Dumped salmon could attract bears, Fish and Game says

PALMER — Forty-seven salmon carcasses were found last week by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game dumped on the side of the road near the Knik River Road area of the Palmer Hay Flats.

Although the area is not particularly common for bear sightings, salmon remains can easily attract the animals and cause dangerous interactions with people in the vicinity.

“Mainly we don’t want to create more problems that are going to end up with somebody getting injured, or a bear getting killed,” said Special Areas Program Coordinator Joe Meehan.

Fish and Game requests that salmon carcasses be either dumped back into the stream from where they were caught, used as compost, or disposed of in a Dumpster or the local landfill.

“We don’t want people dumping fish carcasses in a creek where they didn’t catch the fish, because that could potentially put pathogens or disease from one drainage system to another,” said Meehan.

Fish dumping has not been too common besides this incident, according to Meehan, but with the higher number of bear encounters and attacks this year, it is best to be safe. It also saves Fish and Game the trouble of cleaning up the fish themselves.

“I would just encourage people to get out and enjoy fishing, and if they clean the fish at home or somewhere else,” Meehan said, “throw the waste in the Dumpster,”

Any improperly dumped fish carcasses should be reported Fish and Game as soon as possible, Meehan said.

Katie Stark is a Frontiersman summer intern.