The Fisheries Manager at the at Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge (YDNWR), in coordination with the Kuskokwim River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission (KRITFC), proposes to close Federal public waters of the Kuskokwim River drainage to the harvest of Chinook, Chum, and Coho Salmon by all users starting June 1, 2024. A public hearing to receive testimony on the proposed special action is scheduled for May 15, 2024.
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.
This year, we need to fish with future generations of Kuskokwim communities in mind because the time to protect king salmon and our fishing ways of life is now. This is the mindset that the Kuskokwim River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge are bringing to Federal fisheries management this season.
Mary Peltola, Executive Director of the Kuskokwim Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, spoke with KYUK’s Christine Trudeau last week about the importance of maintaining a link to Yup’ik cultural values in her life. The former House District 38 Representative feels that keeping a positive outlook is especially important when facing potential challenges in the times ahead.
Roundtable discussion focuses on salmon sustainability, culture
With participants from a broad swathe of the salmon spectrum, the Kenai River Sportfishing Association’s Classic Roundtable discussion Wednesday focused on new research and management tools to preserve troubled salmon returns in the state.
Click to view the video of the 2018 Classic Roundtable, the agenda, and the biographies of the keynote speaker and panelists.
Friday's gillnet opening in the lower Kuskokwim River may not be the last one. The Kuskokwim River Salmon Management Working Group is recommending that the community of Kasigluk receive additional fishing hours this season after recent deaths limited the community’s ability to subsistence fish.
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.
