According to the information the Annette Islands Reserve (AIR) salmon fishery located in southeast Alaska in the U.S. has been managed by tribal. It has entered full assessment to be considered for Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification. It is the first indigenous peoples-managed fishery to seek MSC certification. With successful completion this salmon fishery will join all other Alaska salmon fisheries in being eligible to use the MSC ecolabel.
It is informed that the Metlakatla Indian Community Council managed the AIR fishery in conjunction with the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). It is the only tribally-managed fishery in the state of Alaska. This fishery is said to be settled in 1887 by Trimshian peoples from what is now British Columbia, Canada, the Annette Island Reserve was established as a federal Indian reservation by U.S. presidential proclamation in 1891.
The Council and BIA have management authority over the fisheries in the reserve, which runs from the shoreline out to 3,000 feet from shore. The AIR fishery assessment will include five species: Pink Salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha), Chum Salmon (Oncorhynchus keta), Coho Salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch), Sockeye Salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) and King Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha).
Jeff Moran, fisheries manager for the Metlakatla Indian Community, opined that it is a pride to have a 100 percent native-owned and operated fishery. It’s important to us to preserve the fishing legacy we inherited from our ancestors and manage it in a way that sustains this and future generations. Brad Ack, Americas regional director for MSC, said the Metlakatla Indian Community has a long and rich fishing heritage and this fishery has been managed by them for over a century. It is the only part of the Alaskan salmon fishery not currently included in the MSC certification, and by entering full assessment, the Metlakatla are seeking to demonstrate that they meet the same rigorous standard for sustainability as the rest of the salmon fishery in the state.
