinook, sockeye and coho salmon stock assessment in the Taku River, plus another $126,797 for Taku River salmon fishery sampling, plus Chinook and sockeye salmon assessment in the Alsek River, all by Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game was granted $490,798 for its Taku River salmon stock assessment, as well as $598,256 for a Chinook and sockeye salmon stock assessment in the Alsek River and $647,540 for a Stikine River salmon stock assessment, the report said.
The commission allocated $75,000 to the Sitka Sound Science Center for water security for a Southeast Alaska hatchery and $155,850 for a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) study of Northern Boundary area sockeye salmon genetic stock identification for 2024.
Since inception, the PSC’s Northern and Southern funds have awarded over $135 million in grants to more than 1,700 projects, the commission said.