Contact: Mary Pete (907) 465-4147

Juneau - The international Yukon River Panel has approved 29 salmon habitat restoration projects in Alaska and Yukon from applications to the Panel's Restoration and Enhancement Fund. The action came during the Panel’s meeting March 9 - 13 in Teslin, Yukon.

The projects, primarily for restoration of chinook and chum salmon stocks and their habitat, were awarded to the Bering Sea Fishermen's Association, the Tanana Chiefs Conference, and the Emmonak Tribal. In Yukon, eight First Nations, a number of non-profit local fisheries societies, the Yukon Fish and Game Association and the private sector will conduct projects. The total value of the projects is approximately $670 thousand US ($1 million Canadian).

This was the fifth meeting of the Panel since its creation resulting from the 1995 Interim Agreement between Canada and the United States. The Interim Agreement provides for the coordinated management and sharing of harvest of Yukon River salmon stocks that originate from the Canadian section of the Yukon River. The panel is comprised of representatives of fishing and management agencies from throughout the Yukon River system in both Alaska and Yukon.

The Teslin Tlingit Council hosted the meeting giving Panel members the opportunity to see first hand the place of origin of some of the salmon that are reared in the upper reaches of the Yukon River. These salmon stocks travel to the Bering Sea and the Pacific Ocean, returning 4 to 6 years later and journeying thousands of miles to spawn where they were raised in the upper Yukon River.

“There was a lot of talk among the members, who come from the full length Yukon River in Alaska and Canada, about the progress to date by the projects funded by the Panel in recent years,” said Mary Pete, Co-chair of the Yukon River Panel. “Hopes are high for the future of Yukon River salmon stocks as a result of these and previous projects funded by the Panel's Restoration and Enhancement Fund.”

The Panel also reviewed the fishing plans for each country for 1998 and the arrangements for reporting and adjusting fisheries management controls during the year as the fisheries develop during the summer and fall.

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