The critically important Alaska Board of Fisheries “Area M” meeting began today in Anchorage. The voices of our region will be heard as The Association of Village Council Presidents (AVCP) Board members and AVCP leadership will be testifying to support proposal 140. Area 140 will reduce excessive harvest of migrating discrete stocks of concerns in the Cook Inlet, Bristol Bay and AYK area.
The people of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta are facing a true crisis-the lack of salmon in our rivers is having devastating effects on the Tribes. The people of Alaska, especially the Tribes are being severely impacted by overfishing, bycatch, and salmon intercept in Area M by commercial fishermen.
2021 saw a decrease of Yukon River summer and fall chum escapements of almost 90 percent.
AVCP is supporting Proposal 140 which is viewed as a way of supporting the subsistence needs our Natives while also fulfilling the needs of the commercial fishing industry.
Thaddeus Tikiun Jr, AVCP, Executive Board Chairperson- “AVCP’s voice will be heard this week and the Board here in Anchorage will hear the story of our region’s suffering. This is a matter of feast or famine. The Board must protect all Alaskans and support efforts to responsibly regulate the fishery. Simply put, the salmon must be allowed to make their way to our rivers and streams.”
Jennifer Hooper, AVCP Natural Resources Manager- “We are asking for reasonable sideboards. Every fish counts and we need to get salmon back into our rivers to meet the subsistence needs of our Tribal communities.”
Tikiun, Hooper and other AVCP leadership will be providing testimony before the Alaska Board of Fisheries.
AVCP will be providing ongoing updates for the proceedings.
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For additional information, please contact AVCP Communications Director, Gage Hoffman at 907-543-7308 or email at ghoffman@avcp.org.
AVCP is a regional nonprofit tribal consortium comprised of the 56 federally recognized tribes of the YK Delta. The geographic boundaries of AVCP extend from the Yukon River Village of Russian Mission downstream to the Bering Sea coast, north up through Kotlik and south along the coastline to Platinum and then extending up the Kuskokwim River to Stony River, including Lime Village on the Stony River tributary. The area encompasses approximately 6.5 million acres, or 55,000 square miles, in Western Alaska.
