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What are interception fisheries? How many Canadian salmon and steelhead are killed in Alaskan interception fisheries? Why don’t we know how many Canadian salmon and steelhead are caught? Isn’t Alaska a world leader in sustainability when it comes to fishing? Canadian commercial fishers are required to return non-target species like steelhead and Chinook to the water with the least possible harm. Don’t Alaskan fishers do this, too? If Canadian salmon and steelhead numbers are declining, Alaska’s impact is also reduced, right? Isn’t there an international treaty that protects Canadian salmon? Why is the southeast Alaska seine fishery certified as sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council? If the Alaskan interception of Canadian and southern US salmon and steelhead is permitted by international Treaty and an eco-certification, what can be done? What can I do?

Isn’t Alaska a world leader in sustainability when it comes to fishing?

Answer

Yes and no. Alaskans manage their own salmon very well and their state constitution even bars them from overfishing. Interception fisheries in Alaska would be illegal under their state constitution if they were overfishing their own stocks the way they are overfishing B.C.’s salmon and steelhead.