Tribal representation & comanagement, comprehensive habitat protection in the face of climate change, need for trawl bycatch reduction take center stage during Senate testimony

BETHEL, ALASKA—On Friday the Yukon Kuskokwim Health Corporation hosted more than one hundred Alaska Native leaders and community members in the main meeting hall of the Bethel campus for a field hearing held by the U.S. Senate Indian Affairs Committee. Senator Lisa Murkowski chaired the meeting as invited expert witnesses and community members spoke on the record about the deeply felt impact of wild salmon declines along Arctic, Yukon, Kuskokwim Rivers. They emphasized the importance of giving salmon every chance possible to rebound, Tribal representation and comanagement in all fisheries management regimes, and the need for immediate action to address declines.