June 8, 2026 — As hundreds of fishermen prepared for the June 6 opener in Alaska’s Area M salmon fishery, a dispute over new harvest restrictions remains unresolved after Alaska Acting Attorney General Cori Mills invalidated regulations approved earlier this year by the Alaska Board of Fisheries.
The regulations, adopted in February after years of advocacy from Western Alaska subsistence users, would have reduced fishing time and harvest levels in parts of the Aleutian Islands fishery, expanded a regulated area and added net depth restrictions intended to protect salmon bound for Western Alaska rivers.
Mills overturned the measures on May 19, ruling that the board’s vote was improper following ethics complaints filed by the Aleutians East Borough and commercial fishing interests against several board members who supported the restrictions. After Mills’ decision, the commercial fishing groups and borough dropped their lawsuit challenging the regulations.
A subsequent effort by the Bering Sea Fishermen’s Association to intervene in the case was rejected by Anchorage Superior Court Judge Herman Walker Jr., though subsistence advocates say they may appeal to the Alaska Supreme Court or pursue separate legal action.