As hundreds of fishermen prepare for the June 6 opener in Alaska's Area M salmon fishery, a dispute over new harvest restrictions remains unresolved after Alaska Acting Attorney General Cori Mills invalidated regulations approved earlier this year by the Alaska Board of Fisheries.
The regulations, adopted in February after years of advocacy from Western Alaska subsistence users, would have reduced fishing time and harvest levels in parts of the Aleutian Islands fishery, expanded a regulated area and added net depth restrictions intended to protect salmon bound for Western Alaska rivers.
Mills overturned the measures on May 19, ruling that the board's vote was improper following ethics complaints filed by the Aleutians East Borough and commercial fishing interests against several board members who supported the restrictions. After Mills' decision, the commercial fishing groups and borough dropped their lawsuit challenging the regulations.
A subsequent effort by the Bering Sea Fishermen's Association to intervene in the case was rejected by Anchorage Superior Court Judge Herman Walker Jr., though subsistence advocates say they may appeal to the Alaska Supreme Court or pursue separate legal action.
The dispute centers on salmon stocks that migrate through Area M before returning to rivers in Western and Interior Alaska, where subsistence fishermen have faced years of poor returns and fishing restrictions.
"We're not trying to take nothing away," Yukon River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission Chair Charlie Wright told the Northern Journal. "We just want to see if that works — see if we could get some more salmon back on the spawning ground, so people can at least eat and try to create a sustainable fishery for us all."
Supporters of the restrictions argue that every spawning fish matters as salmon runs continue to struggle. Karen Gillis of the Bering Sea Fishermen's Association said, "Where we can influence human-induced harvest of these stocks, we need to be doing that."
Commercial fishing leaders counter that the fleet has already taken significant voluntary conservation measures. Area M fishermen implemented voluntary shutdowns following a large chum salmon harvest in 2021 and have reduced overall catches in recent years.
Aleutians East Borough Mayor Alvin Osterback said the regulations approved by the board were too restrictive and would further strain fishing communities already dealing with lower salmon prices and uncertainty.
"What's taking place today, I think, is really hurting both sides," Osterback said. "It hurts us and our communities."
For now, management of the Area M fishery will continue under the voluntary measures used during the past several seasons while the legal and political debate continues.
