Three Alaska Native Organizations Representing 98 Tribes Unite to Combat an Ongoing Food Security Crisis in Western and Interior Alaska — Launch Website
Photo courtesy of Cedar Group
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(April 20, 2026 | Alaska) — To combat plummeting salmon returns, three tribal organizations from the Arctic-Yukon-Kuskokwim regions have formalized a coordinated effort to raise a unified voice to protect ways of life dependent on healthy salmon runs in the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers.
The Association of Village Council Presidents (AVCP), Yukon River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission (YRITFC), and Kuskokwim River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission (KRITFC) have formed the Arctic Yukon Kuskokwim Tribal Consortium (AYKTC). They are working together to elevate tribal leadership, strengthen fisheries management and ensure Indigenous knowledge informs decision-making in Alaska.
"We are salmon people,” says Vivian Korthuis, AVCP CEO. “Our Way of Life here on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta is very precious to us because that is what we will leave to our children and our grandchildren. AVCP has partnered with the Yukon River and Kuskokwim River Fish Commissions to continue to protect Our Way of Life by creating a website dedicated to salmon and their return to our rivers."
AYKTC’s newly launched SalmonPeople.org serves as a central hub for news, stories and updates from villages affected by rapid salmon run declines across the AYK region. The site highlights Native leadership, shares perspectives from impacted communities, and provides resources for people to stay informed and take action. Visitors can learn how to support policies that protect salmon habitat and strengthen fisheries management while still upholding subsistence rights. SalmonPeople.org is a place for advocates to share stories, stay updated on current policy, and learn how to support the salmon that feed people who have stewarded their waters since time immemorial.
“We are thrilled about this website and how it creates a platform to share our stories,” says Kevin Whitworth, Executive Director of KRITFC. “These are stories both about the humanitarian and ecological crisis we are in with salmon declines, and also about our resilience as Salmon People who have been stewarding salmon for generations and will continue to do so forevermore.”
AYKTC participated in public support and advocacy for recent Alaska Board of Fisheries action to reduce salmon fishing time in the Alaska Peninsula and Aleutian Islands Management Area — known as Area M — which is the passage point for Yukon-Kuskokwim king and chum salmon stocks into the Bering Sea.
"The Yukon River Inter Tribal Fish Commission is very happy to partner with AVCP and the Kuskokwim Fish Commission. Salmon has always been a part of who we are; it has connected us to one another and kept our family relations strong. Protecting our abilities to live our traditional ways of life, tell our stories, and create strong partnerships in unity and action is why we are so happy to partner on this project!" says Craig Chythlook, Executive Director of YRITFC.
AYKTC has also engaged in pushing the North Pacific Fishery Management Council to reduce pressure on migratory chum salmon in the Bering Sea pollock trawl fishery, including through the implementation of bycatch caps and migratory corridor closures.
The consortium is focused on advancing policy and legal solutions based in science and Alaska Native knowledge that address the range of threats facing salmon, including climate change, management policies and industrial fishing pressures. By working together, the organizations aim to ensure future generations in their regions can continue to rely on salmon as a cornerstone of Alaska Native culture, diet and identity.
About the Arctic-Yukon-Kuskokwim Tribal Consortium:
The Arctic-Yukon-Kuskokwim Tribal Consortium represents 98 Tribes and communities in the Arctic, Yukon and Kuskokwim regions of Alaska. Our mission is to protect, restore, and conserve the health and biodiversity of the Bering Sea and North Pacific ecosystems, rivers to seas, with a focus on the health of wild salmon to sustain our Alaska Native ways of life for this and future generations.
About the Association of Village Council Presidents:
The Association of Village Council Presidents (AVCP) represents 56 federally recognized tribes across the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. AVCP promotes tribal self-determination, protects cultural and traditional values and advocates for the protection of the Bering Sea, subsistence ways of life and long-term salmon sustainability for generations to come.
About the Yukon River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission:
The Yukon River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission (YRITFC) is a tribal consortium representing member Tribal Governments and First Nations united in protecting the health and wellbeing of our tribal members, our future generations, and all Alaskans and Canadians who rely upon the health of the Yukon River and the fish.
About the Kuskokwim River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission:
The Kuskokwim River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission (KRITFC) supports the 33 federally recognized tribes of the Kuskokwim River watershed in fisheries management, research and monitoring, as guided by our Yup’ik and Athabascan knowledge and values and the best available Western science.
Media Contacts:
Jennifer Hooper – Natural Resources Division Director
Association of Village Council Presidents
Craig Chythlook - Executive Director
Yukon River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission
Kevin Whitworth - Executive Director
kevinwhitworth@kritfc.org
Kuskokwim River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission