Appeals Panel Upholds Federal Control of Fishing in Alaska River

Alaska lost its appeal Wednesday to undo a federal ban on expanded gillnet fishing on a river within a national wildlife refuge in the state.

A US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit panel affirmed the federal government can allow only subsistence users to fish on a 180-mile stretch of the Kuskokwim River within the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge. The Biden administration had argued expanded gillnet fishing interfered with federal efforts to support Alaska Native subsistence fishing under the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act.

The US District Court for the District of Alaska in 2024 ruled ANILCA ...