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The federal government will manage the Yukon River salmon fishery where the river passes through fed

Courtesy of ADF&G

The federal government will manage the Yukon River salmon fishery this summer where the river passes through federal lands. That action follows a decision released on May 6 by the Federal Subsistence Board. Only federal subsistence users who live along the river will be allowed to fish for salmon in the federal waters of the Yukon River.

“Federal public waters of the Yukon Northern Area include all navigable and non-navigable freshwaters located within and adjacent to the exterior boundaries of National Wildlife Refuges, National Parks and Preserves, and National Conservation Areas, as well as those segments of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers system located outside the boundaries of other listed Federal conservation units. Federal public waters also include all freshwaters flowing into the Bering Sea between the latitude of Point Romanof and the latitude of the westernmost point of the Naskonat Peninsula within the external boundaries of the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge,” the Federal Subsistence Board listed in a statement.

The board said that it based its decision on record low salmon runs in recent years, and the expectation that returns will again be low across all species this year. Subsistence salmon harvest was not allowed last year.

The Holy Cross Tribe and the Native Village of Eagle, along with two Yukon River residents, requested federal management of the Yukon River.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game will manage the river where it passes through state land.

Copyright 2022 KYUK. To see more, visit KYUK.

Anna Rose MacArthur is KYUK’s English Language News Reporter. She got her start reporting in Alaska at KNOM in Nome and then traveled South to report with KRTS in Marfa, Texas. Anna Rose soon missed rural Alaska and returned to the bush to join KYUK in September 2015. Anna Rose is a Transom Story Workshop graduate.