Douglas Munro’s crew began their patrol just south of the Aleutian Islands and spent fifty-nine days enforcing fisheries regulations while traveling 12,500 miles throughout the Pacific Ocean.
Approximately $530 million of federal funds has been approved for fishermen and the US seafood industry, including fishermen and processors in Alaska, which have been impacted by retaliatory tariffs from foreign governments.
A study published in the journal Nature Communication shows that body sizes are declining in four species of Pacific salmon because the fish are returning younger than they used to.
Like Alaska’s oil industry, Alaska’s seafood industry supply chain moves most of the state’s seafood out of state as an unrefined product, creating a persistent challenge for fishing communities that seek to keep more value and more Alaska fisheries jobs in state.
Until recently, scientists did not know salmon swam up some of these waterways, nor that grizzlies were fattening up on them before entering hibernation.
Signs at a local rally communicated the regional communities’ need of support from the state and federal government for mandated testing, enforced quarantine, increased healthcare capacity, and adequate evacuation plans in the event of an outbreak for the best line of defense to combat COVID-19 in Bristol Bay.