March 19, 2025 — A federal district court judge has denied a claim made by two regional tribal consortiums in Western Alaska that fisheries management in the Bering Sea violated environmental law.
United States District Court Judge Sharon Gleason denied the claims made by the Association of Village Council Presidents (AVCP) and Tanana Chiefs Conference (TCC) in a judgement on March 11.
The Association of Village Council Presidents – the regional tribal consortium for the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta – and the Tanana Chiefs Conference – the regional tribal consortium for much of western Interior Alaska – had sued the National Marine Fisheries Service, which manages fisheries in the federal waters outside of Alaska. Two fisheries trade organizations with ties to the pollock industry – the At-Sea Processors Association and United Catcher Boats – joined in defense of federal fisheries managers.
The tribal organizations, along with the City of Bethel, claimed that recent groundfish harvest management in the Bering Sea wasn’t properly taking into account major changes to the ocean ecosystem, including fisheries collapses on the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers, and thus violated federal law under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).