Hopes for a commercial fishery on the Kuskokwim river have officially been dashed.
Larry Lang, owner of the processing vessel Akutan, says that the bank will not lend him the money he needs to buy silver salmon this summer.
In an email, Lang wrote: “We have prepared to the fullest, but the bank will not budge.”
Lang was the only buyer registered with the state to purchase Kuskokwim silver salmon this year. He was scheduled to anchor in Kuskokwim Bay this week.
This is the second year in a row that Kuskokwim commercial fishermen have not had a buyer for their fish.
The last time there was a commercial opening on the Kuskokwim in 2015, nearly 400 fishermen participated.