Alaska salmon earn landmark seal of approval

Alaska's salmon fishery is the first in the United States deemed sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council

By Environmental News Network staff

When Alaska joined the union in 1959, overfishing had severely depleted the state's salmon population.

Since that time, rebuilding healthy salmon stocks has been a priority in Alaska. In 1999, the state's commercial salmon catch soared to 214 million fish from about 25 million fish in the 1950s.

Soon the fishery, second only to the oil industry in Alaska's economy, will wear a green label.

The Marine Stewardship Council on Tuesday revealed that Alaska salmon will become the first U.S. fishery to be certified as sustainable.

The MSC seal of approval identifies seafood that has not been overfished or harvested in ways that harm the ocean ecosystem.

"The smart salmon fishermen out there are conservationists," said Scott Thorne, who has fished Alaska salmon for the past 18 years. "We want (the fishery) managed responsibly more than anyone else."

The Alaska salmon fishery is unique because, during the fishing season, biologists conduct an "abundance-based" management program.

"Rather than assuming a certain number of salmon are going to return to their spawning grounds, biologists measure the abundance of fish so we can allow enough fish to reproduce to sustain wild stocks," explained Nancy Long of the Alaska Fish and Game Department.

Salmon fishermen are told when they can and cannot fish on a daily basis.

Alaska's salmon stock hasn't always been healthy. The chart shows commercial salmon catches from 1950 through 1999

"Fishermen can expect that salmon will be there for them in the future," said Karen Tarica of MSC. "I think they are setting an amazing example for fisheries all over the world."

State officials hope certification will help sell Alaskan products in Europe, where eco-labels have considerably more market power than in the United States.

"This product is all over the world," said Laura Flemming of the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute. "A number of corporations, especially in the United Kingdom, have made commitments to buy sustainable salmon within a certain time frame. People are taking a greater interest than ever before in the environment when they make purchasing decisions."

"Harvesters have made many sacrifices to ensure that salmon will be sustainable," she added. "We are optimistic that this will pay off for them."

Fishermen are less hopeful that the certification will boost their income.

"I don't see how the MSC label can hurt us, but I don't think it will impact us a great deal," said Thorne. "We'll never see the prices (for wild salmon) we saw before aquaculture came about."

In recent years, farm-raised salmon, which now account for about 50 percent of the market, have caused the dollar value of wild salmon to drop considerably.

"The only way to make money is to catch as many fish as possible," Thorne said. "A lot of fish caught this summer have not been sold yet."

Copyright 2000, Environmental News Network, All Rights Reserved

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Marine Stewardship Council
Alaska Fish and Game Department
Alaska seafood marketing Institute

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