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Fish and Game seeks increased authority, staff and federal receipts for subsistence research
Summary
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s Division of Subsistence requested an FY26 budget increase and additional statutory designated program receipt (SDPR) authority to support ongoing community-partnered research, a newly hired director and dozens of projects across the state.
The Department of Fish and Game told the House Finance subcommittee on Feb. 27 that its Division of Subsistence is seeking higher authority and modest budget increases in the FY26 governor’s proposal to restore staffing and fund community-based research across Alaska.
Commissioner Doug Vincent Lang said the division’s FY26 request totals about $7.5 million compared with roughly $5 million in FY24 actuals and that part of the increase reflects salary, health and retirement cost adjustments and a $100,000 SDPR authority request for North Pacific Research Board projects. “This slide outlines the mission and core services of the division of subsistence, which are set out in Alaska statute 160,594,” Lang said during the presentation.
The department emphasized why the work matters: subsistence staff document how Alaskans use wild resources, quantify harvest and nutritional value, and advise the Board of Game and the Board of Fisheries on measures that affect subsistence hunting and fishing. Deputy director Amy Whittem (listed in the department presentation) confirmed the division conducts research with communities that follows social‑science ethical practices including informed consent, anonymity and community feedback.
Division officials said the unit currently oversees 44 ongoing research projects across species and topics — from customary trade and ceremonial harvest to comprehensive community harvest surveys — and that much work depends on federal grants. The division maintains an online Community Subsistence Information System and a long-running series of technical papers and special publications; the presentation noted more than 600 titles are available online.
Department staff told lawmakers a backlog of work built up after COVID‑related postponements; about 21 projects are expected to finish in 2025, five of which are comprehensive resource‑use evaluations. Examples in the FY25–FY26 pipeline include Yukon River community research on the effects of chum salmon fishery closures and surveys in communities in the Kodiak and Alaska Peninsula areas facing low salmon returns.
Officials said much subsistence research is conducted in partnership with local communities, federal agencies, the University of Alaska and other research organizations and that projects inform regulatory and management actions. The department requested the additional SDPR authority to secure funding for North Pacific Research Board projects and work with the Chugach Regional Resources Commission on a mapping analysis in Prince William Sound; that Prince William Sound project was described as a one‑year effort expected to end in FY25.
Division leadership also told the subcommittee that staffing and project counts fluctuate with funding and that a significant portion of subsistence funding (about 44 percent, per the presentation) is from the unrestricted general fund (UGF), with the remainder from federal and other receipts. George Pappas was named in the presentation as the newly hired division director, starting March 10. The division reported a mixture of permanent and seasonal positions and said many seasonal hires are timed to field seasons.
The department concluded its subsistence presentation by offering to answer committee questions and noting that more detail on funding lines and individual projects is available in the division’s materials.
Looking ahead, staff said they will continue community‑based surveys and targeted projects that feed into state management and regulatory recommendations.
