Two regional tribal organizations have sued the federal government over failed Western Alaska salmon runs.
The Association of Village Council Presidents and the Tanana Chiefs Conference have named two federal agencies as defendants in the case – the National Marine Fisheries Service and the Department of Commerce. The lawsuit was filed on their behalf by Earth Justice.
AVCP and the Tanana Chiefs represent about a hundred tribes who live along the Yukon and Kuskokwim Rivers, a land mass that stretches from Southwest Alaska to the Canadian border.
Jennifer Hooper, the Natural Resources Director for AVCP, says back-to-back seasons of fishery collapses have affected every facet of life for people in the region.
“It's just been a compounding situation of huge food security concerns and lack of salmon, which of course is protein and food," Hooper said. "But more so, it's the culture and the traditions that people have experienced for thousands and thousands of years."
Salmon bycatch is at the heart of the complaint, which was filed in U.S. District Court last week. Bycatch are fish that caught unintentionally and discarded, as fishing boats pursue other species. In this case, the lawsuit targets factory trawlers in the Bering Sea that fish for pollock, a ground fish used in popular flaked fish products like fish sticks and surimi, a crab substitute.
Brian Ridley, who is Chairman of the Tanana Chiefs Conference says, the salmon crisis may soon reach a point of no return.
"If immediate, large scale action doesn't take place by either the state or the feds, we might not even have a fishing resource left in our rivers," Ridley said. "We're darn near the level, where I think endangered species could start coming into play. And that's all we're trying to do is not get to that point."
The lawsuit claims federal fishery managers relied on outdated studies, when it set ground fish catch limits for the 2023 and 2024 seasons – and failed to consider what it calls “monumental changes” in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands ecosystems that have taken place over the last two decades.
The fishing industry has argued there’s no conclusive evidence that bycatch has caused the decline of salmon, but even so, has taken steps to reduce incidental catches.
NOAA Fisheries, which oversees the National Marine Fisheries Management Service, says it cannot comment on litigation.
Earth Justice is the same environmental law firm, which recently filed suit on behalf of three other Southwest Alaska tribes to block the Donlin Gold Mine.
