On April 2, 3, and 4, Commissioners from 18 of our Member Tribes gathered in Anchorage for our 2024 Annual Meeting and elections. It was powerful and good to meet after the long winter, as it is every year, and to discuss how we can work together in the upcoming year to restore our salmon and our traditional ways of life.
We are launching a drone educational program to provide training for local Kuskokwim community members to obtain a commercial drone license for fisheries research purposes.
On Friday, March 29, 2024, the Federal District Court for the District Court of Alaska took an important step forward in protecting Alaska Native and rural Alaskan subsistence rights by ruling in favor of the United States, KRITFC, and other Alaska Native subsistence rights advocates by rejecting the State of Alaska’s attack on federally-protected subsistence rights. The federal court permanently enjoined the State of Alaska from repeating its recent unlawful actions on the Kuskokwim River.
The collapses of Western Alaska salmon runs have been among the most consequential climate change impacts in the rapidly warming Arctic over the past two years, according to an annual report assembled by a federal agency.
Last Friday, November 10, KRITFC shared testimonies with Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Tribal leaders, and members of the public on an Expert Witness panel for a Senate Committee on Indian Affairs field hearing in Bethel, titled “The Impact of the Historic Salmon Declines on the Health and Well-Being of Alaska Native Communities Along Arctic, Yukon, and Kuskokwim Rivers."
On April 2, 3, and 4, Commissioners from 18 of our Member Tribes gathered in Anchorage for our 2024 Annual Meeting and elections. It was powerful and good to meet after the long winter, as it is every year, and to discuss how we can work together in the upcoming year to restore our salmon and our traditional ways of life.
On Friday, March 29, 2024, the Federal District Court for the District Court of Alaska took an important step forward in protecting Alaska Native and rural Alaskan subsistence rights by ruling in favor of the United States, KRITFC, and other Alaska Native subsistence rights advocates by rejecting the State of Alaska’s attack on federally-protected subsistence rights. The federal court permanently enjoined the State of Alaska from repeating its recent unlawful actions on the Kuskokwim River.
Last Friday, November 10, KRITFC shared testimonies with Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Tribal leaders, and members of the public on an Expert Witness panel for a Senate Committee on Indian Affairs field hearing in Bethel, titled “The Impact of the Historic Salmon Declines on the Health and Well-Being of Alaska Native Communities Along Arctic, Yukon, and Kuskokwim Rivers."
Thousands of Alaskans and Americans, as well as the Kuskokwim River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, Bering Sea Fishermen’s Association, Native Peoples Action, SalmonState, Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association (ALFA), The Boat Company, Bear Trail Lodge, and DeepStrike Sportfishing, have formally urged federal fisheries managers to institute new, desperately needed updates to their management guidelines.
In consultation with KRITFC, the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge (YDNWR) Manager determined that Federal management and closures necessary for the conservation and the continuation of subsistence uses for Chinook, Chum, and Coho Salmon within the Federal public waters of the Kuskokwim River drainage. Early June harvest opportunities with set and drift gillnets were announced.
