Chinook salmon run on Yukon River early, numbers low

Biologists are predicting another poor year forChinook salmon on the Yukon River, but say this year's run will be earlier than usualwith the fish arriving as soon as later this month.

For the second year in a row, steps have been taken on the Alaska portion of the river to help returning stocks reach spawning ground in the Yukon, with the Chinook salmon fishery on the river closed to commercial, sport and subsistence fishing.

It's a move that the head of the Yukon Salmon Sub-Committee is applauding.

"We are very pleased that Alaska's being very conservative, they're managing the fish early on" said Executive DirectorDennis Zimmerman.

Early estimates for the Chinookrun don't look good, however, and research to find out why salmon numbers are in decline is being carried out. Rates of Chinook in the river have been in decline since the late 1990s.

"All we do know is that we don'thave the runs we used to have," said Zimmerman,"and and we want to make sure that we get these fish to the spawning grounds, that we have them for future generations."

This year's run will be counted as the Chinookenter Canada.

The sub-committee is still working onrecommendations for this year's Yukon fishery.