A multi-million dollar effort over five years would be invested in researching Alaska's salmon runs -- especially species at historic lows -- under a proposal by the US state's governor Mike Dunleavy, KMXT reports.

Dunleavy's budget proposal, released last month, includes $5.6 million to initiate a Gulf of Alaska chinook salmon marine harvest five-year study by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G), the Kodiak, Alaska public radio station reported.

A total of nearly $22m over five years would fund ADF&G's efforts to "sample, assess, analyze, and report the stock composition of chinook salmon harvested across the Gulf of Alaska."

ADF&G commissioner Doug Vincent-Lang told KMXT last summer that he expected his department to receive more funding in the upcoming budget cycle.

"So I think there's going to be a push for federal and state money to better address what's happening to chinook salmon in the next year's budget. I just don't know what that is yet because we are still putting it together," Vincent-Lang said in July.

King salmon runs at historic lows

Chinook salmon, also known as kings, have seen significant declines in recent years across many areas of the state. As Undercurrent News reported, Kodiak Island saw the lowest king counts in recorded history.

The governor's proposed budget also includes $4m over five years to continue supporting the Alaska Marine Salmon Program, run by the University of Washington, to research the evolution of Pacific salmon across Alaska.

Other salmon-related budget items in the governor's budget proposal include the "Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund" and the "Pacific Salmon Treaty Chinook Fishery Mitigation."

The final budget will be reviewed and amended by the state Legislature, which will convene on Jan. 21 in Juneau, Alaska.