October 13, 2025 — Alaska judges will not hear a lawsuit alleging that the Alaska Department of Fish and Game has mishandled the state’s valuable salmon returns.
On Friday, the Alaska Supreme Court upheld a lower-court decision that dismissed a case brought by Juneau resident Eric Forrer in 2022.
Forrer had argued that years of declining salmon returns in the Yukon and Kuskokwim Rivers clearly showed that the department was violating a section of the Alaska Constitution that requires fish be managed for sustained yield.
Forrer, a long-time Alaska resident, has a history of personal-use and commercial fishing, including on the Yukon River.
In his suit, he sought a declaration confirming that the Fish and Game was violating the constitution and sought an injunction directing the department “to fulfill the sustained yield mandate.”
Bethel Superior Court Judge Nathaniel Peters dismissed the case in 2023, but Forrer appealed to the Alaska Supreme Court.
In an 18-page order published Friday, the five-member court said unanimously that because Forrer didn’t challenge a specific policy, law or regulation, Peters was correct and the case should be dismissed.