Vice Chairman Murkowski Leads U.S. Senate Committee Field Hearing in Bethel to Hear About Impacts of Salmon Declines

Press Release

"It is significant and historic to bring the Senate Indian Affairs Committee to Bethel to understand how the salmon crashes in the Arctic-Yukon-Kuskokwim region are affecting those of you who live here. I have traveled through most of the villages in this region over the course of many years. I've been into many of the fish camps up and down the Kuskokwim and the Yukon. I have heard how the lack of salmon is affecting your ways of life and the need for the federal government to pay attention, to understand, and to act. We brought the Committee to Bethel so those in the region and surrounding villages who are most impacted can be heard and offer potential solutions on the official record.

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Traditional ecological knowledge must inform our actions and decisions. I am interested to hear more from our witnesses about how we can strengthen co-management relationships and help improve the federal subsistence management program.

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I want to share with you my deep appreciation, because for some of you the comments that you shared are very deeply personal and that you were willing to share them is very meaningful. I've also heard that the traditional knowledge that you bring to the table has led long before much of the science or the actual management actions that come. We need to be paying attention to that aspect of knowledge that you bring to the table. You have given me a great deal to consider here today along with my staff. I want to be able to report back. I owe it to those of you who've come, those of you who have spoken, those who have just listened, those who are living with the reality that your way of life is being threatened right now. And as Vivian [Korthuis] reminded us all at the beginning, your way of life matters. Know that I carry that with me back to Washington, DC. Thank you for the time that you've given me and know that together we've got some work to do."

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