Two Alaska Native organizations are suing the federal government to protect subsistence fishing rights on two of the state’s largest river systems amidst a worsening salmon crisis.
Earth Justice, a nonprofit public interest environmental law organization, filed a lawsuit last week on behalf of the plaintiffs — the Association of Village Council Presidents (AVCP) and Tanana Chiefs Conference (TCC) — against the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) in U.S. District Court asking it to reexamine groundfish catch limits for the Bering Sea and the Aleutian Islands.