Alaska hatchery operators have agreed to place a cap on the amount of eggs they can take from pink and chum salmon for the next five years. The Commissioner of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Doug Vincent-Lang, announced the news at the Board of Fisheries’ work session on Oct. 28.
Every aquaculture association in Alaska signed on to the agreement, except for the Valdez Fisheries Development Association. But Vincent-Lang said at the work session that he won’t approve permit increases for any hatcheries for the duration of the moratorium, even if they didn’t sign on.
“I just wanted to make sure everybody was aware that this is signed and it's in place, and we follow through on our commitment as a department," Vincent-Lang said.
The moratorium stems from the Board of Fisheries’ statewide meeting back in March. The Board chose to take no action on hatchery related proposals at that meeting. Instead, board members asked Vincent-Lang to enact a ten year-long formal moratorium on increasing egg takes for hatcheries.
The agreement, signed by the hatcheries on Oct. 22, will only last until 2031, with the option to renew the moratorium for another five years after that.
Under the moratorium, hatcheries won’t be able to start any new pink or chum salmon projects, or increase the amount of eggs they take to use in their existing facilities. Hatcheries had already agreed to do this as part of an informal agreement back in 2019. But hatchery operators were still apprehensive about signing on to a formal agreement, citing a need for flexibility and a lack of concrete proof that their operations were having a negative impact on wild salmon.
In a letter to Vincent-Lang published along with the moratorium, president of the Valdez Fisheries Development Association Board of Directors Thane Miller wrote that the association declined to sign the moratorium in part because of these concerns.
"We believe our programs have become a point of political leverage in an effort to address concerns that remain scientifically unresolved," Miller wrote.
During the October work session, the Board of Fisheries also voted down an agenda change request that asked to reduce Alaska’s hatchery production to less than 100 million fish total per year. Agenda change requests ask for the Board to take action on a proposal outside of its normal review cycle.
The Board agreed 6-1 that the change request didn’t meet the criteria for them to review. Board member Mike Wood referenced Vincent-Lang’s moratorium in his decision.
“The state has agreed to put the brakes on already," Wood said. "I believe we should just wait and see how that works.”
The Board said that they would still review any hatchery-related proposals at their next statewide finfish meeting, which won't be until 2029.
