After the next 36 hour fishing opportunity, YDNWR and KRITFC will rescind all previous fishing restrictions announced for 2024, returning management of the River to the State of Alaska and ADF&G.
The Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge (YDNWR) In-Season Manager, hereby announces two gillnet and one rod and reel fishing opportunity for federally qualified subsistence users.
The Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge (YDNWR) Manager, as In-Season Manager, announces a gillnet fishing opportunity for Federally qualified subsistence users.
The Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge (YDNWR) Manager, as In-Season Manager, hereby announces five gillnet fishing opportunities for Federally qualified subsistence users.
Follow the link to listen to the chat hosted by PETRA HARPAK & S. GRADY DEATON.
Kuskokwim River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission Executive Director Mary Peltola and Employment, Training and Child Care Director Nicholai Joekay. Photo taken on May 30, 2018.
The number of king salmon predicted to return to the Kuskokwim River this year has taken a dramatic drop. Two tribal groups and one private citizen don’t think the state is doing enough to conserve the kings, and they’ve each submitted paperwork requesting that federal managers immediately take over the lower river to restrict fishing.
The village of Akiak’s proposal to move federal management of the lower Kuskokwim River to earlier in the season failed to get the nod from the Federal Subsistence Board on Wednesday. With even fewer kings expected up the river this summer, the Board has assured that co-management on the lower Kuskokwim will proceed much as it has in prior years and turned down Akiak’s plan to start federal management in May.
BETHEL, Alaska (AP) - The tribal commission formed to co-manage the Lower Kuskokwim's fish has laid out an approach to protect the river's salmon.
KYUK-AM reports that the Kuskokwim River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, made up of the 33 tribes that live along the river, met Monday for its annual meeting.
Mary Peltola, the commission's executive director, said there is a consensus among the tribes that they need to rebuild the river's salmon stocks.
BETHEL, Alaska (AP) — The tribal commission formed to co-manage the Lower Kuskokwim’s fish has laid out an approach to protect the river’s salmon, voting down a resolution to allow larger nets that would catch bigger fish.
Anchorage, AK – Almost every village situated along the Kuskokwim River ventured to Bethel during breakup season this week, to participate in this year’s Kuskokwim River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, to examine how to protect its fish population.
Thirty-three tribes reside along the Kuskokwim River and share its fish, who formed the Kuskokwim River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission four years ago.
On the Kuskokwim River, it’s not an easy decision to travel during breakup. There are chores to be done to prepare for summer, and flooding is a constant risk that keeps people close to their homes, standing guard. But on Monday and Tuesday, a group traveled to Bethel from nearly every village along the river to discuss how to protect the fish that swim by.
Thirty-three tribes live along the Kuskokwim and share all the fish within it. Four years ago, the tribes came together to form the Kuskokwim River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission. It was a historic agreement that allowed tribes to co-manage the Lower Kuskokwim salmon under federal jurisdiction alongside federal managers at the the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
With king salmon runs declining on the Kuskokwim River, at least one village has expressed interest in developing a hatchery. But without a government-recognized plan, the Kuskokwim can’t develop such a resource. A group is gathering to change that and has begun the long process of creating what’s called a "salmon production plan."
Such a plan would not deal with salmon management, but instead would lay out guidelines for producing more fish through hatchery projects. Such production plans were developed in most regions of the state in the 1970s and 80s, as depressed fish harvests increased interest in hatcheries among commercial fishermen. But the Kuskokwim never had much commercial fishing or this interest.
Who will manage the Lower Kuskokwim subsistence fishery this summer and how they will do it will be decided in the middle of this month.
There are two main plans on the table for managing the fishery under federal jurisdiction.
The first, from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, would close the portion of the Kuskokwim River inside the Yukon Delta Wildlife Refuge to king salmon fishing from June 12 through August 30 and limit fishing to subsistence users.
The other plan, from the Native Village of Akiak, would close that section of the Kuskokwim to king salmon fishing from May 20 to June 30 and limit fishing to designated community fishermen with harvest quotas. This is similar to what happened in 2015.
The Kuskokwim River is ice-free at the headwaters and the ice is broken in Aniak. News of breakup is always exciting. With daylight shining so late into the night now, summer seems so close and it’s fun to think about the possibility of boat rides and fishing!
On Monday, May 7 and Tuesday, May 8, from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. on both days, the Kuskokwim River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission will be having its Annual Commissioner’s Meeting at the Cultural Center in Bethel.
