
Climate change has setnetters worried about Alaska’s sockeye - DoreenMichele
https://www.hcn.org/issues/52.6/north-climate-change-has-setnetters-worried-about-alaskas-sockeye
======
philips
Fisheries across Alaska are really struggling. It is striking how climate
change affects the economy of Alaska today.

Another article: [https://www.npr.org/2019/12/08/785634169/alaska-cod-
fishery-...](https://www.npr.org/2019/12/08/785634169/alaska-cod-fishery-
closes-and-industry-braces-for-ripple-effect)

~~~
Udik
Oil and gas still provide 1/3 of all jobs in Alaska. What is striking is how
much climate change has _contributed_ to the economy of Alaska.

~~~
ceejayoz
Sure.

Setting your kitchen on fire warms your house, for a bit.

It's not a great long-term plan, though.

~~~
lotsofpulp
Unfortunately, planning for the long term makes you uncompetitive on the
nation state scale in the short term, which can threaten the nation state’s
survival/prosperity.

~~~
thecureforzits
That's the tragedy of capitalism.

~~~
anewdirection
I am not sure how a different system would have changed things. Look at
russia, half the middle east, etc. Not exactly the common definition of
capitolist. Producing energy is about the most productive thing a country can
do for its people, no matter its politics of distribution. The fact is that
petroleum is/was the most efficient way to do that. Science first, then you
can drag out your personal politics.

~~~
ryder9
except.. russia is an oligarchy.. middle east is mostly a dictatorship; i
don't think you know what capitalism means, it's an economic system, not a
system of governance

~~~
KineticLensman
He's saying that capitalist or not, "Producing energy is about the most
productive thing a country can do for its people, no matter its politics of
distribution".

------
xyst
Alaska sold it’s soul to O&G industry in exchange for a yearly dividend for
each of it’s residents.

[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska_Permanent_Fund](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska_Permanent_Fund)

Would have been nice if Alaska recognized climate change decades ago.

~~~
Udik
1/3 of all jobs in Alaska are provided by the oil and gas sector. How much
climate change do you think is needed to balance the cumulative benefits of
oil extraction in the last 50 years?

~~~
adrianN
You make it seem as if the cumulative benefits would disappear if we stopped
producing greenhouse gases. A better question would be to ask how much climate
change would balance out any additional benefits we receive from continuing
our current path as opposed to investing a sufficient amount of money into the
transformation to a more sustainable energy economy.

------
aaronbrethorst
Climate change should worry Alaskans about more than salmon:
[https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/14/climate/alaska-
landslide-...](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/14/climate/alaska-landslide-
tsunami.html)

------
hammock
Hasn't there been a glut of sockeye most of the last 20 years running now?
I've enjoyed getting it in the grocery store for a decent price, since the
more common farmed salmon has serious problems.

1996 [https://www.nytimes.com/1996/10/14/us/salmon-are-thrown-
away...](https://www.nytimes.com/1996/10/14/us/salmon-are-thrown-away-as-
alaska-deals-with-glut.html)

2001
[http://www.bluefish.org/fishermn.htm](http://www.bluefish.org/fishermn.htm)

2010
[https://www.nature.com/news/2010/100903/full/news.2010.449.h...](https://www.nature.com/news/2010/100903/full/news.2010.449.html)

2011 [https://redoubtreporter.wordpress.com/2011/07/27/working-
thr...](https://redoubtreporter.wordpress.com/2011/07/27/working-through-the-
fish-process-%E2%80%94%C2%A0huge-sockeye-catch-floods-processors-with-sea-of-
salmon/)

2012 [https://www.aaas.org/record-returns-sockeye-salmon-
northwest...](https://www.aaas.org/record-returns-sockeye-salmon-northwestern-
us)

2015 [https://www.seafoodsource.com/news/supply-trade/with-
abundan...](https://www.seafoodsource.com/news/supply-trade/with-abundance-of-
sockeye-asmi-spearheads-sales-push)

2016 [https://www.adn.com/fishing/article/sockeye-salmon-glut-
expe...](https://www.adn.com/fishing/article/sockeye-salmon-glut-expected-
lower-prices/2015/04/10/)

2019
[https://www.oregonlive.com/environment/2010/07/record_columb...](https://www.oregonlive.com/environment/2010/07/record_columbia_river_sockeye.html)

