Management Overview
Since 2015, the Kuskokwim River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission has brought Yup’ik and Athabaskan Dene voices and experiences to Kuskokwim fisheries management. Through KRITFC, the 33 tribes of the Kuskokwim watershed – 28 of which have submitted authorizing resolutions and have voting Fish Commissioners with KRITFC – work collaboratively with federal and state agencies to sustainably and equitably manage the fisheries along the river.
The KRITFC management team includes the seven Executive Council members and four In-Season Managers. These Council members and In-Season Managers, elected by all Fish Commissioners at our annual meetings, represent Kuskokwim communities from the mouth to the headwaters. Each of them brings their experience as traditional knowledge holders and lifelong Kuskokwim salmon fishers to strategy and management meetings, and each of them knows how important and challenging it is to balance subsistence fishing needs and protecting our spiritual connections to salmon with conserving salmon for future generations of Kuskokwim fishers.
“The Fish Commission has to make hard decisions that people may not like in order to make escapement for Chinook. This approach means that we don’t have the same freedom to fish, like we did in the past. As Fish Commissioners, you have the tools to bring the interest of the area residents and to make sure the resource survives. And if you only harvest, the resource may not survive. So you have to find a balance and hope that people will understand. ”
Our management team works with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Staff (USFWS) at the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge and the Alaska Department of Fish & Game (ADF&G) to manage the entire Kuskokwim River watershed. Since signing our MOU in 2016, we collaboratively manage Kuskokwim salmon populations with USFWS within the bounds of the Refuge (from the river’s mouth to Aniak). Outside of federal waters – from Aniak to Telida – we work with ADF&G to manage our fish in state waters.