"Subsistence is vitally important to villages, as it is to the economy of all of rural Alaska. It's also deeply ingrained in Indigenous way of life".

"When fish numbers are low, who gets to continue to harvest fish in rural Alaska? Federal agencies say only local, rural residents. The state of Alaska says all Alaskans.

The Biden administration filed suit on May 17 against the Alaska Department of Fish and Game over fish openings on the Kuskokwim River during fish shortages.

The lawsuit is part of a long-standing conflict between federal land management agencies and the state over subsistence, or the gathering of food from nature for nutrition and cultural practices.

This latest tussle was prompted by the state ignoring federal authority on the Kuskokwim river, which passes through the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge. The state has been holding fish openings for all Alaskans on the same days the federal government had limited openings to local rural residents due to low fish numbers."

Joaqlin Estus reports for Indian Country Today May 26, 2022. [2]