Two consecutive years of low Chinook salmon runs on the Yukon River prompted U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke on Jan. 15 to declare a fishery disaster.

"Communities in Alaska along the Yukon River depend heavily on Chinook salmon for commercial fishing, jobs and food," Locke said. "I have determined that a fishery disaster has occurred due to consecutive years of low Chinook salmon returns. Alaska fishermen and their families are struggling with a substantial loss in income and revenues."

In 2008, state fisheries officials responded to low Chinook salmon returns by reducing the commercial Chinook harvest to 89 percent below the recent five-year average.

No commercial Chinook salmon fishery was allowed in 2009 on the Yukon River, and the state also restricted subsistence harvests. State fisheries officials also expect another poor season in 2010.

Locke's announcement came just before he and Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, held a business roundtable discussion in Anchorage with 30 community leaders on potential trade expansion between Alaska and the Pacific Rim.

Earlier Locke and Begich met privately with a number of other Alaska business leaders on rural development, and after the roundtable, both traveled across town to meet with workers for the 2010 census.

"While subsistence fishing is not a factor in determining a commercial fishery failure, for Yukon River communities, the commercial and subsistence fisheries are inseparable," said Doug Mecum, acting administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Fisheries Service, Alaska region. "These communities are very isolated and do not have the economic diversity to withstand the disastrous economic impact of extremely low or no commercial harvest coupled with a decline in subsistence harvests."

Under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the Commerce secretary may determine a commercial fishery failure if requested to do so by the governor, or at the secretary's discretion.

Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell, along with the Association of Village Council Presidents, the Alaska Federation of Natives and the villages of Kwethluk and Chevak, had requested the federal declaration. Begich, along with Alaska Republicans Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Rep. Don Young, had urged Locke to declare the fisheries disaster in May 2009.

While Locke's declaration does not include any federal funds, it does clear the way for congressional action to appropriate funding. Parnell said such funds would be used for relief programs, stock research, training program sand fisheries infrastructure.

While the cause of the Chinook salmon decline is not completely understood, many scientists believe it is predominately natural. Changes in ocean and river conditions, including unfavorable shifts in temperatures and food sources, likely caused poor survival of Chinook salmon, Commerce officials said.

Incidental harvests of thousands of Chinook salmon during the Bering Sea pollock fishery also may be a contributing factor, Commerce officials said. The North Pacific Fishery Management Council recommended measures to minimize the bycatch. NOAA's Fisheries Service is reviewing the council's recommendations and developing proposed regulations.

A number of fishermen who live along the Lower Yukon River benefit financially through affiliation with community development quota associations from harvests in the $1 billion annual harvest of pollock, the nation's largest groundfish fishery.

The 2009 NPFMC meeting at which measures were recommended to minimize bycatch came on the heels of hours of testimony from dozens of fishermen who depend on the Chinook salmon for their livelihood and others employed in the pollock industry.

Business leaders ask for help on resource, tourism development

Locke spoke briefly with Alaska business leaders about the fishery disaster declaration before launching into the issue of increasing exports to provide broad economic benefits to Alaska and the rest of the nation.

"Anchorage is at the crossroads of the world," Locke said. "And taking advantage of the opportunities in these dynamic emerging markets is critical to the well-being of Alaska's economy."

Alaska has trade offices in Korea, Japan and Taiwan, and Anchorage has sister city relationships in Russia, Japan and South Korea. Still, Locke said that American businesses, including many in Alaska, are missing out on viable opportunities when it comes to accessing foreign markets.

While 97 percent of U.S. exporters are small- and medium-sized enterprises, they account for only 30 percent of export value, Locke said.

"And of all the American businesses that do export, many export to only one country," he said. "I believe we must do a lot better."

Less than 1 percent of America's 30 million companies export, a percentage that is significantly lower than all other developed countries, and this is an area where the Department of Commerce can offer assistance, Locke said.

Experts within the Commerce Department can help American firms conduct an international partner search to find potential agents, distributors or other strategic partners, then contact a large group of potential overseas business partners to identify firms that could be right for you, he said.

The Commerce Department can also help design and implement a market entry or expansion strategy and assign a single point of contact to provide long-term, focused support to help you succeed, he said.

"Think of it as like speed dating for exporters," he said. "We'll keep searching for partners and customers for you until you find the right fit."

Locke also heard concerns from participants in the roundtable about controversy over development of non-renewable resources, including oil and gas, mining and timber.

Wayne Stevens, executive director of the Alaska State Chamber of Commerce, told Locke that "an overarching issue is the number of outside interests who have taken on Alaska as their cause and have decided to protect Alaska" from how citizens of Alaska would like to see it.

"These kinds of activities are hammering business in Alaska," Stevens added. "Egregious lawsuits ... are driving business away from Alaska."

Marilyn Crockett, representing the Resource Development Council for Alaska, and Shell Oil's Cam Toohey also expressed concern over litigation arising from industry efforts to develop non-renewable resources.

Locke said it is important that Congress pass an energy bill to promote energy in the United States, but "at the same time, we have to focus on alternatives."

Many companies and investors are ready to put money into alternative, clean energy, but a national energy policy is needed so everyone knows what the rules are, he said.

"China is spending $10 million a month to promote clean energy," he said. "They are doing it to eventually be the world supplier of alternative energy. If we don't pass an energy policy, China and Germany will be way ahead of us.

"We will wake up in a couple of years, and they will have all the jobs and we won't he said. "We have to have a clear energy policy. Too many people are sitting on the sidelines waiting for that direction, while other countries are racing ahead."

Locke asks Alaskans to cooperate with 2010 census

Locke was also in Alaska to meet with officials charged with conducting the 2010 census, an event he noted will have significant monetary benefit for the state.

The national census count will begin Jan. 25 in Noorvik, an Inupiat Eskimo community.

Soon after meeting with business leaders, Locke and Begich traveled across Anchorage to meet with 2010 census officials and to emphasize the need for all Alaskans to participate. Some $400 billion in federal dollars will be allocated each year on the basis of the census, he said.

"We just want to know who is living in America and where. It gives us a more accurate portrait of who is where as the population grows," he said.

Over time, fewer and fewer people are responding to census forms in the mail, so in Alaska alone, the federal government is hiring some 2,000 enumerators at $25 an hour to be sure everyone is counted, he said.

The census form itself – which will be available in 28 languages — is simple, he said. It's 10 questions, will take 10 minutes to complete, and all the information is absolutely private, he said.

Margaret Bauman can be reached at

margie.bauman@alaskajournal.com.