Two Alaska Native organizations are suing the federal government to protect subsistence fishing rights on two of the state’s largest river systems amidst a worsening salmon crisis.
Earth Justice, a nonprofit public interest environmental law organization, filed a lawsuit last week on behalf of the plaintiffs — the Association of Village Council Presidents (AVCP) and Tanana Chiefs Conference (TCC) — against the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) in U.S. District Court asking it to reexamine groundfish catch limits for the Bering Sea and the Aleutian Islands.
Collectively, AVCP and TCC represent more than 100 tribal communities in the Yukon-Kuskokwim region who have been fishing the area salmon for thousands of years. The tribes claim that a restriction on fishing for subsistence in the region with a preference for commercial fishing has halted the centuries-old practice for more than a decade.
The region is one of the poorest in the state, making salmon harvest critical to food security.
“Families haven’t been able to fish for salmon for years, essentially at all, on the Yukon [River] and the Kuskowkim [River],” said AVCP’s General Counsel Joy Anderson in an interview with Native News Online. “That’s what is prompting the lawsuit, but near-total collapse is what we’re experiencing right now.”
AVCP is a nonprofit tribal organization that promotes self-determination and protection and enhancement of cultural and traditional values, including advocating for the protection of the Bering Sea and its resources. It represents more than 27,000 people, primarily of Yup’ik, Cup’ik, and Athabascan heritage, and 56 federally recognized tribes in 48 communities along the Yukon and Kuskokwim Rivers.
“We don’t believe that management is prioritizing subsistence as high as it should be,” Anderson said. “Our hopes are that fisheries management start taking a holistic approach in what they are doing and that subsistence fishing is prioritized.”
The commercial fishing industry continues to fish the region for Chinook and chum salmon, which are being over-harvested, says AVCP. According to the lawsuit, NMFS relies on an environmental impact statement (EIS) completed in 2007 for the harvest specifications and an EIS from 2004 for the groundfish fisheries management plan.