Fisheries Board Votes to Limit Restrictions on Area M Commercial Chum Harvest
Alaska’s Board of Fisheries has voted against a proposal to reduce significantly commercial fishing times and areas in the South Alaska Peninsula region known as Area M. Instead, the board this past weekend approved another measure to reduce fishing times in early June for salmon also sought by the Arctic-Yukon-Kuskokwim (AYK) region to the north.
The board’s decision on the intercept fishery of Chinook, sockeye and chum salmon came after several days of emotional testimony from fishermen and residents of Area M and the AYK, with both sides speaking out on the socioeconomic and cultural significance of chum salmon to their region.
Proposal 140 would have amended the South Unimak and Shumagin Islands June Salmon Management Plan, written by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, to redu...
