Kuskokwim River: Salmon shortfalls drive Alaska Senate fight

Salmon that have sustained Indigenous communities in Western Alaska for generations are not returning to certain rivers, turning a local ecological issue into the central battleground of a tight U.S. Senate race.

The dispute centers on the Kuskokwim River, where Evon Waska lives at the water's edge. Waska's drying racks, which should be filled with fish, stand empty. Government agencies frequently close the river to subsistence fishing to conserve fish, a measure that impacts families who rely on the catch for food.

Waska blames industrial trawlers operating miles offshore in the Bering Sea. These vessels tow sock-shaped nets that are a quarter mile long with openings as wide as a football field. The primary target is pollock, a white fish used in products like the imitation crab in McDonald's Filet-O-Fish. King salmon and other species are caught accidentally and discarded, a problem known as bycatch.

The pollock industry is valued at $1 billion, with much of it based in Seattle. Alaskans report growing anger over the waste, and fish issues dominate political advertisements in the state. Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan has positioned himself as an ally of the industry while touting new legislation.

Sullivan called his proposal the most comprehensive bycatch legislation ever to reduce bycatch and protect seafloor habitat. His Democratic challenger, Mary Peltola, who is Indigenous from the Kuskokwim, argues for a ban on factory trawlers, the largest vessels in the pollock fleet. Peltola described Sullivan's bill as an election year ploy.

"Dan Sullivan reeled in over $300,000 from trawlers and waited until the 11th hour for a half-hearted and half-baked solution," Peltola said.

Heather Mann, who leads a trawlers association, countered that focusing on the pollock fishery is a scapegoat. She stated that science shows eliminating pollock would have a minimal impact on the restoration of salmon runs. This year, pollock trawlers report catching 40,000 Alaska salmon, a small percentage of their total harvest but a significant loss to local villages.

In the village of Kwethluk, subsistence fishing remains the main occupation and the backbone of the culture. Tribal president Mary Nikolai toured a neighbor's cold smokehouse, which sat unused throughout the summer. "Most of the smokehouses are like this. And it's like a slow trend of closing our workforce out," Nikolai said.

President Trump has indicated he may try to block election results in Alaska if the Republican incumbent loses, adding national pressure to the contest. The race could determine the balance of power in the U.S. Senate.

Nikolai hopes the close race draws global attention to the threat facing her community, regardless of the winner. The debate continues to unfold in local ads and village meetings as the election approaches.