DOINews: Federal Subsistence Board Actions Jan 15 2014

Dear Secretary Jewell and Secretary Vilsack:

You have asked to be kept informed of issues and concerns that fall outside of the regulatory process that may affect subsistence users in Alaska. Your appointees to the Alaska Subsistence Regional Advisory Councils are raising concerns through the Federal Subsistence Board to you. These issues are being brought to your attention as they are outside of the jurisdiction of the Federal Subsistence Board.

The Board wants to make the Secretaries aware of three important issues that could affect the availability of wildlife and fishery resources for subsistence use. They are as follows:

• Impacts of proposed road developments in westen Alaska on the migration of the Western Arctic Caribou Herd on subsistence users who depend on this resource (submitted by Western Interior Alaska Subsistence Regional Advisory Council).
• Impacts of the bycatch harvest of Chinook (King) and Chum (Dog) salmon during the offshore Pollock fishery in the Bering Sea on the escapement of these fish in the Yukon and Kuskokwim Rivers. The declining numbers and low escapement of Chinook salmon have direct effects on the local subsistence users and their livelihood (submitted by Western Interior Alaska Subsistence Regional Advisory Council).
• Impacts to the migration of Western Arctic, Teshepuk, and Central Arctic caribou herds and important subsistence fisheries from the proposed road project known as the "Road to Umiat." In addition to the potential disruption of the migration routes of these important subsistence species, there is also concern the road will increase the sport
hunting pressure on subsistence resources (submitted by North Slope Alaska Subsistence Regional Advisory Council).

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