Chinook Salmon Research a Casualty of Alaska Budget Crunch; Some Programs Retained
SEAFOODNEWS.COM [Fish Factor] by Laine Welch August 24, 2015
One of the casualties of this year’s budget cuts was funds for a program aimed at discovering why Alaska’s Chinook salmon stocks have been declining since 2007.
A five year, $30 million Chinook Salmon Research Initiative launched in 2013 included more than 100 researchers focused on three dozen projects in 12 major river systems from Southeast to the Yukon. Now the ambitious effort has been cut to just over one dozen projects.
“When we saw we weren’t going to get a third appropriation this fiscal year, we had to step back and narrow the focus, and make sure key projects still had money to continue for at least the next two years, ” said Ed Jones, a coordinator with the state Sport Fish Division who oversees the Initiative team.
The project has received two $7.5 million appropriations so far, and just over $6 million remains. “We’re hopeful that another appropriation will come down the pike, ” Jones said. “These are long term endeavors and we’ve just now scratched the surface of the research....
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