Chignik tribal coalition sues the state months after its Area M salmon rule was voided

The Chignik Intertribal Coalition sued the State of Alaska in Dillingham Superior Court on Tuesday.

The suit names the state, the Board of Fisheries, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game and Cori Mills, the acting attorney general. The court's case record lists only the parties, not the claims or what the coalition is asking for. It doesn't say whether the suit concerns the coalition's salmon fishing proposal, which the state voided in May.

In February, the board adopted that proposal, Proposal 126, on a 4-3 vote. It cut commercial salmon fishing time and area in part of the South Alaska Peninsula, the fishery known as Area M.

Area M fishing groups, the Aleutians East Borough and the Native Village of Unga then sued, alleging that board members with undisclosed conflicts of interest cast deciding votes. In May, Mills voided Proposal 126 and four other Area M rules under the state's ethics law.

On Thursday, the board voted 4-3 to reconsider Area M restrictions the state voided in May.

The board named the Chignik River early sockeye run a stock of management concern in 2022 after it missed its escapement goals for several years. Chignik king salmon fell to 267 fish in 2023, against a goal of 1,300 to 2,700, before meeting the goal in 2025 for the first time since 2019.