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Fishing boats line the harbor in Metlakatla, a Tsimshian village south of Ketchikan in Southeast Alaska. (Jack Darrell\/KRBD) <\/p>\nFishing boats line the harbor in Metlakatla, a Tsimshian village south of Ketchikan in Southeast Alaska. (Jack Darrell\/KRBD) <\/p>\n
This story was produced as part of the Pulitzer Center\u2019s StoryReach U.S. Fellowship<\/a>. It\u2019s the third in a series about access to commercial fisheries in rural Alaska; read Part One<\/a> and Part Two<\/a>.<\/p>\n METLAKATLA \u2014 Across Alaska\u2019s coastline, from the Indigenous communities of Bristol Bay to the Tlingit and Haida villages of the panhandle, rural harbors that once bustled with commercial fishing boats now sit unused and empty.<\/p>\n Abandoned boats covered with mold and algae line the shores of one Southeast town; others have seen their fleets sold off and relocated.<\/p>\n In the Indigenous village of Metlakatla, though, it\u2019s a different story.<\/p>\n Fishing vessels pack the downtown harbor on Annette Island, which sits just off the coast at Alaska\u2019s southernmost tip. Huge seiners, with onboard cranes to reel in fish-laden nets, loom over the docks, with many more slips filled in by smaller gillnetters. Fathers and grandfathers still fish with sons and grandsons.<\/p>\n Experts and industry players disagree about the exact reasons for the decline of commercial fishing in the rest of rural, coastal Alaska \u2014 with some blaming state policies and others pointing to global market trends.<\/p>\n In Metlakatla, local leaders say their success in sustaining their fishing culture stems from the community\u2019s unusual history.<\/p>\n In the 1970s, the village stayed out of a land claims settlement between Alaska Natives and the federal government \u2014 a deal that could have brought cash in exchange for ceding Metlakatla\u2019s reservation and residents\u2019 collective right to pull fish from the waters off their shores. All the other Native reservations in the state were terminated.<\/p>\n As a result, Metlakatla is the only Native community in Alaska that manages its own commercial fishing harvest. The right to earn a living from the ocean waters surrounding the island is tied to tribal membership and can\u2019t be sold off to outsiders \u2014 as happened in other rural and Native communities across the state.<\/p>\n Elsewhere, Native residents of coastal villages and cities might have to pony up $100,000 or more for a permit to access state-managed commercial fisheries just offshore. Meanwhile, any Metlakatla tribal member with a boat and $25 can buy a permit<\/a> and cast their net in the Indigenous-managed fishery that extends 3,000 feet around Annette Island.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s 100% of the reason why we\u2019re not down to one boat,\u201d said Albert Smith, Metlakatla\u2019s mayor.<\/p>\n The island fishery sustains the largest tribally managed salmon harvest in the United States. The 1,600-person community has dozens of active commercial fishing vessels, which harvested more than 1.3 million salmon in 2024, according to the most recent tribal data available.<\/p>\n The community stands today as a kind of experiment. Its fishery represents an alternate reality that could have unfolded in rural Alaska if more communities had the same opportunities to access nearby waters \u2014 or had state policymakers not chosen to privatize commercial harvest rights<\/a> in the rest of Alaska\u2019s big salmon fisheries, as they did in the 1970s.<\/p>\n Metlakatla\u2019s narrative is a \u201cdirect refutation\u201d of the argument that coastal Alaska Native villages are to blame for the loss of their fishing industries, said Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, who once represented Metlakatla in the state House and several years ago pushed an unsuccessful bill to boost access to rural commercial fishing careers.<\/p>\n In Metlakatla, \u201cevery slip in the harbor is full \u2014 high schoolers are deckhanding for their uncle, their dad, their best friend\u2019s dad,\u201d Kreiss-Tomkins said. \u201cI think it\u2019s a fascinating case study.\u201d<\/p>\n Local leaders say they\u2019ve still had to fight to sustain Metlakatla\u2019s fleet and its tribal fishery.<\/p>\n The community is now in the midst of a six-year legal effort<\/a> to expand the waters available to tribal members, which leaders say could help solidify the future of Metlakatla\u2019s fishing industry. But its federal lawsuit faces opposition from Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy\u2019s administration, competing fishermen and even neighboring Indigenous people.<\/p>\n The Metlakatlans left northern British Columbia in the late 19th century amid conflicts over land ownership. <\/p>\n Residents secured an invitation to America from President Grover Cleveland and members of Congress at the behest of William Duncan<\/a>, a charismatic Anglican minister. Duncan had worked with the region\u2019s Indigenous Tsimshian people to establish the original Metlakatla in British Columbia, which he envisioned as a model Christian community. <\/p>\n After a mass migration in canoes and other vessels, the new Metlakatla was built 70 miles away on Annette Island, just across the international border in Alaska, where residents eventually built an enormous church.<\/p>\n A cannery served as a market for residents\u2019 ancestral fishing tradition, which the tribe has described as a \u201cbedrock of the Coast Tsimshian culture and way of life.\u201d A presidential proclamation<\/a> from Woodrow Wilson in 1916 subsequently set aside the 3,000-foot strip around the island exclusively for use by the village\u2019s fishermen.<\/p>\n For decades afterward, Metlakatla\u2019s commercial fleet harvested both inside and outside the exclusive zone. <\/p>\n Skippers of today, who are mostly men, learned to fish from their fathers, who learned from their fathers and grandfathers before them.<\/p>\n Fishing is \u201cone of the few things that remain unbroken from our forever history,\u201d said David R. Boxley<\/a>, a Metlakatla artist who served on the village\u2019s tribal council until recently. <\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s our culture, even though it\u2019s changed in how we do it,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s as old as our people. We\u2019re the salmon people.\u201d<\/p>\n In 1971, Congress passed the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, which came with a painful tradeoff. <\/p>\n Newly formed, Indigenous-owned corporations would receive a total of $1 billion and some 45 million acres \u2014 roughly 10% of the state. In exchange for that money and property, Alaska\u2019s Indigenous people would give up claims to larger swaths of traditional lands, and those that had reservations would surrender them.<\/p>\n Most Alaska Native groups didn\u2019t have reservations at the time, so they had little choice but to participate<\/a> in the settlement.<\/p>\n Metlakatla had one of only 23 reservations in Alaska and exclusive fishing rights to boot, so it had more to lose. It may have also had less to gain, because the community\u2019s emigration from Canada made its Alaska land claims less certain.<\/p>\n Some in Metlakatla wanted to pursue the payout anyway, according to Boxley.<\/p>\n But elders whose parents and grandparents had been through the exodus from the original village site in British Columbia saw their sovereignty as priceless, he explained.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019d already lost a Metlakatla,\u201d Boxley said. \u201cWe had to build two communities \u2014 one was basically taken from us. Why would we do that again?\u201d<\/p>\n The other 22 reservations in Alaska were dissolved as a result of the settlement. Today, only Metlakatla\u2019s remains.<\/p>\n A few years after the other tribes settled, in an effort to prevent overfishing and make the industry more profitable, the state of Alaska established its \u201climited entry\u201d program. The system capped the number of skippers in each commercial fishery and transformed fishing from a public right to a private privilege, one available only to those who could afford or inherit a permit. And since the supply of permits was limited, they became valuable commodities.<\/p>\n Commercial fishing permits can now be bought and sold on the open market, in some cases fetching six-figure prices. And over the years, residents of many rural and Indigenous communities have sold their permits to people from Alaska\u2019s larger cities and towns, and from other states.<\/p>\n Rural fishermen also moved out of villages and took their permits with them. And those forces conspired to hollow out rural, coastal communities economically \u2014 even as Alaska lawmakers have done little<\/a> to stem the tide.<\/p>\n In Metlakatla, though, tribal members don\u2019t need those expensive permits to pursue a commercial fishing career. While many fishermen in the village have purchased them anyway \u2014 allowing harvests both inside and outside the 3,000-foot zone \u2014 other Metlakatlans fish only inside that exclusive strip.<\/p>\n Even top fishermen who roam well beyond Annette Island say that the tribal fishery has helped sustain them in lean years \u2014 particularly by providing lucrative catches of sea cucumbers and clams, which are harvested in underwater diving gear and fetch high prices in Asia.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve had terrible seasons seining,\u201d said longtime Metlakatla fisherman Daniel Marsden, 48, referring to the technique of catching salmon with a huge, circular net. \u201cAnd we go diving, and that saved our butts.\u201d<\/p>\n While commercial fishing remains vibrant in Metlakatla, the community\u2019s fish processing plant is another story.<\/p>\n The business was long an economic mainstay for the village, providing local jobs and revenue for the tribal government. <\/p>\n But beginning in the 1990s, falling seafood prices challenged its profitability, and since 2018, it\u2019s processed only small amounts of fish. <\/p>\n Today, the cavernous waterfront processing buildings, with peeling white paint, operate at a fraction of their capacity.<\/p>\n Most fishermen who live in Metlakatla and dock their boats in the village harbor sell the salmon they harvest not to the tribally owned plant, but to processing businesses in Ketchikan, 15 miles north. The tribal plant currently lacks the equipment it needs to handle the large volumes of salmon netted by Metlakatla\u2019s fleet, Smith explained.<\/p>\n If more of Metlakatla\u2019s up-and-coming fishermen could harvest farther from the island without having to buy expensive state permits, he added, their catch could be large enough to justify reinvesting in the tribally owned plant.<\/p>\n The 3,000-foot strip around Annette Island, local leaders argue, is no longer the community\u2019s breadbasket. It\u2019s become a \u201ccage\u201d holding back the village\u2019s fleet, according to one longtime fisherman, Edward Gunyah<\/a>.<\/p>\n To break out of that cage, Metlakatla filed a lawsuit. <\/p>\n Nearly six years ago, the tribe entered a complaint<\/a> in federal court, asserting that the state of Alaska\u2019s limited entry permit program was illegally barring Metlakatlans from harvesting in areas they were entitled to fish.<\/p>\n The tribe argues that an 1891 federal law<\/a> granted it the right to enough fish to make the village self-sustaining \u2014 which should allow members to harvest anywhere within roughly a day\u2019s travel from the reservation. The suit doesn\u2019t seek to expel other skippers from the disputed waters, only to allow Metlakatla residents to fish there without buying pricey state permits.<\/p>\n \u201cCongress intended to give the community an opportunity to prosper by accessing the fisheries in the waters surrounding the Annette Islands,\u201d the tribe said in its amended complaint<\/a>.<\/p>\n State and tribal opposition<\/p>\n Metlakatla\u2019s attorneys filed the 2020 lawsuit in federal court on Aug. 7 \u2014 a yearly community holiday commemorating the 1887 arrival of the village\u2019s advance party at Annette Island. <\/p>\n Since then, Metlakatla has won preliminary victories<\/a> as the case has wound through rounds of lower court decisions and appeals. <\/p>\n But it has also faced strong opposition \u2014 from the state government, the fishing industry and other tribes.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re going to see this through to the end,\u201d Doug Vincent-Lang, Alaska\u2019s fish and game commissioner, told a group of Ketchikan fishermen in 2024, according to a recording obtained by Northern Journal and APM Reports. <\/p>\n A win by Metlakatla, he said, would invite efforts from other tribes \u201cthat don\u2019t have a treaty, or want to expand what they consider their rights to fish outside the state regulatory environment.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re not against Metlakatla,\u201d Vincent-Lang said in an interview. \u201cWe support their right to fish in their tribal waters. It\u2019s just when you start fishing outside of those waters, there\u2019s treaty implications and everything else that comes into play. How do you account for that? It\u2019s just all kinds of questions that come up.\u201d<\/p>\n A trade group representing Southeast Alaska\u2019s fleet of seine boats supports the state\u2019s position<\/a>. <\/p>\n Some of the group\u2019s members are concerned about the potential for the lawsuit to expand Metlakatlans\u2019 fishing rights in a way that increases competition, said Tom Meiners, who leads the group\u2019s board.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t see the need for the island fishery to be expanded,\u201d Meiners said, noting how numerous Metlakatla fishermen already have state permits and wouldn\u2019t directly benefit if the tribe wins.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, nearly five years into the litigation, a group of other Southeast Alaska tribal governments, the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida, filed their own motion<\/a> to dismiss Metlakatla\u2019s case. <\/p>\n The request, ultimately rejected by the judge<\/a>, said Metlakatla\u2019s Tsimshian residents were descended from Canadians and were infringing on traditional Tlingit and Haida harvest rights and tribal property.<\/p>\n The fight against the lawsuit, particularly by the state and the other tribes, has deeply frustrated Metlakatla\u2019s leaders and allies, who say the village has long contended with hostility to its unique fishing rights. They also say<\/a> that both written and oral tradition reflect the longtime presence of Tsimshian people on both sides of the U.S.-Canadian border before it was established, with traditional names for Southeast Alaska sites derived from Tsimshian names.<\/p>\n \u201cWe should be working together\u201d against factory fishing boats that accidentally harvest salmon, and against out-of-state commercial permit holders, said Boxley, the former Metlakatla tribal council member. He added: \u201cThat\u2019s who\u2019s devastating the fishery. Not us.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018Control our own future\u2019<\/p>\n After five years of the lawsuit ping-ponging between lower and appeals courts, a decision on the expansion of Metlakatla\u2019s tribal fishing rights could come as soon as this year.<\/p>\n Smith, the mayor, said a victory could help rev the village\u2019s processing plant back to life.<\/p>\n \u201cThe vision is to see it going full-fledged again,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n While awaiting a decision, the tribe leased a corner of the plant to a startup, Circle Seafoods<\/a>, that is testing a new concept for fish processing. Rather than trying to fillet and pack the whole summer salmon harvest in a single frenetic push of a few weeks, Circle freezes fish whole, then thaws and cuts them in batches throughout the rest of the year.<\/p>\n The tribe is interested in replicating the idea because it could sustain a year-round workforce in the village, Smith said. Meanwhile, Annette Island Packing Co., which is owned by the tribe, recently launched a line<\/a> of freeze-dried salmon pet treats. They\u2019re branded as Ksa Hoon \u2014 \u201cjust fish\u201d in Sm\u2019algyax, the Tsimshian language.<\/p>\n Operating at full capacity, the plant could churn out profits that the tribe could use to diversify \u2014 investing and expanding into other businesses such as ecotourism, Boxley said. He described the lawsuit as aligning with Metlakatlans\u2019 decision a century ago to move from Canada to Alaska, where tribal members would have more autonomy.<\/p>\n \u201cWe did all this to be in control of our own future,\u201d Boxley said. \u201cThat\u2019s why we came here.\u201d<\/p>\n This story was produced as part of the Pulitzer Center\u2019s StoryReach U.S. Fellowship<\/a>. It was reported and edited by Northern Journal and APM Reports.<\/p>\n Nathaniel Herz is an Anchorage-based reporter. Subscribe to his newsletter, Northern Journal<\/a>, at northernjournal.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fishing boats line the harbor in Metlakatla, a Tsimshian village south of Ketchikan in Southeast Alaska. (Jack Darrell\/KRBD)…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":581075,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[192,79],"class_list":["post-581074","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/581074","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=581074"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/581074\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/581075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=581074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=581074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=581074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/S47Q4XS3QRGKVE5GT64NVRQJW4.jpg\")
The Indigenous Tsimshian village of Metlakatla is in Southeast Alaska, on Annette Island. (Datawrapper) <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/D52QIAZMIFFKHBRI27GLT56FT4.jpg\")
Seine boats such as these in Metlakatla\u2019s harbor use an onboard crane to help pull fish-laden nets on board. (Nathaniel Herz\/Northern Journal) <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/JMWW6LDNDNHTFP4Q7D7MGLDV3I.jpg\")
A seiner tows a small skiff along the ocean just outside Metlakatla in 2024. (Jack Darrell\/KRBD) <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/6JRFGKTKDVFYPMS32GY4H53YVM.jpg\")
Metlakatla\u2019s main harbor is near the center of the village, next to a small casino and an artist workshop. (Jack Darrell\/KRBD) \u2018We\u2019re the salmon people\u2019<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/JA5WPPAW5NFMLPQKQUAC3PK2QE.jpg\")
A canoe passes by a fishing industry vessel just offshore of Metlakatla in 2024. (Jack Darrell\/KRBD) <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/KJKSLGUTGZBRZML47F7KBMA6KE.jpg\")
Artist and former tribal council member David R. Boxley details a traditional bentwood box in his workshop in Metlakatla. (Nathaniel Herz\/Northern Journal) Tribal fishery \u2018saved our butts\u2019<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/DFXNDRRU5ZDJJKEEUXBWWR5LSY.jpg\")
Fishing boats sit in winter storage in the Bristol Bay region, Alaska\u2019s salmon fishing capital, where many skippers are out-of-state residents. (Nathaniel Herz\/Northern Journal) <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/5ZIXWH32SJDJRE2RWQWMYDFDXY.jpg\")
Annette Island Reserve Boundary (Datawrapper) A lawsuit to expand fishing rights<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/OLFDWN2LOFDC3BFOFRHHQDVUBE.jpg\")
Metlakatla\u2019s fish processing plant sits on the water near the village\u2019s downtown. (Jack Darrell KRBD) <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/RQAQSEMLMBB55D77BFA34I7ZJM.jpg\")
Albert Smith, Metlakatla\u2019s mayor, leaves a courtroom in Juneau. (Eric Stone\/Alaska Public Media) <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GEVLGXFAYFDHJJJH44UNDZ2SRE.jpg\")
Doug Vincent-Lang is Alaska\u2019s fish and game commissioner. (Alaska Department of Fish and Game) <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/BQRFZO57DZABVMWE7RKN32TU5A.jpg\")
Salmon seiners operate outside the Southeast Alaska town of Sitka. (Nathaniel Herz\/Northern Journal) <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/FSISUDL3YVEIFGDNQEKTCQ5HZU.jpg\")
Metlakatla\u2019s plant currently processes only small quantities of fish. (Jack Darrell\/KRBD) <\/p>\n