The area of federal jurisdiction includes 34
wildlife refuges, parks, preserves, monuments, conservation and recreation
areas, national wild and scenic rivers and the Tongass and Chugach national
forests (not including marine waters). It excludes Glacier Bay National Park,
Kenai Fjords National Park, Katmai National Park and the portion of Denali
National Park established prior to 1980. This area comprises about 60 percent
of lands in the state.
In 1999, federal jurisdiction was extended to include inland rivers and lakes on
or adjacent to federal lands, as well as some marine waters.* This change put
many of Alaska's subsistence fisheries under federal jurisdiction.
*Most
marine waters under federal jurisdiction for subsistence are located in
Southwest Alaska and along the Alaska Peninsula. They include Cold Bay, Hooper
Bay, Toksook Bay, Quinkok Bay, Morzhovoi Bay, Pavlof Bay, Woman's Bay, Chiniak
Bay, Gibson's Cove, a section of Saint Paul harbor, the mouth of the Karluk
River extending 3,000 feet from shoreline, areas around Seal Cape and Cape
Kumliun, three-mile perimeters around Nunivak and Afognak islands, a one-mile
perimeter around Simeon Island, and a block around Semidi Islands extending roughly
between 55'55'' and 56'15'' latitude and 156'30'' and 157' longitude.
State
The
state holds exclusive authority to manage subsistence on lands and waters on state and private property in
Alaska, or about 40
percent of Alaska lands and rivers. Its jurisdiction also includes most marine waters in
the state. The state allows no subsistence fishing or hunting in
non-subsistence areas centered around Anchorage (including the Kenai Peninsula and Matanuska and Susitna valleys), Fairbanks, Juneau, Ketchikan
and Valdez.
ENABLING LAW, REGULATIONS
Federal
The federal subsistence
program was established under Title VIII of the Alaska National Interest Lands
Conservation Act (Title
VIII ANILCA), a federal law passed in 1980. (The Marine Mammal Protection
Act and Migratory Bird Act also govern management of subsistence harvesting
activities for some other species. Subsistence fishing for halibut is regulated
by the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council.)
Federal
subsistence law under ANILCA is further defined in regulations found in the Code of Federal Regulations, Sections
36 CFR 242 and 50 CFR
100. Additionally, the federal government each year publishes free booklets, including maps, that detail the regulations, one booklet each for
wildlife and for fish and shellfish. The booklets are available in late February for
fisheries and late June for wildlife. Booklets may be obtained at:
Office of Subsistence Management
Frontier Building
3601 C Street, Suite 1030
Anchorage, AK 99503
Or
by calling the Office of Subsistence Management at 907-478-1456, or
toll-free at 1-800-478-1456.
State
Alaska's
subsistence laws are based on the principles found in Article VIII of Alaska
Constitution and can be found in Alaska statutes at
16.05.258 and 16.05.940.
The constitution establishes that wild fish and game “are reserved to the
people for common use” and that “no exclusive right or special privilege of
fishery shall be created.” Subsistence fisheries regulations are found in
Title
V of the Alaska Administrative Code and
are published in booklet form annually by the Department of Fish and Game. Booklets may be
obtained at:
Alaska Department of Fish and Game
Division of Subsistence
1255 W. 8th Street, P.O. Box 25526
Juneau, AK 99802-4426
Or by phoning
Division of Subsistence at 907-465-4147.
The federal "subsistence priority" means that subsistence uses by
rural residents are accorded
priority over non-subsistence uses (commercial or sport). To implement this priority, the Federal Subsistence Board
can, during times of resource shortage, close non-subsistence uses on federal land to protect fish and game
resources or to assure subsistence harvests by rural residents. The Board also reserves the right to restrict non-subsistence uses on
federal land. In addition, the Board retains authority to restrict or
eliminate uses off federal lands to provide the subsistence priority.
(It’s important to remember that the subsistence “priority” under federal
law should lead to restrictions only when a fish stock or game population
isn’t sufficient to provide for uses other than federal subsistence.
When stocks or populations are sufficient, all state uses generally are accommodated on federal lands
or waters, including state subsistence uses. For
example, on federal waters along the Copper River, Alaskans can subsistence
fish under state laws and regulations at Chitina while qualified rural
subsistence fishermen fishing under federal regulations fish a nearby section of
the river.)
State
Like the federal government, the State of Alaska
gives top priority in allocation decisions to subsistence users. Under state
management, a subsistence decision begins with a determination that a portion
of a fish stock or game population can be harvested for subsistence consistent
with sustained yield. Following such a decision, the Board of Fisheries or
Board of Game determines what amount of the harvestable portion of the
population is "reasonably necessary for subsistence uses." Then,
regulations are adopted that provide a "reasonable opportunity for
subsistence uses."
REGULATORY BOARD
Federal
The federal subsistence
management program is regulated by the six-member Federal Subsistence Board.
It's comprised of a chairperson appointed by the U.S. secretaries of
Agriculture and Interior, and one representative each from the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of
Indian Affairs and U.S. Forest Service. The board meets at least twice annually
to consider proposals for changes to fish and game regulations.
The board has met to address
wildlife issues since 1990. It has held annual meetings to address subsistence
fishery proposals since 2000.
The board meets each January
to consider proposed changes in subsistence fishery regulations and each May to
weigh proposals about wildlife regulations. The board may adopt, oppose, modify
or defer any proposal. New regulations go into effect March 1 for fisheries and
July 1 for wildlife, and are in effect one year at a time. All proposals statewide are considered each year.
Besides considering proposals
to change regulations, making "customary and traditional"
determinations and deciding rural and non-rural designations, the federal
subsistence board is authorized to close federal lands to non-subsistence uses
and take special actions that may be necessary to provide for subsistence
outside of the proposal process.
It also may enter into
cooperative agreements with other agencies, define the level of cash sales of
subsistence resources are allowable under federal law, respond to other matters
related to subsistence and take other actions authorized by the secretaries of
Agriculture and Interior to implement Title VIII of ANILCA.
State
Alaska subsistence regulations are developed by the Board of Fisheries
and the Board of Game at their annual meetings. Each board is comprised
of seven citizen members appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the
Legislature. Each board meets several times a year to consider proposals and take
other action. (However, the Board of Fish takes up proposals for
each area on a three-year cycle; the
Board of Game works on
a two-year cycle.)
[Boards of
Fisheries and Game]
The boards have authority to close and open
seasons, set bag limits, and establish methods and means of subsistence
harvest. The boards also determine what fish stocks or game populations are
customarily or traditionally taken for subsistence. The Boards consider
subsistence proposals concurrently with proposals to change regulations for
commercial, sport and personal use uses.
ADMINISTRATIVE AGENCIES
Federal
The federal subsistence management program is
administered by the Anchorage-based Office of Subsistence Management, including
employees of Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land Management, National Park
Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and U.S. Forest Service.
State
State management is
administered by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, with assistance from the state Division of Subsistence,
the Division of Commercial Fisheries, and the Division of Wildlife Conservation.
ADVISORY BODIES
Federal
The
Federal Subsistence Board receives recommendations from 10 advisory councils
representing the different regions of the state. [Map of
Regions] Regional advisory councils are comprised of rural residents from
the regions and meet at least twice a year. Councils consider subsistence
proposals for fish and wildlife in their regions, hear from subsistence users
from their regions, and make recommendations to the federal board.
Fisheries proposals are
considered at advisory council fall meetings (September or October), after
federal staff has offered technical analyses of the proposals. Recommendations
on fishery studies also are made at fall meetings. Wildlife issues and ideas
for wildlife proposals are discussed at fall meetings as well.
Advisory councils meet in
winter (February or March) to consider wildlife proposals and make
recommendations on them to the federal subsistence board. At these meetings,
the councils also discuss ideas for fishery proposals, and identify fish
management and monitoring issues.
The state is divided among
the following Advisory Councils: 1) Southeast, 2) Southcentral, 3)
Kodiak-Aleutians, 4) Bristol Bay, 5) Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, 6) Western Interior
Alaska, 7) Seward Peninsula, 8) Northwest Arctic, 9) Eastern Interior Alaska,
and 10) North Slope. Council meetings are open to the public and anyone may
attend. Also, anyone may submit a fish or wildlife proposal to the Federal
Subsistence Board. (Proposal forms are in the fishery and wildlife booklets, on
the federal subsistence board's web site and available through advisory council
coordinators.) [Proposal
Forms]
Recommendations approved by the advisory council carry considerable
weight. A proposal recommended by a council for adoption can be rejected by the Federal Subsistence Board only
if it is not supported by substantial evidence, violates principles of fish and
wildlife conservation, or is detrimental to subsistence needs.
Advisory councils typically
hold their meetings in villages within the region, but sometimes also hold them
in larger cities or in Anchorage. Councils decide the location of meeting
sites.
Within
national parks and monuments in Alaska open to subsistence uses, the advisory
council role is served by Subsistence Resource Commissions. These commissions
are charged with devising and recommending a plan for subsistence uses. The
nine-member commissions are comprised of three members appointed by the
governor of Alaska, three by the Secretary of Interior and three by the
adjacent regional council.
State
The Board of Fisheries and Board of Game receive
recommendations from about 80 Local Advisory Committees statewide. The
committees have up to 15 members each elected from their community or region of
jurisdiction. They typically meet annually to review proposals to the Boards
for regulation changes.
[Advisory Committees]
CUSTOMARY AND TRADITIONAL USES
Federal
Under the federal program, rural residents may take fish or game for subsistence
uses on federal lands and waters unless prohibited by federal regulation. That
general allowance for subsistence is narrowed by "customary and traditional" use
determinations, which limit subsistence uses of fish stocks or game populations
in a particular location to a specific subgroup of rural residents.
Legally, customary and
traditional is defined as "a long-established, consistent pattern of use,
incorporating beliefs and customs which have been transmitted from generation
to generation (and) plays an important role in the economy of the
community."
In making a customary and traditional use determination, the federal
subsistence board identifies communities that have practiced a particular use.
Only those communities are eligible for subsistence use under such
"customary and traditional use" determinations.
In
judging a customary and traditional use determination, the federal board
considers eight factors including: a long-term and consistent pattern of use,
uses recurring in specific seasons, uses involving methods of harvest that are
efficient and economic, harvests and uses that are related to past ones and are
reasonably accessible to a community, methods of handling and preserving
resources that are traditional, allowing for some alteration for technological
advances, uses
involving the handing down of knowledge of harvest skills, values and lore from
one generation to the next, uses in which harvests are shared within a defined
community, and, uses that involve reliance on a wide variety of resources in an
area and provide an area with cultural, economic, social and nutritional
elements.
These
eight factors are viewed as guidelines, not criteria. A use does not have to
meet all factors to be determined "customary and traditional" by the
federal subsistence board. The board also considers Advisory Council
recommendations and public input when making determinations.
State
In state law, "customary and
traditional" means "the non-commercial, long-term and consistent
taking of, use of, and reliance upon fish or game in a specific area and the
use patterns of that fish or game that have been established over a reasonable
period of time, taking into consideration the availability of the fish or
game."
Under state law, the boards of Fish and Game are required to identify stocks with customary and traditional uses, using eight criteria similar to those under federal regulation.
Unlike federal regulation, all eight criteria must be met to establish a
customary and traditional use. The state THEN is required to establish an amount necessary to provide a reasonable opportunity for subsistence harvests of each stock with a customary and traditional designation.
In addition to the MOA, federal and state fishery managers in 2002
established a statewide Information Sharing Protocol and a Yukon River
In-Season Management Protocol. Continuing cooperate efforts are
aimed at establishing federal-state protocols for regulatory
coordination, statewide in-season management, salmon escapement
goals and subsistence use amounts.
