Federal Subsistence Board News

For Immediate Release:

September 13, 2022

The Federal Subsistence Board is accepting applications through February 21, 2023 to fill seats on the 10 Subsistence Regional Advisory Councils (Councils). Council membership appointments are typically for 3-year terms. There are approximately 45 seats open for appointment among all Councils.

For Immediate Release:

September 6, 2022

The Kodiak/Aleutians Subsistence Regional Advisory Council will meet September 21-22, 2022, in Cold Bay at the Community Center. The meeting will begin at 8:30 a.m. daily.

For Immediate Release:

August 18, 2022

Public is welcome and encouraged to participate


The Federal Subsistence Regional Advisory Councils will hold public meetings between September and November 2022 to develop recommendations to the Federal Subsistence Board on fisheries closure reviews and proposals to change Federal subsistence fish and shellfish regulations and nonrural determinations for the 2023-2025 regulatory years and to discuss other issues affecting subsistence in their regions.

During their July 26, 2022 work session, the Federal Subsistence Board (Board) discussed and approved Regional Advisory Council (Council) Annual Report Replies and revisions to the Ahtna Intertribal Resource Commission Community Harvest System framework, . The Board received a briefing on Federal fisheries managers and delegations of authority; and a status update regarding the Sitka Kaagwaantaan petition for Secretarial extraterritorial jurisdiction.

For Immediate Release:

July 26, 2022

On July 26, 2022, the Federal Subsistence Board (Board) published the final rule for the Federal Subsistence Management Regulations for the Taking of Wildlife on Federal public lands and waters in Alaska in the Federal Register (87 FR 44846). This final rule revises regulations for seasons, harvest limits, and methods and means related to the taking of wildlife for subsistence uses in Alaska for 2022–23 and 2023–24 regulatory years. This rule also revises customary and traditional use determinations for wildlife, the general regulations, and a deferred proposal from the last fish cycle.

For Immediate Release:

July 22, 2022

 

The Yukon River is transitioning from summer season (Chinook and summer Chum salmon) management to fall season (fall Chum and Coho salmon) management. Because the 2022 fall Chum Salmon runs are forecasted to be poor with little to no harvestable surplus available for subsistence uses, closures to the harvest of fall Chum Salmon are necessary, and gill nets will continue to be restricted to 4-inches or less, with a maximum of 60 feet length. Manned fish wheels are an additional gear being provided at this time. Previous closures for harvest of Chinook and summer Chum salmon are still in effect.

For Immediate Release:

July 14, 2022

The Yukon River is transitioning from summer season (Chinook and summer Chum salmon) management to fall season (fall Chum and Coho salmon) management. Because the 2022 fall Chum Salmon runs are forecasted to be poor with little to no harvestable surplus available for subsistence uses, closures to the harvest of fall Chum Salmon are necessary, and gill nets will continue to be restricted to 4-inches or less, with a maximum of 60 feet length. Manned fish wheels are an additional gear being provided at this time. Previous closures for harvest of Chinook and summer chum are still in effect.

For Immediate Release:

July 13, 2022

 

The Federal Subsistence Board (Board) will hold a work session, July 26-27, 2022, beginning at 9:00 a.m. daily and adjourning at 5:00 p.m. or when the Board has completed its work.  The work session will be held in the Dimond Center Hotel, Chesloknu Conference Room, at 700 E. Dimond Blvd. in Anchorage.

FAIRBANKS, Alaska – The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Eastern Interior Field Office, is opening caribou hunting on federal public lands in Units 20E, 25C and a portion of 20F on Aug. 1, 2022, to provide opportunities for ​federal subsistence use, under authority delegated by the Federal Subsistence Board, and based on consultation with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G), the National Park Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Eastern Interior Subsistence Regional Advisory Council. The caribou hunt is limited to federally qualified rural residents hunting on federal public lands only, including federal public lands accessible from the Steese and Taylor highways.

For Immediate Release:

June 24, 2022

In a June 22, 2022 public teleconference meeting, the Federal Subsistence Board deferred Temporary Wildlife Special Action Request WSA22-02 until their summer work session scheduled to be held July 26-27, 2022. Temporary Wildlife Special Action Request WSA22-02, submitted by the Western Interior Alaska Subsistence Regional Advisory Council, requests that Dall sheep hunting on Federal public lands in Units 24A and 26B, west of the Sagavanirktok River, be closed to all users for the 2022-23 and 2023-24 wildlife regulatory years.