Complex Relationship between Alaskan Salmon and Yukon Anglers

August 01, 2006 at 2:15 pm

I was having lunch with a friend today at a local restaurant and could not help but overhear a conversation going on at the next table. It was an angler who had just returned from some fishing in Alaska. I would guess it was the Chilkoot River fishing for Pinks or Sockeye. This angler was commenting on how he caught three fish and while processing came across a bear. He threw three salmon heads in the vicinity of the bear and joked how the bear could only fit two in his mouth and had to come back for the third.

If you are not aware, the short section of Chilkoot River in Haines has an incredible amount of bear activity. Brown bears wander the well worn paths mainly in the mornings and evenings. No doubt because the insane angler traffic during the day keeps them away during the day. It is not uncommon to have bears confront anglers for their fresh catch sitting on a rock or the bank.

Although I enjoy the fishing here, at times I am disgusted at angler ignorance, and lack of regulation or controls in place to keep interactions down to a minimum. I find sometimes that while the majority of anglers stop fishing respectfully at the sight of a bear and head to the road or cars, there are some that stand their ground so as to not lose their fishing spot (during the prime “combat fishing” times).

I was also in Haines this weekend taking in some camping, fishing and the Southeast Alaskan State Fair. As I was driving in and out of the Chilkoot River area I noticed the many commercial trawlers netting Pinks and Sockeye as they came in. It was a gauntlet of boats covering what looked like half the inlet. This got me thinking about the Pacific Salmon and the complex issues like fish farming, “interceptions”, low populations, global warming, subsistance/commercial/sport fishing, etc..

It really got me thinking that while the future of wild Pacific Salmon is very complex and perhaps in jeopardy at a global level, we can only control how we act at the local level. The ignorance of throwing fish heads and “casting at bears” shows that we don’t have a clue! If we as individual anglers do not understand the interelationships between us, bears and the salmon then how can we expect to possibly address the larger more complex issues. In the end, we all lose. I look forward to fishing with my 2 and 4 year old’s at this river for many, many years. However, if we continue in ignorance I would not be surprised to see this fishing experience, and this resource come to a close. If you listen to fishing stories of long-time Yukoners and their long-ago tales of incredible runs and stocks in some “wild” Yukon rivers and lakes…these experiences do not exist anymore…

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