<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The Makhnati subsistence closure was created by two separate Executive Orders. (Alaska OSM image)</figcaption></figure><figure class="wp-block-audio"></figure>

Note: The Southeast Regional Advisory Council is meeting October 22-24 in Ketchikan. Written comments regarding the Makhnati subsistence review may be emailed to subsistence@ios.doi.gov. Information on how to conference into the meeting, by phone or Microsoft Teams, can be found here.

If you’ve ever been to Sitka, you’ve probably seen Makhnati Island. It’s actually connected to Sitka’s airport by a chain of gravel causeways between smaller islands that was built during the Second World War, and most people just call it “the causeway.” Although mostly overgrown now, there is evidence of Makhnati’s military past everywhere, complete with underground installations and gun emplacements.

That the waters around Mahknati have been set aside for subsistence herring is unusual, but explainable.

“Typically, the federal program does not operate in saltwater at all,” said Ashley Bolwerk, a subsistence fisheries biologist with the Tongass National Forest, Sitka Ranger District.

“Our jurisdiction really ends at the end of the National Forest, which doesn’t extend into the saltwater,” she explained. “But this area had federal significance. It was a highly important place during World War II. And so there’s sort of this holdover component because of those historical contexts.”

The Federal Subsistence Board first heard proposals for reserving the waters around Makhnati for federally-qualified subsistence users in 2007. The Sitka Tribe of Alaska was the moving force behind the effort. But it wasn’t until 2015 that the current closure was passed – with the condition that it be reviewed every four years. That review is coming around again when the Board meets in Anchorage in February of next year.

In the meantime, the Southeast Alaska Regional Advisory Council, or RAC, is taking testimony on the closure at its meeting in Ketchikan October 22-24, and will pass on recommendations to the full board. Bolwerk says the RAC is the go-to for people concerned about herring subsistence, both inside and outside the closure area.

“Our Regional Advisory Council here in Southeast Alaska is really interested in all subsistence issues, whether they’re within their jurisdiction or not,” said Bolwerk. “So I think herring falls in this unique category of there’s this very small space near Makhnati that is under federal jurisdiction, and the RAC and the Federal Board have an opportunity to regulate herring use in that space, so they’re within their bounds to do that there, but they also are very interested in helping support local folks in other regulatory arenas too.”

Sometimes, just the thought of the federal regulatory process makes people’s eyes glaze over. But the Southeast Regional Advisory Council – again, the RAC – is very local. There are nine RACs in Alaska – one for every region. I wanted to clarify this with Bolwerk, that residents play a large role in subsistence management in Alaska.

KCAW: “The RAC is not a bunch of bureaucrats back in Washington, correct?” 

Bolwerk: “Yeah, the RAC is basically people from around Southeast Alaska. So our RAC is made up of 13 people. They live in southeast Alaska. They get appointed for three-year terms, and those all are appointments that come from the Secretary of Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture, and these people care deeply. They’re volunteering their time to do this, but our RAC in particular, here in southeast Alaska, is highly involved. They, as I said, like to weigh in, not just on some things within the federal process, but also in other regulatory spaces, because they really view their role as making sure the needs of subsistence users in rural Alaska are being met.”

The US Fish & Wildlife Service’s Office of Subsistence Management has reviewed the Makhnati Herring closure and recommends retaining the status quo. Other issues before the Regional Advisory Council during its three-day meeting in Ketchikan include a proposed rural determination of the Ketchikan area for subsistence purposes, and new harvest regulations for salmon fishing on the Taku River.

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