The council that runs Alaska's fisheries has no tribal vote

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council, which manages the federal fisheries off Alaska, has no designated seat for Alaska Native tribes, and tribes have spent years trying to change that.

The council sets the rules for the Bering Sea fisheries, including the pollock trawl fleet whose salmon bycatch tribes blame for worsening the Chinook and chum declines that have closed subsistence fishing on the Yukon and Kuskokwim. It has 11 voting members, six of them Alaskan. None represents a tribe. The West Coast council has a tribal seat.

In 2024, the council added its first Alaska Native member to its advisory panel, an advisory role with no vote. Native Peoples Action and other groups say tribes still have no real say over decisions that affect their subsistence fish, and want designated voting seats.

Adding those seats would take an act of Congress. Rep. Nick Begich has introduced a bill that would require seats for subsistence and other user groups, though not tribal seats specifically. Some in the industry oppose expanding the council, partly because more subsistence seats could tighten bycatch limits.

The council's Legislative Committee, which tracks federal fisheries bills, meets online Monday from 1 to 5 p.m. The meeting is open to the public.