Alaska Native tribes are taking initiative to protect dwindling Yukon River King Salmon. As KUAC’s Dan Bross reports, a resolution penned by tribes at a meeting in St. Mary’s last week calls for more control in the management of king stocks.
The resolution hammered out by representatives of 32 Yukon River tribes includes a commitment to largely stop harvesting king salmon. President of the Association of Village Council Presidents Myron Naneng Senior says only a few kings would be taken for funeral potlatches. "Through a moratorium to allow for Chinook salmon to pass by," he said.
The resolution also calls for creation of an Intertribal Fish Commission that would work closely with state and federal fishery managers.
"More often than not, what we have seen is that our people on the river system end up being criminalized by whatever proposed rules and regulations come up because we have not really been allowed to participate," Naneng said.
Naneng says local people are more likely to adhere to regulations that they’ve had a say in creating. The resolution now goes before tribal councils.
