Tag Archives: Kuskokwim River
Western Alaska tribes, outraged by bycatch, turn up the heat on fishery managers and trawlers
Earlier this spring, Maurice McGinty, a tribal leader from the village of Nulato, pulled out his last mason jar of smoked Yukon king. “We have no more now,” said McGinty, 80. He added: “They are pushing us, and our traditional way of life, into a hole.” Imagine hearing and reading versions of McGinty’s story dozens of times, told by Indigenous people who live along the Yukon and another iconic subsistence river in Southwest Alaska, the Kuskokwim. That’s the reality this week for the policymakers on the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, the federal commission that regulates commercial fishing in the American waters of the Bering Sea. On one side are tribal leaders from the Yukon and Kuskokwim, On the other side are representatives for the trawlers, more, >>click to read<< 13:51
State opens commercial fishing on the Kuskokwim River to one person
Coming just days after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service returned management of the Kuskokwim River to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, the state has announced eight separate commercial openers in August. These opportunities are only available to individuals registered as catcher/sellers. On the Kuskokwim, there is only one of these and his name is Fran Reich. “I’ve been a commercial fisherman for almost 50 years on the river,” Reich said. Reich has been the sole catcher/seller on the river for around a decade. He said that he’s retired, but that fishing is just in his blood. He runs a small company called FAR West Fish & Farm out of his home in Bethel. >click to read< 13:50
Anxiety and Threats on the Kuskokwim as First Salmon Gillnet Openings Near
Four weeks into salmon fishing restrictions, the atmosphere along the Kuskokwim River is tense. At a meeting Tuesday the stress the closures are causing was obvious, but gillnet fishing for salmon is near. Reports of stress along the river in some cases were extreme. Working group member Fritz Charles reported on what he’s hearing about possible violence on the river. Read more here 11:20
