Eva Burk, a Dene’ Athabascan from Nenana and Manley Hot Springs, has been appointed to the North Pacific Fishery Management Council’s (NPFMC) Advisory Panel for a three-year term. The appointment comes amid alarmingly low salmon returns in Western Alaska, and increasing calls for Tribes to have a stronger voice in the way fisheries are managed.
Burk comes equipped. Before her appointment to the advisory panel, she spearheaded educational projects in the region with focus on food sovereignty and traditional knowledge. She sits on at least four other Alaska Native advisory councils, including the Alaska Department of Fish and Game and the Federal Subsistence Board.
Burk joins the panel among two other Indigenous appointments: Mellisa Maktuayaqvaq Johnson, a Tribal member of the Nome Eskimo community, was reappointed for another three-year term, and Tiffany Andrew, a member of the Alakanuk Traditional Council, was appointed for a one-year term.
“It’s such a big deal for three Alaska Tribal members to be appointed,” Burk says, “We still don’t have the representation on the actual council, but the panel works very closely with the NPFMC itself.”
Of her goals on the NPFMC Advisory Panel, Burk says that the biggest issue is trying to figure out how to account for climate change, “To actually protect some species through reducing bycatch and modifying vessels and gear types,” she says.
Burk says that Alaska Native representation on the NPFMC Advisory Panel is a step in the right direction. Although the Council itself has enormous governing powers on Western and Interior Alaska waterways and a voting majority with an economic interest in the trawl fleet, Indigenous representation on the Advisory Council applies pressure in the right places.
As we approach another summer fishing season, Tanana Chiefs Conference (TCC) is calling on all of our member Tribes and individuals to continue to provide testimony at every available opportunity. Our collective voices led to these appointments, and it is our voices and traditional knowledge that will lead to changes in policy, which will protect the future of salmon and our way of life.
Visit our website to learn more about how you can help: https://www.tananachiefs.org/get-involved/yukon-river-salmon-decline/
To watch Eva Burk discuss Indigenous food sovereignty and how it helps shape policy, visit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDRYm-Nr-A8