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A total moratorium on chinook salmon fishing on the Yukon River may be necessary to save the fish, said the chairman of the Yukon Salmon Committee.

This year's Yukon River salmon run appears to be in trouble, said Carl Sidney, whose committee is mandated to look after the salmon's welfare. About 32,000 Yukon-bound chinook salmon have reached the mouth of the river to date — less than half the normal numbers, he said.

"My family has gone without salmon for … this is going to be the third year we don't get any," Sidney told CBC News on Wednesday.

While a ban on sport and commercial salmon fishing is likely in the Yukon this year, Sidney said a voluntary moratorium on First Nations subsistence fishing may be needed as well.

"This fish is in so much trouble, you know? I think we should just leave it alone for at least five years," he said.

"We all have to get in this together. … [Otherwise], we may as well just kiss it goodbye."