Money aims to reverse declines of salmon populations
The Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game and the Bering Sea Fishermen’s Association are among 19 recipients who will share a portion of $95 million in federal funding.
The money will be used for new and continuing programs and projects and support conservation efforts in California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Alaska.
NOAA Fisheries is recommending $61 million in annual appropriation funding and $34 million in Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act funding to be awarded through the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund.
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s Sustainable Salmon Fund will receive $5.4 million to support projects necessary to maintain healthy salmon populations and to protect and restore their habitats.
Projects funded by the program include protecting water quantity and quality; conserving land; improving fish passage; removing invasive species; restoring instream habitat; and monitoring salmon populations used for native subsistence fishing.
The Bering Sea Fishermen’s Association will receive $1.4 million to rebuild salmon populations in the Arctic-Yukon-Kuskokwim region.
The Bering Sea Fishermen’s Association is the administrative agent for the Arctic-Yukon-Kuskokwim Consortia which includes the Association of Village Council Presidents, Tanana Chiefs Conference and Kawerak, Inc.
The Consortia “will rebuild salmon populations and bring relief to resource-dependent people in the region through the AYK Tribal Research and Restoration Program,” according to a press release.
It added: “Information from high-priority monitoring and applied research projects will contribute to an improved understanding by management agencies of the complex relationships between salmon and their freshwater, nearshore, and marine environments. It will also improve management and recovery of declined salmon populations to better provide sustainable harvest opportunities for subsistence uses.”
