AFN gathers Dillingham voices on the future of subsistence

Subsistence harvesters around Dillingham will get four hours on Wednesday, Aug. 12, to tell the Alaska Federation of Natives what principles should guide future statewide subsistence management. The session runs from 4 to 8 p.m. in the Dillingham High School gymnasium, and AFN is inviting Tribal leaders, Elders, harvesters, youth and other community members. Those who can't attend can file comments through a form on the AFN website through Sept. 30.

Part of a series AFN calls "Guided by Community Voices," the session comes amid a long-running fight over who controls subsistence in Alaska. Federal law gives rural residents first claim on fish and game in times of shortage; the state's constitution, read to require equal access for all Alaskans, has been held to bar such a preference. Federal courts have repeatedly sided with the rural priority — the Katie John cases extended it to fishing on rivers that cross federal land, and a 2025 ruling rejected the state's latest appeal.

Bristol Bay harvesters have their own, more immediate frustrations. Wassilisa Bennis and others have told the Board of Fisheries that fixed subsistence fishing days are hard to work around when they collide with jobs, weather or tides, and have asked for more flexibility and fairer access.

AFN has not said when it will publish the principles the sessions produce.