Saving Seafood

ALASKA: Alaska Federation of Natives sides with federal government in Kuskokwim salmon dispute

October 2, 2023 — Alaska’s largest Native organization has sided with the federal government in its dispute with the state over salmon management in the Kuskokwim River, saying that the state’s position is attacking its interests and those of its members.

On Sept. 26, the Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN) filed a motion to intervene in the lawsuit filed by the federal government over management of fishing in the Kuskokwim River, a place where salmon scarcities have produced hardships.

The lawsuit, filed on May 17, 2022, was aimed at stopping state-authorized fishing in the part of the Kuskokwim River that flows through the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge.

Federal officials had allowed only rural residents to engage in subsistence fishing there, in accordance with the rural preference rule embedded in the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act. But the state opened subsistence fishing there to all Alaska residents.

Read the full article at Alaska Beacon

ALASKA: AFN delegates push for measures to decrease salmon bycatch

October 26, 2o22 — Two resolutions brought before the Alaska Federation of Natives during this year’s annual convention called for efforts to reduce salmon bycatch for fish that return to the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers. Debate over both resolutions was contentious and revealed a regional rift among tribes.

One resolution calls on Alaska’s Department of Fish and Game to support measures that decrease salmon bycatch by commercial trawlers in a region along the Aleutian Island chain known as Area M. A second resolution requests the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council address bycatch amounts in the same region.

“I really have to take a step back here and talk about how sad I am that we have to fight so hard here to be heard to try to protect our salmon,” said Brian Ridley. Ridley is the chairman of the Tanana Chiefs Conference, an Interior region tribal organization that brought both resolutions to the floor of this year’s annual Alaska Federation of Natives convention in Anchorage.

“I know this is a controversial issue,” Ridley told a crowd of hundreds, after the resolutions were introduced on the floor Saturday. “There’s a lot of people that didn’t want to have this discussion here, but if we don’t have it here and we don’t get the support of AFN, the problem is, we’re gonna be out of the fish on the Yukon and Kuskokwim and we’re gonna be talking endangered species.”

Read the full article at KTOO

Murkowski says she’ll use appropriations to block Alaskan mine

October 19, 2020 — Sen. Lisa Murkowski issued her strongest objection to date against the Pebble Mine project, a proposed mining site of copper, gold and molybdenum near the ecologically sensitive Bristol Bay, pledging to use the federal appropriations process to protect the region.

Speaking virtually at a convention of the Alaska Federation of Natives on Thursday, Murkowski, R-Alaska, chairwoman of the Senate Interior-Environment Appropriations Subcommittee, said she would use spending legislation to protect Bristol Bay, home to the world’s biggest salmon run and one of its largest commercial fisheries. She is also chairwoman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

“I simply think that this is the wrong mine in the wrong place,” Murkowski said. “We need longer-term protections for the region that can also provide enduring value for Alaskans.”

Murkowski submitted language in the fiscal 2020 Interior-Environment spending bill that directed the Army Corps of Engineers to conduct a more rigorous environmental assessment of the project’s risks. “I plan to build on my appropriations language from last year to make sure that the Bristol bay region remains protected,” she said Thursday.

Read the full story at Roll Call

ALASKA: Murkowski denounces Pebble mine at AFN and says she will take additional steps to protect Bristol Bay

October 16, 2020 — Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, on Thursday denounced the Pebble mine project and said that she will take further congressional action to protect the Bristol Bay region in Southwest Alaska.

“I recognize the need for new economic development in Southwest Alaska, I think we all do,” she said in a speech before the Alaska Federation of Natives.

“But I simply think this is the wrong mine in the wrong place,” the senator said, echoing the words of the late Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens.

Murkowski, speaking by video during AFN’s annual convention, said she would introduce report language into the Senate Appropriations Committee next year to help protect the region where the mine is proposed for construction.

Read the full story at the Anchorage Daily News

Alaska gubernatorial fishing debate called off after incumbent’s surprise exit

October 23, 2018 — Mark Begich, the Democratic candidate for Alaska governor, will not appear on a stage in Kodiak Monday evening to discuss his positions related to the state’s commercial fisheries.

Following Friday’s surprise announcement by incumbent Bill Walker that he was pulling out of the 2018 race, the planned debate has been cancelled, confirms Frank Schiro, executive director of the Kodiak Chamber of Commerce.

Walker, an independent, used the Alaska Federation of Natives Convention, in Anchorage, on Friday, to announce that he would be leaving the four-way contest. He explained that his decision was based on the promise he made in his campaign to keep “Alaska first” and give Begich a better chance at beating Republican challenger Mike Dunleavy.

With the Nov. 6 election day looming, Walker, based on the latest polls taken two weeks ago, had just 27.0% of the Alaska vote while Democrat Mark Begich had 22.6% and Republican challenger Mike Dunleavy had 46.5%. Walker also has a Libertarian challenger, William S. “Billy” Toien, though he was not featured in the poll.

Only 3.9% of respondents were undecided, and the poll had a 4.4% margin of error.

On Friday, Walker, a former Republican, said he didn’t believe 18 days were enough for him to turn things around.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News