Alaska Beacon
By LINDA BEHNKEN and KATE TROLL
JANUARY 9, 2024 4:02 PM
NOAA now confirms that another critical Alaska fishery is in decline due to successive marine heat waves. First there was the loss of 10 billion snow crabs and the close of the once-lucrative Bering Sea crab fisheries; now we know that climate change (warming seas) is the culprit behind the crash of chum salmon on the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers. Both these fisheries are the lifeblood to many Alaska communities and villages. From the Yukon to Kodiak, from the Arctic to Ketchikan, Alaska’s coastal fisheries must now confront the dual threat of heat waves and ocean acidification.