November 16, 2023 — U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) held a field hearing in Bethel, Alaska, U.S.A. last week to hear concerns about how declining salmon runs are affecting native communities.
“It is significant and historic to bring the Senate Indian Affairs Committee to Bethel to understand how the salmon crashes in the Arctic-Yukon-Kuskokwim region are affecting those of you who live here,” Murkowski, the vice chairman of the Senate Committee on Indians Affairs (SCIA), said. “I have heard how the lack of salmon is affecting your ways of life and the need for the federal government to pay attention, to understand, and to act. We brought the committee to Bethel so those in the region and surrounding villages who are most impacted can be heard and offer potential solutions on the official record.”