We are Unangax̂. Our communities and shareholders come from the Aleutian and Pribilof Islands, and many of us still live and work on our ancestral homelands today. Aleut’s mission is to make a meaningful economic impact in the Aleut Region and in the lives of our shareholders and descendants. This goal depends on healthy, functioning communities with real jobs, good health, and durable local economies.
To us, fishing isn’t just an industry; it’s a way of life that sustains families, and entire villages across our region.
I’m asking Alaskans, and especially decision-makers at the Alaska Board of Fisheries, to take a hard look at what’s being proposed for the South Alaska Peninsula salmon fisheries (Area M) this February.
At the Alaska Peninsula / Aleutian Islands / Chignik Finfish meeting (Feb. 18–24, 2026, in Anchorage), the Board will consider proposals that would severely weaken our fisheries. These proposals are being framed as “help for the Arctic–Yukon–Kuskokwim (AYK) region,” but the available science does not support the idea that shutting down or severely constraining Area M will fix the real drivers behind AYK chum and Chinook declines.
Here’s what should matter most to the Board and the public: the Area M fleet has already proven it will conserve, and it has already delivered measurable reductions under an adaptive management approach that the Board itself endorsed.
Since 2022, fishermen and managers have built systems that reduces chum impacts while keeping the fisheries workable. They run a test fishery in conjunction with ADF&G to gauge chum presence before the first opening. The fleets have also forfeited hundreds of hours of fishing time through voluntary closures and stand-down events.
That is what responsible management looks like: targeted, flexible, science-informed decisions that respond to what the fish are doing in real time. Replacing that with blunt restrictions like broad closures and reduced access does not “improve conservation.” It undermines the very tools that are already producing conservation outcomes.
Shutting down Area M will not solve the true causes of salmon declines. Instead, these proposals would impose unnecessary harm on Unangax̂ communities while leaving the underlying problems untouched. Issues like ocean acidification, climate change, and ecosystem destabilization fuel the urgent need for a united front to find sustainable solutions.
The stakes here aren’t abstract. For Aleutian communities, commercial fishing is a cornerstone industry, the heartbeat of the economy, that supports local jobs, family income, and the revenue that helps keep public services running, including local government and public schools. When fisheries are cut without a clear biological benefit, the damage is immediate and local: fewer paychecks, less stability for small businesses, and fewer resources to keep communities strong.
This Board of Fisheries needs clear-eyed decision-making. The question isn’t whether we care about conservation in our region or in any others; as the people of the Aleut region, I can say unequivocally that we do. The question is whether we will use the right tools for the right problem, and whether we will stop asking rural communities to absorb economic harm for outcomes science does not support.
I urge you to act now. The public comment deadline is February 3, 2026. Share what these fisheries mean to your family, your community, and your ability to remain rooted in the places Unangax̂ people have called home for generations.
By Skoey Vergen, President & CEO, Aleut
Skoey is an original Aleut shareholder, a shareholder of the Akutan and Shumagin village corporations, and a member of the Qagan Tayagungin Tribe of Sand Point, and lives in Anchorage.